Rocket Yoga Italy

You may know, recently I had an opportunity to take a trip to Rome, Italy. In Rome everything is big, ancient and has an undertone of reverence with beautiful Basilicas adorned in art. I was fortunate enough to be hosted at a Yoga studio in Rome called Yoga Lab to offer my Bottle Rocket yoga classes. I lead Bottle Rocket 1 followed by Bottle Rocket 2. These classes were groundbreaking and the first time they were offered in Italy. Bottle Rockets are 1 hour classes that I got to refine over the course of the past 5 years. Each Bottle Rocket similar to Rocket focuses on different aspects of the practice. Bottle Rocket 1 focuses on foundations and Bottle Rocket 2 focuses on building arm strength and detoxing the body with more twists and oblique work.

Everyday in Rome I started my day with reading Meditations of Marcus Aurelius who was a Roman emperor and philosopher. What stayed with me is when he talked about how important it is to be in society and how to live a stoic life, he noted how the age of our mind is going against us so it's best to take action now in the direction you want to go. He also discussed the idea of retreating into the territory of yourself and watching everything around us keep changing.

I find this all relevant with the rocket as I have so much to share with the yoga community. The Rocket has almost died in the United States due to trademark claims. I am stating that I do not work for the “™” for Rocket Yoga and this is Rocket without dogma. We do not have set rules of progression, we just share and facialte different Rocket routines and yoga practices. All of our Rocket programs are considered Continuing Education in Rocket Yoga. I was one of the first Rocket Yoga instructors in the United States after completing my training with Larry Schultz in 2000 and I have continued to instruct Rocket, never wavering from a practice I believe in wholeheartedly. 

I have to reflect back to Marcus Aurelius and he would handle such issues. I have to take the higher road and retreat to my inner territory and find the good that surrounds me everyday or the trademark issues will eat me alive. I know that Larry is turning in his spirit of how rocket school is being handled. I was one of the few people in the world that were granted by Larry Schultz to lead Rocket Trainings. So if I do the yoga, let the yoga teach me that this is my strength not my weakness. 

I have set up lots of Rocket programs here in Cincinnati as well as will be traveling to Kentucky soon to offer Rocket training! More details coming, just keep doing your practice and I’ll take care of the legal stuff for everyone! I will always protect my students who have trained with me to offer Rocket yoga freely. 

Namaste,
Amber Jean

Big Bridge Over Water

So the title of this post is a reference to water under the bridge but when I said it to a friend, it came out, “a big bridge over water”. My deep feeling is that it's about letting go of the past to make way for the future. A BIG bridge over water and it also reminds me of San Francisco where all this got started.. Well kind of;-)
It’s been 12 years since Larry took his Maha Samdahi into the big cosmic energy in the universe. Every year I, as Rocket Girl, write something and over the years I have written 100’s of blog posts about the rocket, Larry, Ashtanga yoga and the connections between different students and cities. All I can say is it's been a wild rocket ride and I would like to put some of those blog posts all together somewhere, someday.

Since Larry has passed I’ve been growing my rocket program at my studio Yoga ah as well as have offered rocket training all around the world, including three training in England,workshops and classes in Ireland,  two in Costa Rica, one in Nicaragua as well as training in Canada and the US. 

The rocket has been a gift in my life for sure but it's more than the rocket, it is also the teachings of ashtanga yoga that I have been so fortunate to have studied alongside building my rocket practice. I have definitely moved away from practicing Primary series and have moved more towards practicing mini rocket routines called “Bottle Rockets”.

Bottle Rockets are based in teaching and practicing this stuff for 23 years, one hour classes and practices work for most people, working on consistency over intensity. While I still teach “classical rocket 1,2 and 3” I find most of my day to day classes are “Bottle Rocket Mixed Levels”, so what exactly am I teaching!! Hahaah , well I do what works. Each Bottle Rocket has two to three opportunities for dolphin or elbow stand as well as “rocket splits”, one set of “rocket abs” and at the end one handstand. 

I am working on laying out exactly what a “Rocket Girl Yoga Training” or “ Yoga ah”  is as I too have continued to change and adapt my teaching and practice to meet the needs of the students.

My latest endeavor is taking the rocket on the road and combining traveling to Rome and Florence with instructing Bottle Rocket at San Lorenzo, Yoga Lab in Rome and possibly giving lectures or classes at Moodra in Florence. This is a good time to pave the way for the future but also a time to be present with all the energy around us. 

I was in Ireland this past September and the trips are connected and that's for another blog! 

The main thing is that I am continuing to share my passion and trust in yoga. “That's Yoga!” That's yoga when you are in a flow and you end up in places you could only dream of, that's yoga when you have amazing connections along the way, that's yoga!

So here we go! I look forward to sharing more soon, in the meanwhile enjoy some of the photos I added from my travels to Ireland this past year as well as me teaching in Cincinnati. Once a rocket girl always a rocket girl, it's my ride or die! Amber Jean xx

We are happy to be offering our RYT 200 in foundations in Rocket and Ashtanga this January 2025. The program will take place over 8 weekends and will be in person at our beautiful studio in the heart of Northside and also avalible to take on line over zoom.

Fridays 5:30pm - 8:00pm
Saturdays 9:30am - 5:00pm
Sundays 9:30am - 3:00pm

If you are interested in any of these programs email me directly This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or follow the scheduling links, payment plans are available for all training.

Text anytime 5135429642

As Amme and I set our sights to our vision of uniting our rocket yoga communities and expanding our teachings I feel it very relevant to talk about overcoming obstacles and how accepting change plays an important part of growth and transformation.

Larry talked a lot about how insecurities cloud our mind so thick that we stop living up to our full potential on and off the mat. This can not be more true in my experience. There is so much pressure to perform and live up to social media expectations of how we should look, talk and post about our journey that it's easy to get overwhelmed and freeze up. But I want to encourage all of you and remind all of you that YOU ARE SPECIAL, and you all have something very special to share with the world. A lot of my teachings are based on all the hardships I have gone through and overcome. Whether it's an injury, weight gain or experiencing great loss or even little loss, these challenges are an integral part of how we learn and grow. 

I lost my brick and mortar studio during the pandemic and had much success online but something was always missing from my day to day purpose. I found solace in starting a whole yoga program at my local rec center and guess what? It only made me stronger and expanded the way that I can teach a wide range of students. Things slowly evolved into me opening Yoga ah Home studio, which is a dream realized. I never thought that I could have a peaceful enough home to be able to do this. I was at such a loss when my children turned 18 and 21 and did not need me (as much), it sent me spiraling into the depths of confusion. Even though we crave change, change is very challenging to accept as it's happening. It takes time to rediscover oneself and the new roles we play in our life. 

The key always comes back to our practice.Rocket yoga practice gives you confidence in yourself no matter what. Larry's philosophy comes back to the inner teacher holding the key. When you quiet your mind in yoga practice your deepest truths are realized and you become more focused to align your actions with your goals. This is the change we all seek but have trouble making those first steps.Creating a self practice can help, it can be the first step in getting you in tune with your innermost truths. Amme and I look forward to giving you the tools for creating a solid home practice as well as a community to practice and share the journey with. Because “it's not what yoga can do for us but for what we can do for yoga” #larryschultz

--