MJ Heart is the Owner+Operator of Palo Santo Yoga & Wellness, a South Philly transplant, she specializes in alignment-based yoga and creative vinyasa flow that allows the practitioner to focus the mind, deeply access the body, and connect to the spirit within. Her style of teaching focuses on cultivating a moving practice of mind-body awareness that ultimately enables her students to experience a deep sense of personal connection as well as the ability to live in a more conscious manner within the present moment.
MJ has infused her modern experiences as a professional dancer and choreographer with the ancient wisdom of the teachers who came before her through the eastern lineages of Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and of course Yogic Philosophy. She believes that the journey of yoga is accessible to anyone and the right state of mind allows our personal practice to become a beautiful physical expression of our divine soul the lives within.
In addition to yoga, MJ has been devoted much of her life to pursuing her natural gift of work with the subtle body. She has been trained and certified in multiple forms of bodywork, energy-work, and additional modalities such as Deep Muscle Massage, Swedish Massage, Thai Bodywork, Myofascial Release, Acupressure + Trigger Point Application, Aromatherapy, Reiki Mastery, Qi Channeling, Crystal Energy, Reflexology, Craniosacral Thera., as well as Numerology, and Herbalism.
She completed her 200 hour training at Kula Heart Yoga as a student under Silver Kim studying hatha yoga, anatomical oriented yoga, vinyasa yoga flow and modifications of yoga asana to create mixed-level classes accessible to anyone. MJ has also studied Anusara Yoga under Todd Norian, Restorative Yoga with Jillian Pransky, Advanced Yoga Anatomy under Florence Corcoran, Prenatal Yoga with Sue Elkind, Asana Alphabet with founder, Ann Robideaux, Thera. Yoga under Bruce Bowditch, as well various studies of QiGong with Jay and Jenn Bartholomew.
Acknowledging that she is forever a student of the path of life, MJ is consistently continuing her education in additional healing modalities, plant medicines, and further study of yogic philosophies so she can continue to bring new knowledge, wisdom, and compassionate understanding to all her students.