Jacqui Simmonds

Jacqui was introduced to yoga in the late 1980’s while searching for a practice to support her work in contemporary dance. She began studying with Peter Thomson in 1993, and quickly realised that Peter’s teaching offered her many new insights into the body in movement.

Jacqui has a Master of Fine Arts (Dance) from the University of Illinois. She has taught dance in the tertiary sector for over 20 years and is currently Director of Dance Education at the Australian College of Physical Education. While on a study trip to Holland in 1996 she was exposed to somatic approaches to dance training and this evolved into her initiating a collaborative research project that sought to describe a systematic approach to integrating somatic principles and methodologies into dance training. Her interest in exploring foundational movement principles led her to completing a Feldenkrais teacher training course (Sydney IV).

Throughout this time Jacqui continued to practice yoga and in 2003 she began teacher training with Peter. She received Introductory Level 2 teaching certification in May 2008. She has attended yoga conventions in Sydney and Melbourne, and in December 2007 spent a month studying with the Iyengar family in Pune, India. More intense practice has enabled Jacqui to further deepen her love for and appreciation of yoga and to continue exploring how yoga supports and informs so many other aspects of her life.

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