Fascinating Women

Jennifer Strukoff - Yoga Master -Mom - AutisticChild -Philosphy

• Jennifer Strukoff • Season 6 • Episode 13

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Jennifer discusses personal growth, inspiration, and mindfulness. Shes shared experiences on embracing challenges, taking risks, and overcoming imposter syndrome. Jennifer emphasizes the value of education and healing, going deeply into her yoga philosophy and Buddhist teachings. She discusses navigating the gray area of life and business, with a focus on self-confidence and mindfulness. Jennifer talks about her challenges of modelling and the importance of breathwork in finding meaning and fulfillment.

Jennifer works as a Registered Massage Therapist and Lymphatic Drainage Therapist in Calgary, Chestermere and Langdon. She can offer cupping at all the locations and low-light laser therapy in Chestermere. She is a “no-nonsense” provider, which means that she does ae treatments she lot of research in her own time to make sure the treatement she provides are effective and evidence-based.
Jennifer's future plans are as exciting as her present work. She will be completing 100 hours of training in 2024 in lymphatic drainage, a significant milestone that will allow her to treat complicated cases of lymphedema and help clients with compromised lymph systems, possibly due to cancer or injury. This commitment to continuous learning and improvement is a testament to her dedication to her client's well-being. 
She is a mom to an amazing 18-year-old and recently engaged to her partner Carrie, who lives in Kimberley, BC. You can also find her teaching therapeutic yoga classes in Calgary, and she has an extensive library of classes online.

LInks:
www.jenniferstrukoff.com
https://www.instagram.com/yogakitty/
www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-strukoff-0960b174

 Jennifer Strukoff

Registered Massage Therapist - Lymphatic Drainage Therapist
Certified Yoga Instructor 500+ hours
403-830-5668 www.jenniferstrukoff.com

About Mark Laurie - Host.
Mark has been transforming how women see themselves, enlarging their sense of sexy, and expanding their confidence in an exciting adventure that is transformational photography.
http://innerspiritphotography.com
https://www.instagram.com/innerspiritphotography/

Sound Production by:
Lee Ellis  - myofficemedia@gmail.com  

introduction:

You're listening to fascinating women with Mark Laurie. And now, Mark Laurie.

Mark Laurie:

Hello, everyone and welcome to Fascinating Women. Today we've got Jennifer Stukoff with us. Hello, Jennifer.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Hello.

Mark Laurie:

Normally, we're behind the camera photographing these amazing women but they've got such incredible stories like Jennifer's. I thought we should bring them out and let people listen to them. So that's we're gonna do today with Jennifer story. How're you doing?

Jennifer Strukoff:

I've been good. Thank you.

Mark Laurie:

That is so great to hear. I'm glad. Let's hop right in. What three beliefs guide you? What's your core beliefs?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Oh, wow. Well, right off the bat, just hitting hard hits.

Mark Laurie:

Hit the ground running.

Jennifer Strukoff:

I'm definitely I'm definitely a healer, and have been for a while in different ways with yoga and massage therapy and lymphatic drainage. And I, I love helping people. And I, it really, really is probably the best for me to be doing as a career. I love education, and I feel like I could go to school forever. I love it so much. And when it comes to lymphatic drainage, I never thought that I would love it. I just kind of jumped in headfirst. And it stuck to me like glue. So and then I really think that a person should do something that scares the heck out of them often.

Mark Laurie:

Okay,

Jennifer Strukoff:

I went back to school in my mid 40s. And it was terrifying.

Mark Laurie:

You survived it.

Jennifer Strukoff:

I did. Yeah, I learned a lot. And I learned a lot from the fellow younger students more than I thought I would

Mark Laurie:

Right. That's wild, that's been, has that been a thread all through your life of doing what scares you?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Definitely, yeah. In the past, I have I've scaled a 30 storey building on the outside,to fundraise. I've done a 10 day silent meditation retreat, where we meditated for 10 hours a day. It doesn't sound like a scary thing, but it is.

Mark Laurie:

What made that scary. Like, that's doesn't sound like a like a scary thing. Why would that be terrifying? Really,

Jennifer Strukoff:

I was, I knew that sitting in meditation that long would be extremely painful. I was I was I was scared of that. I thought that I wouldn't make it. So. But really, after the third day, something happens. Something happens. It's mysterious.

