Jamila is a certified yoga teacher. Her first desire to do yoga was to increase her flexibility so that she could be a better liturgical dancer. She quickly learned that her history and discipline in dance and tae kwon do gave her a natural ease in practice and she quickly fell in love.
The benefits off the mat drew her to wanting more people to experience yoga. Agape Yogastry was born in 2017 during yoga teacher training to not only connect people to yoga through the breath but also to create and facilitate space for people to connect to God, the Giver of the breath.
Agape Yogastry’s signature class is the “SON Salutations,” a uniquely designed practice that gives honor to Jesus Christ by drawing parallels from the practice of yoga to the practice of Kingdom living. Appropriate for beginners or those new to yoga, the class is centralized around scripture and opens with a short review of biblical themes and principles to exercise the mind. The session then moves through a series of synchronized poses, aligned with the biblical theme to exercise the body. The song selection and carefully executed cues invites the Holy Spirit to not only enter the practice space but to saturate the students. The session ends with prayer and meditation.
Agape Yogastry also provides specialized yoga classes for youth that go far beyond stretching and breathing. Through a specialized curriculum, youth explore and learn self-care techniques that lead to improve mental, emotional, as well as physical health. Learning more about themselves, they learn how to better interact with their peers and the community around them. Jamila has provided services to youth at Milwaukee College Prep, Milwaukee Collegiate Academy, Townsend School, and the Children’s Outing Association (COA), and the Neighborhood House of Milwaukee.
She is a lead teacher at Embody Yoga Studio located in the Sherman Phoenix in Milwaukee where she teaches several adult classes per week.