Jordin Rodondi
Meet Jordin Rodondi! Jordin joined our team first as a weekend manager and shortly thereafter as a core member of our teacher team in 2020, just as we were reopening after the 1st round of covid-19 closures. She has been a ray of bright light and positive energy at Metta since day 1. Read on to get to know more about Jordin!
Hello lovely Jordin! Welcome to this month’s Teacher Feature, I’m so excited to interview you! You’re a warm presence in both San Rafael and Corte Madera. You see many new yogis in both studios, do you remember what inspired you to start your yoga practice?
Heartbreak. Full breaking open is always the best place to dive deep, isn’t it? It’s the gateway to something magical and real.
We all come to our practice for a reason, I’m glad you found yoga when you needed it. Since you’ve been practicing, have you uncovered a favorite pose or series to practice or to teach?
Oh this is so dependent on mood and context of my current cycle of living and healing! My juicy go to’s are hips and heart openers.
Hips and heart are always favs… so good! On the flip side, do you have a least favorite yoga pose?
I honestly don’t. Until recently - and Mysore with Matt Champoux - deep seated forward folds! My mind had a hard time with them and until I felt (not just understood) felt how to meet my ideas differently through my body in order to explore and enter big folds, I had stickiness with them. Lots of curiosity and play.
Such a key part to our yoga practice is that sense of curiosity and play. I know we can fall into self-judgement and self-criticism, but curiosity and play is infinitely more fun, kinder and more productive!
Diving a little deeper into your yoga history, what family or lineage of yoga do you most associate with? Can you identify a most inspiring teacher?
I seek yoga inspiration from living all of life, in the fullest way. I am trained primarily through the Tantric lens of yoga with Sianna Sherman and the Rasa Yoga Collective, which teaches a weaving of methods and philosophies that draws from many lineages and cultural roots - very Bhakti inspired. Also life-affirming, inclusive and oh so vibrant. The key value can be summed up with the Sanskrit phrase “Mhukti Bhukti” - Worldly fulfillment and Divine Liberation. It is an invitation of “both, and”. We aim to affirm rather than reject. We seek out human purpose and richness in an embodied diverse way - the rasa or nectar, the juice, the pulsation, the heartthrob- while also tuning into the universal and formless beyond. We don’t have to transcend ourselves or be perfect to find it. Another way to think of Tantra is saying a “full yes” to all of life - weaving a beautiful interconnected tapestry of experiences, including the paradox, shadow, and chaos.
That is beautiful and deep – talk about juicy! The Tantric lens of yoga is such a gorgeous and delicious multi-course meal. Every bite takes us on a journey, the more we taste and savor the knowledge, the deeper, more complex, and savory the knowledge becomes. The process can’t be rushed, but every nibble is so good!
With the depth of your practice, I imagine it has evolved over the years and through the various phases of emotion and life. Has your practice changed much since you started yoga?
I entered yoga through the backdoor of meditation. Then I used yoga as a tool to escape and exclusively practiced incredibly hot and physically demanding yoga. The extreme conditions were the only way I could stay in my body at the time. As I got deeper into my practice and different types of asana as well as subtle body, non-asana yoga, I began to slow down and crave steady, lyrical and healing flows. Yin and sound yoga has become my sweetness in life! Tenderness is still my emotional edge.
So good. OK, how do you practice yoga off your mat and out in the world?
Service and social transformation. All just a practice in falling in love, really. Being in relationship, intentionally … I truly believe in taking care of each other. Formerly I worked in education equity at the intersection of neuroscience and tech - researching and translating the neurological underpinnings of attention into the real world, including mindfulness! It was fascinating studying the power of the mind, how we direct it and how all this impacted our formal social institutions - subsequently right back to our own development. Today I have the same purpose in teaching yoga - building presence, belonging and equity - just a different approach. Body before (but not superior to) brain. I continue to translate yoga into my professional endeavors, and other domains of living a life of agency. I do believe yoga is a massive mechanism to incite change in our modern world, which includes social justice, innovation and novelty, but first we say “yes” to what is true for ourselves. And as my meditation mentor Jack Kornfield says “... (mindful practice allows us to) perfect the lens of the heart.”
That’s fascinating and again very deep. It’s complex in a beautiful way.
Practicing yoga doesn’t always take up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. What is your favorite thing to do other than yoga?
Rock climbing.
I can see that! The importance of mindfulness, presence and breath translates to rock climbing in a big way.
Where is your favorite place to be outside of the studio?
The coast, the coast the coast!
What is your favorite thing about living in the here and now?