Mark Laurie:

Whoo. I love that. 10 hours. So when you're meditating for 10 hours, like a lot of people have a hard time make time for three minutes. What? What does your mind focus on for 10 hours.

Jennifer Strukoff:

So it's done in two hour blocks. You're not there for 10 hours at a time. It's not healthy, to sit for that long. But it's really just bringing yourself back to the breath over and over and over again. You can never stop your thoughts. They're always going to be there. But it's what kind of interaction you have with those thoughts. So I like to think of your thoughts as the clouds in the sky. The sky is blue. That's your mind. That's the piece that you're looking for. And your thoughts are just the clouds kind of going by. It's important just to watch them float by. Yeah.

Mark Laurie:

That's an interesting perspective. I love that allergy. That's really good. That is really good. Do you get inspiration from other people other things?

Jennifer Strukoff:

I over the years I've been in fired by many people. And a lot of been a lot of them have been my teachers, whether it's in yoga, or in school, or people that I've worked for. And some, you know, some famous people definitely inspire me to. But um, you know, I feel like, they all have a point in your life where they inspire you. And you can always go back and like, kind of revisited the memories of that inspiration. But they these people come and go, yeah, yeah,

Unknown:

Kind of Yodas, they come in and go, Oh, here's a knowledge you need. And then off, they go in a different direction once you've acquired it.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah, exactly. Yep. You

Unknown:

have any posters of sayings that you connect with, that you that drive you.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Um, there's a saying, by a gentleman by the name of Rom Das. And he said it over and over again, throughout his life. And it has brought a lot of peace in my life. When I would go in for my exams for school, I would say over and over in my head, and that's okay. I am loving kindness. And it just really settles me down. And when I even doubt myself, in my career, when it comes to massage therapy, or lymphatic drainage, I will say this mantra in my head, because that doubt is, is is just fleeting. It's not going to stay there. Right. So, and, you know, when you when you start a new career, late in your life, there is a lot of points, maybe even when you're young to where you feel like an imposter is yeah, the imposter syndrome. So I will, when I when I get that feeling, I definitely go back to that mantra. I am loving kindness. And it reminds me of, you know why I got into what I do.

Mark Laurie:

I had an interesting take on imposter syndrome. A psychologist told me, he says it's a good thing. But the imposter syndrome does we get those feelings? That's a signal that you are about to have great change. You're about to embark on change, and you haven't got the skill set yet. So you feel like you're a fraud. But really, the sensation is fleeting, because as you acquire the skills that will fade, but whenever we get an impostor syndrome, what it really is, is your brain acknowledging you're about to grow.Thought that was really cool.

Jennifer Strukoff:

I love that. Yeah.

Mark Laurie:

So you're a healing and if you've been this sudden, you've always done like, go back far since your memory. You've healed people.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah,really. It, it is. I've always been like that. I've always been the helper always been the healer. You know, when I got out of high school, I really wanted to be a physiotherapist. But it just wasn't available to me at that time. So I kind of in a roundabout way, made it into massage therapy and lymphatic drainage. But there could have been a more direct route.

Mark Laurie:

I see.

Jennifer Strukoff:

But I wanted I guess I just wanted to experience different things first and and really do it the hard way.

Mark Laurie:

Sometimes you don't realize that's the path we're on to look back and go oh, I could have done that way easier. That could have been a challenge. So when you're a little kid, though, is that like you thought that oh, man, I want to go and manipulate people's body or what was your childhood like it started form this healing thing?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Well, you know, I was born with a heart defect in which I was born with a hole in my heart. So I've been around the healthcare field. Since I was a baby, I had open heart surgery when I was six years old. And I was definitely inspired by the nurses and doctors that helped me in in the children's hospital in London, Ontario. And when I was going through school, and high school, I was definitely always drawn to the medical field, for sure. But butt was a bit distracted and didn't have the marks to go into nursing or, or you know being a doctor and When I first started training in my 20s, I actually got my first level paramedic, but ended up having to get a pacemaker and was told that I wouldn't get hired as a paramedic. So I actually stopped the training, which is too bad, because I probably would have been hired, but and it's stuck to me like glue. It's like, just learning these protocols, and really about the human body and, and helping the human body out. Then, you know, going throughout my life, it's amazing how I just kept going towards these fields of healing. And I teach, I've been teaching yoga for 15 years. And that's something that just kind of fell in my lap too. But it was definitely the catalyst for me to go back to school, during the pandemic to become a massage therapist.

