I’m Jasmine Rose – Yogini, temple keeper and a guide for women in unearthing their deep inner power and the ecstatic embodiment that I believe is our natural state.
I combine the ancient wisdom teachings of yoga in relationship to Mother Nature and her rhythms and cycles of which we are inherently a part of.
Through the portal of the womb and a devotion to the Mystery, I connect women with their inner power, wisdom, sensitivity, sensuality and passion.
For me the red rose is the symbol of Divine Feminine power and the blood mysteries, and I am super passionate about empowered and ecstatic menstruation (I was interviewed about this on the Rose Podcast which you can listen to here). So many women who journey with me experience a complete relief of menstrual difficulties and even infertility challenges – it always blows me away to witness the magic of coming into right relationship with our wombs and other women and how miraculous healings like this happen.
YES! Rose really is my last name – you can read about how the name came to be here on my blog.
I’d love to share more of my story and the magical weaving of experiences and encounters that brought me to here.
MY PATH AS YOGINI
I’ve been practising yoga since 2008 when I was 21 years old. I was freshly returned from a sojourn in France and in my final year of university. Yoga became an essential part of my week as I managed the stress of completing my honours degree whilst experiencing the anguish of my first (and not last!) broken heart. And every broken heart has been an initiation that opened me to greater love!
Three years later I took my yoga teacher training and there was literally no looking back. My focus shifted completely from the material to the spiritual and I began a daily meditation practice. I felt the first stirrings of kundalini shakti awakening (which you can read about in detail in my “Serpent Awakening” story) I stated teaching yoga in 2011 and fell into the profession naturally and with ease. I felt I’d found my calling.
I eventually quit my professional job as a project officer after a close call with death in a car accident and followed the irresistible call to Nepal, India and Bali – three power places that feel like Motherlands of my soul. When I returned in 2013 I started teaching yoga full time and started up my own yoga business.
ENTER: THE DARK GODDESS
The year 2013 was the year I was confronted with my inner demons. This was my second dark night of the soul, but this one carried particularly powerful potential for big transformation – mostly around my tendency to project my deep desire for union onto whichever man I decided was “the one”.
After a few years of disembodied spirituality -what I call “love and light” syndrome – Kali tapped on my shoulder and had me see some very inconvenient destructive patterns that were playing out. This was bitter medicine to swallow, and there was a lot of purging to be done.
This was the year everything fell apart. It had to.
In the throes of a descent that I wondered if would ever emerge from, the Goddess threw me a lifeline – a thread that I follow to this day. Had I not been so desperate, I may never have bothered following this thread – so I am super grateful for all that unfolded .
The death of identify and delusions was painful but necessary, and this was also the birth of something very beautiful and it set me onto the path that opened up before me.
Through grace, I ended up living on a piece of land in nature (where I still live, seven years later!)- an incredibly safe and healing place for me to rest into the arms of the Great Mother and piece by piece, call all parts of myself home.
EMBRACED BY NATURE – COMING HOME INTO MY BODY
Out of the rubble, I emerged from the ashes more “me”. This wasn’t the last descent – and I’ve come to fully respect and honour the cycles of life. The necessity of death for rebirth, which nature continues to teach me about. The way the crucible of transformation reveals the diamond that would not exist were it not for the heat and intense pressure.
As I aligned with the rhythms and cycles of nature, adopted an Ayurvedic lifestyle and diet and devoted myself to my spiritual practice, my whole system began to rejuvenate, slowly but surely.
Meanwhile, I began to experience a more intense phase of my kundalini awakening and thankfully, through meeting a beloved and respected teacher had context for what was happening and knew to trust the process.
THE NUN YEARS
The solitude I found in my forest abode so bliss for me – especially the part of me that is incredibly sensitive and introverted. My nervous system found reprieve after the stress of all that had come to pass.
I found great refuge in my ascetic tendencies and “belonged” to a spiritual community which I was incredibly devoted to. I did what was needed to be approved of; to belong.
I renounced so much of the world at this time. I chased out-of-body experiences and spiritual highs while trying to shut out my feelings, and especially my sexuality – in fact I practiced celibacy which was recommended by my spiritual teachers at the time.
As I now know – what gets pushed into the subconscious will play out in our lives until we learn the necessary lessons and integrate those parts of ourselves.
I played the part of the austere yogini who was super composed and contained while in secret I would run naked in the forest, lose myself in the beauty of a flower and experience the kind of absorption in an instant that yogis meditated for hours on end to access. I doubted myself and experiences I was having because they didn’t match the ideals that were upheld by the spiritual community I was in. It was confusing and I experienced a great deal of inner conflict.
I am passionate and deeply feeling by nature, and I started to feel ashamed by the intensity of my emotions that I couldn’t control, and my choice to be celibate was deeply challenged when I experienced an intense chemistry with a man who was “off-limits”.
Kali wasn’t done with me yet. Her fierce grace descended upon me and there were deeper layers to be uncovered. It was humbling, and yet I was learning to surrender and to trust.
During this time of initiation (again!) I spent three weeks on deep retreat in the Goan jungle with one of my teachers, Clive Sheridan, and had a very distinct moment of seeing where literally the veils lifted and I realised how I had completely lost touch with my own inner authority.
In pursuit of purity, I lost touch with the innocence of my instincts. What I thought was a path leading to liberation was actually keeping me bound. This was a HUGE revelation!
I sharpened my sword and decided to cut myself free of the ways I was bound and denying myself the power and authority within that I totally gave away to the community.
It didn’t happen overnight. In fact it was quite a process of “undoing” over many months and that on some level I am still undergoing.
REBELLION – WILD WOMAN AWAKENING
I had to break free. There was a wild woman in me screaming to be uncaged. My womb commanded I pay her attention and search literally inside myself rather than constantly looking outside to a man or spiritual teacher as my source of wisdom or love.
Landing back in my body and on the earth was abrupt at first, and yet it was an awakening I had never anticipated. Some call this a feminine awakening so let’s go with that. It dawned upon me that my path was one of EMBODIMENT – not enlightenment. And yet that awakening was possible through the body.
The more I came into my body, the more I yearned for intimacy with humans – especially women. I realised that the intimacy I yearned for would only be possible if I revealed the truth of who I am.
It was time to come out of hiding and be seen.I gradually started to reveal more of the truth of my experiences, without censorship, sometimes in radical ways like teach yoga in a dress and put pictures of myself naked on the internet
DIVINE FEMININE EMBODIMENT
As I embraced my femininity and womanhood, I naturally and magnetically attracted women’s circles, erotic dance classes for women, kindred sisters and amazing teachers and books that could support and guide me through this twist in the plot.
I dedicated hours upon hours to studying and practicing sacred sexuality (mostly with myself) which interestingly had me practice celibacy again, but with a completely different intention! As I tended to my womb my menstrual cycle became natural and easeful and I discovered the power and magic of my blood.
I learnt the art of grounding and chose the radical act of resting deeply rather than pushing through, again and again, as my body wisdom became increasingly available. My creative energy began to surge which I channeled into my writing and teaching. I attracted healthier relationships with men, satisfying friendships with women and a sense of belonging in my community.
During my time in nature, movements spontaneously began expressing through me which became what I now teach in Shakti Yoga.
There is much, much more to this story, which I will reveal piece by piece through the socials (find me on Instagram and Facebook) and my musings. If you have any questions or parts of the story you’d like me to flesh out – just ask!