It’s so much sweeter to be with what is real. Plus you have the option to show up differently when you’re paying attention.
Those are some inspiring words. What do you find inspiring?
Life’s greatest challenges.
Talking with you reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Charlotte Joko Beck: “Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath. Every moment is the guru.” Do you have a favorite quote?
One that is on my altar right now…”A cloud can never die. A cloud can become snow, or hail …or rain..”(on death, singleness) - Thich Nhat Hanh. He talks about it being impossible for rain (or something) to become nothing. It just changes. He also refers to this change of state as a “darling” or beloved. It’s held in such tenderness. To me this means we never lose our value. We are valuable no matter what. We are real, and cannot become unreal as we change in our life cycles. And our natural inclination is to hold this change with deep compassion.
That’s gorgeous, Jordin. Such a beautiful perspective and understanding of our selves. I love the image of various life stages, our feelings, and emotions as being beloved and held in tenderness.
I feel like this whole interview has been a love letter of nurturing and guidance. Do you have any additional advice or words of wisdom you’d like to share with us?
We hear again and again that our greatest suffering comes from attachment- attachment to an expectation, desire, outcome, feeling. So it’s not so much the thing that churns the suffering in us, it’s the relationship to the thing. I am a sensitive bear that cares too deeply about most things and most people AND cherry on top, I tend to think a lot. One golden nugget is to “commit to not taking things so personally, and find a hint of a smile despite” - inspired by playful baby Krishna. This is not to be a proponent of avoidance through insincere positivity (oof that sounds like some rage brewing), but to go to an edge of finding something to laugh or smile through with “metta” loving kindness, regardless of all that may be heavy or hooked. Breath there. PS- Something will always be hooked, baby. And like I say in class everyday - “All parts of you have a place.”
You have a beautiful heart and soul, Jordin. What are you passionate about? Do you have a passion project?
I am writing an altar-building book about creating gorgeous, intimate space. A place that belongs only to you to evoke your deepest, beautifully emotional self. Kind of love letter to the parts of us that crave to be held the most. My partner and I have also started making living altars with native CA plants, and altar kits which is so fun! I am passionate about sensual, creative expression.
That sounds like a great book and a fantastic passion project - sign us up! Moving on to the speedy questions …
What are two things most people don’t know about you?
I am a priestess in training. I have had my hair dyed every color of the rainbow other than green.
Fun! What book(s) are you currently reading?
Jitterbug Perfume , Tom Robbins
Who is your musical artist of the moment?
The Aluna Project! A brazilian band perfect for shaking your booty.
What is your favorite movie?
I’m not much of a cinema buff! When I’m feeling down, I watch all the Harry Potters - does that count?
It totally counts! If you could be an animal, what would you be?
My dog. I want to know what she thinks. Or a sloth.
Ha! I get that :)
What is your favorite food?
Korean. Kimchi jigae which is spicy kimchi stew.
A good dinner deserves a good dessert! What flavor of ice cream best describes you? Or what’s your favorite flavor?
My personal fav is honey vanilla lavender from Scoop in Fairfax. I feel like that could describe me as well. Intriguing and unexpected.
I’ll add complex and delicious!
What is your favorite travel destination? Or what is your dream vacation?
I am going to Southern France for a priestess pilgrimage this summer that definitely checks some boxes. I also crave Portugal, Panama, Brazil and Iceland.
Do you have room for a stowaway in your luggage?
You’ve got a lovely perspective on life, living, and acceptance. Have there been any surprise silver linings from the last two years?
I met my life human and partner in all things after a broken engagement that was very unexpected! A far but very dear to my heart second is that I went for it and started a virtual biz turned social initiative called Love Roar. The Love Roar leap led me to Metta and all of you!
We are so grateful it did! You’ve become a vital part of our Metta family!
Any big plans for 2022 (& beyond)?
I am going to graduate school to become a clinical psychologist! I am completing a sex therapy program right now which is incredibly compelling.
Thank you for your gorgeous insight, Jordin! It has been a pleasure to dive deeper into getting to know you! Is there anything else that you’d like to share with our Metta Yoga community?
Love y’all!
That feeling is mutual, Jordin - we love you too!
Check out Jordin’s classes at Metta. Here is Jordin’s current teaching schedule:
Sundays: Soulful Flow, 10:45am @SR / Candlelight Yin, 6pm @CM
Wednesdays: Flow and Restore, 6pm @ SR + 2nd Wednesday of the month Sound Healing and Mindfulness, 7:30pm @ SR
Fridays: Happy Hour Flow, 4:30pm @ SR
Follow Jordin on social @jordinrodondi @loveroarspiritlab
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