Mark Laurie:

Was there a particular point you say, Oh, this is looking back at my timeline in my life? This is a turning point. Do you have a moment, aha moment or thing where you go, Oh, that's the path I'm gonna turn left now.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah, definitely. When I discovered yoga after having my kid, I went down the the philosophy of yoga, rabbit hole, and it completely changed my life and changed me as a person, too. Yeah.

Unknown:

That's wild,well, so how was what you do affects relationship with your children? Children, child, one, two?

Jennifer Strukoff:

I have one kid. And yeah, my kid is very different than me, my kid is definitely a carbon copy of their father. And driven towards the IT side of the world. Right. But every once in a while, I see a little hint of me, in them. When they reflect very deeply on, you know, life in the world, and, and stuff like that. And I'm like, oh, okay, I did, I did have some sort of influence.

Mark Laurie:

How do you how do you parent, when you're so diverse from your child?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah,yeah. Well, you know, it's really just all about supporting them and Beaton allowing them to be their full selves. And, like, I don't understand, or even excel at what they do. They're definitely the opposite. But I know that as long as I encourage them to, you know, embrace it fully, and explore it fully. Because my kid is on the autism spectrum, it usually tends to be a very black or white world. And the gray area is the hard part for them. But I'm really good at the gray area. So I, I can Yeah, I can help them really see. You know, that that space in between?

Mark Laurie:

That's really cool. The gray areas are really, I think a lot of people have hard problems with gray areas. I think more people tend to be black and white and gray. I think the gray area confuses a lot of people. Yeah, murky zone for how do you navigate the gray area yourself.

Jennifer Strukoff:

I'm definitely influenced by, you know, yoga philosophy and Buddhist philosophy about, you know, staying in that gray area and just kind of being in there. So if you think about it as like a river, and the two banks, or the river or the black and the white area, and then the water is the gray area is really just kind of going with the flow and trying to keep any kind of judgment or like it's experienced that it fully completely at that moment. You know, understanding that you don't really need to bring in these memories and you don't need to think about the future too far in advance and just kind of experience life. And with my kid, that's a very hard thing. So we we try to To help them understand that, you know, fully being in the moment and experiencing what's happening right now is what's important. And that philosophy of, you know, with their, with their father and me is been really our goal. Since the moment, we knew that we were having a baby. So...

Mark Laurie:

yeah, that is cool. So how do you define success? Because you're, most people can say, Oh, I made a million dollars, I'm successful, how do you because you're not in that million dollar kind of field, I didn't find success with what you do in your life.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Um, if I can help people, right, it all goes back to that, you know, having people walk out of a massage that and they're, you know, they have that massage, like kind of days Enos right here, or they feel better after the massage or they feel more relaxed. You know, if they get lymphatic drainage, and I definitely notice, you know, a difference in, you know, their limb that is not as swollen, or that they have less headaches, you know, you know, if I help somebody to just feel better. And it might not even be like a lofty goal, they might just want to come and sleep.

Mark Laurie:

Put me to sleep, Jennifer put me to sleep.

Jennifer Strukoff:

I'm pretty good at that. Yeah.

Mark Laurie:

Your success is when you put somebody to sleep. that

Jennifer Strukoff:

To simplify it, yes.

Mark Laurie:

I love that. What's a failure?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Um, I don't, I don't, I don't really acknowledge failure. It everything's a learning experience. You know, in the past, I've, I've owned a business, I owned a yoga studio. And we had to close and because it just didn't work out. But it was definitely very helpful. In me understanding the business world and Calgary and dealing, dealing with the City of Calgary opening up a business and the stresses of like, working with employees, like yoga instructors, it's very different world. They're there they can be. There, their goals can be very lofty, and maybe unattainable time. And it's, you know, and being the like, realist, being the, like, reality person in that situation was definitely a learning experience.

