About
About Jacalyn Prete
Certified Anusara® Yoga Instructor | Licensed Yoga Health & Wellness Coach
Co-Founder & Former Licensing Director, Anusara School of Hatha Yoga
There are moments in life that change everything.
Mine came during a season of profound loss.
My darling mom died suddenly. A few months later, I lost the theater company that had been my artistic home and family. Overnight, I found myself grieving the loss of my mom, my community, and my dream of becoming an actress. It felt like losing my family twice. In the midst of that heartbreak, I made a pact with myself: if I couldn't find a community of the heart and spirit, I would help create one.
That pact led me to yoga.
What began as my own search for belonging became a lifelong path of study, practice, and service. Yoga gave me so much more than physical well-being. It taught me how to live more authentically, with greater compassion, courage, and joy. Most importantly, it led me to the community I had been searching for all along.
For more than 35 years, I've had the joy of sharing the practices that transformed my own life through Anusara Yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, teacher trainings, retreats, health coaching, and the Vibrant Living Tribe. Whether I'm teaching in New York, Europe, Asia, or Mexico, what inspires me most has never changed: witnessing the moment someone remembers who they truly are.
Before yoga, I was an aspiring actress and fitness instructor. Eventually I came to realize I no longer wanted to entertain people—I longed for something deeper. As yoga transformed my own life, I felt drawn to create experiences where people feel seen, supported, and free to discover their own authentic path.
Years later, life tested everything I had been learning.
One year after learning the Ayurvedic habits that now form the foundation of my health coaching, I was in a devastating bike accident that shattered my leg. For months I didn't know if I would ever walk again. Meditation, chanting, breath, Ayurveda, and the loving support of my community carried me through. My dear friend, Rudrani Farbman, called this experience "the guru in drag"—the unexpected teacher disguised as hardship. The accident didn't just deepen my practice; it deepened my trust in the practice and myself.
Today, my greatest joy is creating experiences where people can reconnect with their true nature. Whether in a weekly class, retreat, teacher training, or the Vibrant Living Tribe, my intention is simple: to create a space where people feel seen, supported, and inspired to remember who they truly are.
To me, vibrant health is far more than the absence of illness. It is living with purpose, cultivating meaningful relationships, meeting life's challenges with resilience, and finding joy in every season of life.
If our paths happen to cross, my hope is that you leave with more than a stronger, more flexible body or a quieter mind. I hope you leave feeling more at home in yourself—and remembering something essential about who you are.
About Anusara® Yoga
Anusara® Yoga is a heart-centered system of hatha yoga that blends precise biomechanical alignment with a philosophy rooted in the inherent goodness of every person.
More than a physical practice, Anusara Yoga invites us to awaken to our highest potential through movement, breath, meditation, and self-inquiry. As strength, flexibility, and awareness grow, so does our capacity to live with greater joy, freedom, and authenticity.
Whether you're stepping onto a yoga mat for the first time or have been practicing for years, Anusara offers a welcoming community where you can deepen your practice, nourish your heart, and remember who you truly are.
Gratitude
No journey is walked alone. I have been blessed by extraordinary teachers, mentors, friends, and students whose wisdom, generosity, and example have shaped both my life and my teaching.
With deep gratitude, I honor Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, Rudrani Farbman, John Friend, Ellen Saltonstall, Doug Keller, Cate Stillman, Tom Myers, Martin Kirk, Cyndi Lee, Ganga White, and Tracey Rich. Their teachings continue to inspire my practice, my work, and the community I strive to create.