Mark Laurie:

Oh, how does that feel? Because you're, you're kind of surrounded by the airy fairy, if you will. I don't mean that in a derogatory way. Just like they're kind of like, well, I live in a dream world. We're going to be your new people. And you're sitting there going, oh, I want to be that dream role, but I've got all this practical stuff to deal with. Yeah, that's, that's a conflict. How does you navigate that?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Very difficultly. Because, um, yeah, like it. It was really just being the person of realism all the time. And just kind of bringing them kind of bringing them back down to the earth and be like, Okay, this is really what's happening. And repetition. I had to keep doing it over and over and over again. And, you know, they're lovely people. They have beautiful goals, and they really want to bring just beautiful peace and breathing and yoga into the world. And they would love to do it for free. Every single one of yeah, he just, like reality comes in and it's yeah, it's it was very difficult. It was always bringing him back down to the world.

Mark Laurie:

You got it. I remember as Yeah, it's hard I've encountered I do a lot with artists as well. And you just love your passion is when people have it. And then you know, the backer goes really? Yeah, that's good. So your mortgage. Oh, Zack we paid them. Cuz I'm not your bet. I'm not gonna give it to you. Exactly. Yeah. Some point someone's looking for for the payment thing for it. Which is wild, though. Where do you find meaning in your life? You've got your yoga you got your chill Bring your true education, where is your, where's your point you go, Ah, this is my center point, this is my, my meaning.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Um, it's really, yeah, I do have all those things, and they're very, very fulfilling. And it gives me the ability to all of those things in my life to just kind of be good with staying still. And reflecting on the movement of my breath, and my body. And experiencing where I am, at that moment completely. All these other things are just kind of tools and hats that I wear. But really, it all comes down to this, this single moment and just experiencing it fully, completely. That's, that brings meaning into my life.

Mark Laurie:

It's hard to separate because we're built to look in the future. And we're also built to drag along the lessons and sometimes not let go from the past. How hard is that? Like, when you you gotta you have to look the future. Sometimes that's planning businesses paying clients playing to chill. So how do you find that transition? To go from in the moment, a future based come back to moment? How do you do that?

Jennifer Strukoff:

It's all about the breath. Yeah. And when you go out to the mountains, and you're at one of those beautiful lookout points, and the scenery is absolutely amazing, there isn't any smoke in the sky. And you look out, the first thing that people will do is they'll take a deep breath in, like they're trying to bring it all into their, their being, the breath is very, very important. And it can really bring you right into that moment. Feeling that full inhale, and full exhale, it just settles everything down immediately.

Mark Laurie:

The breath is most people think, well, I breathe all the time, our heart's put. But the breath you're talking about, that's a different kind of breathing. So just describe, maybe show how a person would breathe properly. To be in the moment.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah, it's it's an intentional breath. Like, our breath is controlled by the two different parts of our nervous system, the automatic, the automatic, and then what we choose to do. So thank God, we don't have to think about our breath all the time. Like, I get distracted by shiny objects all the time, I would totally forget to breathe. So I'm glad that there's that auto part of it. But when you intentionally bring in that big breath in and out, that breath stops the mind. it quiets it, and you're doing it on purpose. So and I talked about this, even with massage and with yoga, just to you know, come into what's happening right, then it's really taking that full breath in and filling the ribcage, filling the belly completely. And then just watching it, slowly exit the body. The key is taking a really, really long inhale, because your exhale will also be as long then.

Mark Laurie:

And that just calms you and centers you you can kind of move into your day. Yes. So what kind of things are you curious about right now? Where's your curiosity, your shiny objects going? What's your shiny object?

Jennifer Strukoff:

There's so many shiny objects. You know, I've been I've been in schools since the beginning of the pandemic really, and hasn't really stopped. So I did get my massage therapy from Mount Royal two years. I went for school. I went to school for two years straight even over the summer and spring. And I came out and I jumped right into my lymphatic drainage training and that really hasn't stopped. So and that's another two years and in September of this year, I will be finishing that journey, finally becoming a certified lymphatic therapist. And really I just need to stop taking training for a little bit. I need now I'm going to be entering into At least a year of, of relaxation, I want to I want to see some parts of the world. I want to embrace, you know, going to Europe, and diving into the beautiful history and architecture and art of, of Europe. And I'm gonna really try not to take some training next year. After that, I might, I might, you know, take some new training, probably what part of the world do you want to see? I've always wanted to see Paris. For the longest time, I was so close. I was in Amsterdam for a really long time and for 10 days, but I it was the first time I was in Europe. So I didn't I didn't want to get on to train. I was scared. So I just stayed in Amsterdam. I know better now. But yeah, I want to see Paris I want to see Versailles. It's, it's been a dream, for sure. And London. Like really just those really, you know, typical places to go as a tourist. And I love museums. So you'll find me in there. And you'll definitely find me in some graveyards to visiting some historical figures.

Mark Laurie:

Graveyards are cool, if you go to Halifax, they'll have what you see with the old graveyards is they would tell the story of the person's life. And so it's like a book, it's just really, really cool and neat to see.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Sounds wonderful.

Mark Laurie:

Can either cast aside to be part of this process? Or do you think people understand you?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Um, I think once they, once they get over, you know, how sure I am of myself and like, as a, as a, as a very powerful person. I'm quite tall. And so that can be very intimidating to people. But yeah, yeah. I think that, you know, once people get to know me that they know that I'm a gentle giant.

Mark Laurie:

How did you being tall is, especially for a woman it's quite a striking, creates barriers and so on. How did that shape your childhood?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Well, it definitely kind of put in some like stereotypes. So a lot of people asked me if I've played basketball, and I have I haven't played since I was in junior high, though. And then, in the 90s, I was always told and asked if I was a model to and I did do some modeling for a while. It's definitely a hard world to be in it is. Yeah, yeah. And especially back then. So, you know, I definitely come off as somebody that has been in that world, though, I'm very, very aware of my appearance and what I wear and that definitely shaped me, ya know, for the longest time if you look at my school memories book, my goal was to be Miss Canada.

Unknown:

Really? Yeah. And when did you drop that goal?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Probably when the first time I got married at 20

Unknown:

That's sad we lost a potential Miss Canada. What appealed about being Miss Canada? What was the charm for you?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Um, I feel like it's just because, you know, my family pretty much told me. You know, it, that it would be a good idea for years and years and years. I would never, you know, looking back I would never choose to be part of that world. Yeah, it's, it's, it's hard. It's hard to have everybody looking at you and picking you apart.

Mark Laurie:

Yeah, well, one person compared it to because I've met girls who've been like, they're very complex once we've been through the process. Yeah, one of the girls compared it to being in the Marines where they break you right down to nothing and they build it back up again. And you are a warrior. You're a whole different kind of person with different resiliency and so on. And she had won awards. She had done it she says, yeah, all the was all the ugly side of the business, but there's this positive thing that shapes your life afterwards. So it's, it's hard. Probably unnecessarily so but it's, it can deliver goods in some ways.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Oh for sure. Yeah, I'm sure a lot of my self confidence has come from that world for sure. Because yeah, really, you are you have to be your your best friend. You have to be your your, you know, rock your own rock in that world. Yeah.

Mark Laurie:

How did you acquire that? Like, that's like, that's a, that's an important skill set to have to be your own rock. So many people, especially at this stage, look outward. For validation? How did you find the skill to look inward?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah, it took a while, then, like the definitely, you know? I started doing modeling probably, when I was around 12. And, and yeah, it became very obvious right away that I had to be that. And to continue on it, like you have to have that self confidence. And you have to have it come from yourself and not from outside sources. Because it's not reliable if it's from an outside source. And it's true. I learned that lesson really quickly.

Mark Laurie:

I just learned the lesson. What was the the mechanism that goes, Oh, this has to be that?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah, just, you know, whether it was like, you know, doing a photo shoot, and the photographer at the time, kind of just pointing out every little. Right? And, and at that moment, it would be like, okay, just don't, don't take it seriously. They have different goals. They're, they're looking for something very specific. It's not that you're ugly, or you got a wrinkle, or whatever. It wasn't wrinkled, back then it was more like, they didn't like it when I smiled so much. They're like, just stay. Yeah, stay more serious, that you look more European, they would say if you just didn't smile.

Mark Laurie:

So yeah, my, my impression is a very joyful person. And if someone tell you Don't smile, you know, don't be grumpy, but don't smile. Yeah, it must have been, like, hard to contain, like, keep a gypsy in a bottle.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah, well, it's like, you walk into the room, and you put on a different hat. And it's like, and, and it's, you have to make that switch right away. You can't bring in what's outside that room in with you. You know, so I would take off my head of being you know, a daughter, a student to, you know, a young teenager, and put on my modeling hat right away. And I still do the same thing. Now, you know, I can go from being a massage therapist, to a yoga instructor, just walking through a door, or being a mom to being a lymphatic drainage, just by walking through the door, and just kind of leaving that role behind and jumping into the next role.

Mark Laurie:

That'd be a good skill for other people to have, I guess. Yes, that kind of thing. Yeah.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yes, definitely. And when you understand that you like, it can be a quick switch. It's a practice, right? Of not bringing in everything else with you. And just being fully that in that moment, as a mum, or in that fully mum in that moment as a yoga instructor. Right. But then not bringing in the other things with you.

Mark Laurie:

It's fine to do a breath to make that transition.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yes, definitely. Especially when I'm about to walk into a room to do a massage it, it's most beneficial to me first and and my client. Because if you bring in everything with you, it changes the feeling of the room, it changes your massage.

Mark Laurie:

I can sort of see that being true in all situations. Like when you go into a party, you go to a family meeting and you walk into a business meeting that completely immerse yourself in the new role would be helpful.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah,very much so. It's a it's a wonderful skill to learn, but it's something that you got to practice. It's not something Putting

Mark Laurie:

that person won't be doing it doing it. Right doing it doing it.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah. And so when you're, when you have that hat on, and other parts of your life come in, you have to move yourself back into that moment. And yeah, it's breath is taking a deep breath. And reminding yourself, yeah, I'm a massage therapist right now. I'm not a mom, you know. So it's important. And like, I feel like a lot of stresses in people's lives can can be toned down a lot. If they were just fully immersed in what they were doing at that moment. There's times to think about the past. There's times to think about the future like, I'm not completely unrealistic and thinking, yeah, let let the universe just bring it all to me. And stuff. Okay. Yeah, I can't do that, like, I do plan for the future. There's times to do that. Right. Yeah.

Mark Laurie:

How do you plan for the future? What's, what kind of steps are what's your process for planning for the future?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Like, you know, what, you know, doing, you know, I do lots of different things. Obviously, I have lots of different areas of my life. And I sit down, and I actually, what do I want to do in the next three months, six months? What do I want to do next year? And then I guess I just start making lists for those, those different things. When it comes to further in the future, you know, there's you set goals, in hopes that they happen. And sometimes they don't, you can't be attached to them.

Mark Laurie:

I've had a goal, it's important to go when suddenly, obviously, it's not going to happen, or you've had a roadblock? How do you release something like that?

Jennifer Strukoff:

I think you're gonna know my answer. Everything comes back to the breath of breath. Yeah. And it's, yeah, it's, it's hard, right? You've got, you know, when when, like, when I lost my yoga studio, that was that was a big blow. Because that was something that I wanted to do for a very long time. And so closing that business was very difficult. And really, you know, my yoga practice at the time is something that saved my my, my mental health at that time, you know, going and going to my yoga mat every morning, and doing a practice a yoga practice for like an hour, and breathing. And, you know, moving my body into these all these different, wonderful shapes. When I left the yoga mat, my mind was more calm.

Mark Laurie:

So that's really cool. That your breath really is your constant through your whole life for the book. When did you start the breathing? When did that Bri that tool?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah. So the first time I started tried yoga was probably in my early 20s. I did it at the Alberta ballet center. We didn't even have yoga mats. We just did it on the floor. We didn't have yoga clothes, we just did it in whatever. And I would leave those classes. So full of energy. And so I just I felt like I felt like I was superhuman, I would run I would run home after and I hate running. And then I came back to it. I came back to this, you know, practice and dived more into the philosophy of yoga. Right after I had my kid when I turned 30 And it was it was perfect at the time. I spent a lot of time listening to the old talks from rom Das, who he he definitely took the yogic texts and and spiritual texts of even Hinduism and turn them into something that a North American could understand. Because it's definitely not an easy thing as we think very differently. So I do, I do chalk up a lot to him, breaking it down for me. And he always talked about the power of the breath. And when I found Ashtanga Yoga, which is what I do now, everything is done with an inhale or an exhale. So in that time that I practice yoga, that's all that I think about is breathing. That's it. The poses they come, my body can do that. Right, right, the man I know what's coming next. It's a very predictable practice. Yeah. My job is to stick with the breath while I'm doing it. So I've been doing Ashtanga Yoga for so long. That's almost 20 years. And so you definitely get a good connection with your breath when you do that. Every day.

Mark Laurie:

Certainly, with that repetition, where you become like the 1000, 1000 times you do something before you become an expert at it.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah, rough. Yeah. Repetition is key. If you're going to change something in your life, repetition is key. I talked about that a lot in my yoga classics classes. Because if, if you're you're planning on just coming to one of my classes and you you hope that's going to help everything that every pain in your body and keeping your mind still, gosh, I wish I I wish it would take one class but no, it's it's you got to you got to repeat. If you're a stubborn person like me, you'd have to repeat almost every day.

Mark Laurie:

I understand. That's good. What's the best advice you've received? Most sage advice?

Jennifer Strukoff:

I'm probably you know, don't take life so seriously. Um, there's been a lot of instructors, a lot of teachers over the years that have told me you know, just don't, don't don't be so serious. Have fun with him.

Mark Laurie:

You tend to be like you get focused and very serious stuff. Is that your idea?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah, I can get Uber focus, which is great for some things. But then I forget to have fun.

Mark Laurie:

Oh, do you have fun? What's your what's your fun turn turn to thing?

Jennifer Strukoff:

Um, I I love riding my peloton. bike. Yeah, I'm on there. Every day, if it's the it could be the bike. But now I got the rower. So I'm rowing now. And so that's fun. That that's my fun. That's fun for me something that is very accessible. I love movies. I love going to the movies. And it's a beautiful thing. And I love award shows.

Mark Laurie:

Why do you love award shows? That sort of, it's like almost you turn your back on that within this kind of thing? What's the charm for you for award shows?

Jennifer Strukoff:

I don't know. Like it's, it's wonderful to watch it unfold itself. It's a whole thing. It's a whole doing like the just everything kind of fits in all at once and, and it works very well. And then you seeing these people at a moment of something that you know getting an award, something that they've been working for, or maybe all their life, getting, getting an award and just watching them in that really raw moment. I love it and try to talk and remember to thank everybody I find now while you know it has happened for a very long time. But in the word shows they take this moment to really stay important important things about current events or stuff that's happening in the world and I find it super interesting what they do with that. Usually it's about 45 seconds. Right?

Mark Laurie:

Short windows. Yeah,

Jennifer Strukoff:

I love award shows. Don't Call me during the don't call me during the Oscars. That's very bad idea.

Mark Laurie:

Have you received awards yourself, being on the stage?

Jennifer Strukoff:

I haven't really received any awards. No. I, you know, and there's no awards in the yoga world.

Mark Laurie:

It;s a whole different Philosophy isn't it?

Jennifer Strukoff:

There, believe it or not, there are yoga competitions. It's crazy. But you know, I'm six I'm a six foot fall tall giant. I, you might think I'm flexible, but I'm really not. And I if I went to one of those competitions, I wouldn't even qualify.

Mark Laurie:

It's all about the breath. Right? All about the breath. Yeah.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah. If I could be in a breathing competition, no problem. Sounds weird.

Mark Laurie:

It's unique approach. Yeah. But if they get breakdancing in the Olympics, and I'm sure they can do an Olympic breathing.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah, that'd be great.

Mark Laurie:

Oh, thank you so much for coming on my podcast. It's been a delight chatting with you. It's been kind of great. So you, people come to you. You go to people with your yoga and your lymphatic stuff.

Jennifer Strukoff:

Yeah. So when it comes to massage and lymphatic drainage, you know, I'm in Calgary in Marta Loop. I'm in Chestermere. And occasionally, I'm in Langdon. When it comes to yoga, you come to my website, and you can find out where I am Jennifer Strukoff.com. And I do online. I have both 180 hours of yoga library that I've recorded over the past probably seven years. Wow. And, and yeah, sometimes I teach in, in Langdon. And I teach in in Calgary and Marta loop too.

Mark Laurie:

So we'll have all that information in the bio. So if people are looking for it, they can go there and read a bit more about you and all the links and this has been great. I've enjoyed learning about breath and many processes. That's been great. Great, thank you. You find out.

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This has been fascinating women with Mark Laurie. Join us on our website and subscribe at fascinating women.ca Fascinating women has been sponsored by Inner Spirit Photography of Calgary, Alberta and is produced in Calgary by Lee Ellis and My Office Media.