hi there, I’m ashlyn jumpponen!

serving you tips & tricks on all things;
+ eats and sips
+ fashion
+ fitness
+ lifestyle
+ travel

📍ALWAYS EXPLORING

Ashlyn Jumpponen was born on the West coast, and became a Midwest transplant at an early age. With an old school atlas in hand, she navigated her and her co-pilot to smack dab in the middle of the US. She has always been incredibly passionate about traveling, and exploring new places. Ashlyn is the CEO of her own health and wellness business, and strives to help others with their health, wealth and/or B O T H! She loves trying new styles of foods, and creative cocktails. (She says she’ll try anything once - so if you have something good your hiding, let her know!) In addition to being a foodie, she loves seeking out the latest trends in fashion, and trying out new styles. Ashlyn loves sharing her adventures, and hopes you’ll enjoy following along! Thanks for stopping by! <3

For collaborations, email [email protected]

Xo, ashlyn

yo·ga
/ˈyōɡə/
noun: yoga
1.a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation.

Do you ever have a dream, and it’s in the palm of your hands, waiting for you to
take it and run with it? But that small voice inside your head tells you, “I can’t do this” or “I’m not good enough,” so you believe it and self-sabotage before the good even gets going? Ya, I’ve been there too. If you’ve been following along on my blog, or Instagram - you’ll know that personal development has been a H U G E thing for me. And this article here, is a story about perseverance and fighting for what it is you truly want in your life. Take that beautiful dream of yours and RUN with it, because if you don’t start now, the harsh reality is that you may never start.

At the beginning of 2018, I set a personal goal for myself to get my yoga sculpt certification. If you’re unfamiliar with yoga sculpt, it’s a little bit of yoga mixed with bursts of cardio and some weight lifting. The class is heated, and you put in WERK, bitch. (Just ask Jack and my friend, Pete Forsee). I’d been attending yoga classes at Power Life Yoga, and really began to tap into my inner yogi. I’ve always enjoyed taking yoga classes - I was a dancer and cheerleader, so I always thought I was #winning when I could touch my toes, and hit the poses the teacher asked us to do. Jack would always joke with me and ask if I “won” class when I got home. After wanting to flick him in the noggin, I’d tell him, that’s not what yoga is about, sir!

One day, after our witty banter, I decided it was time to bring my idea of getting my certification to life. The teacher had just announced there was going to be a teacher training during the summer. I looked over at my friend, and said, “this is it! It’s happening.” After class, I walked over to the front desk, feeling confident as ever, and asked how to sign up. I’d been taking the classes, how hard could it be to actually teach the classes, right?!

So I set out on a six week, 60 hour long journey to get my certification last summer. I got my sequence manual and it was off to the races. Honestly, bless my friends and family for allowing me to practice my sequences with them, and asking them to “be my body” so I could flow through everything. At the end of our training, we had auditions. I was definitely nervous when I went to my audition, but I felt comfortable enough with what I was doing, that I wasn’t freaking out about messing up (thaaat bad). It was my turn, and I felt like I delivered the best I could. I made a few mistakes, but hey, I’m human. I forgot to say my little spiel at the beginning, and I made up for it by saying “WAAAIIIT! I forgot to tell you guys this thing I read the other day!” and told them. I felt overall good about where I was.  I was happy, at least I got my certification!

About a week and a half later, I got a call saying, “I’m sorry, Ashlyn. We’re going to pass. Thanks.” YOU GUYS, THAT WAS IT. There wasn’t really any feedback on how to get better, or let’s keep working on it. That call floored me. I put my yoga mat in my closet, and didn’t take it out until I had to for a work event about 3-4 months later. And when I sat on my mat, I cried. I cried because I had wanted something so badly, and I gave up. You know what, who cares if they didn’t want me, or didn’t think I was good enough. I KNOW I AM GOOD ENOUGH, and I shouldn’t have let the opinions of others completely take away something I worked for.

You see, the reason I wanted to become a sculpt teacher in the first place was to help others. I love helping others tap into their full potential, whether that be on their mat, or in their personal lives. I enjoy listening to others and finding out what lights their fire, and then pushing them to go after their own goals and dreams.

Over the last year, I have made a lot of mistakes, I am nowhere near perfect. BUT, I have also grown exponentially as a person. I realized that I was looking at life in such a negative way. Y’all, I literally packed my car up, and drove 1,700 miles by myself to a move away from the person I used to be. I wasn’t happy with myself, or my lack of trying. I needed to get away in order to find myself, and who I really wanted to be. I stopped caring so much about how others would perceive me if I did this, or that, and I started caring about ME. Are there some things I wish I could take back? Absolutely! But this past summer, I found myself again. And you know what? I LOVE MYSELF. My weird, goofy self. I embrace my awkwardness, and it’s a passion of mine to show others its okay to embrace theirs too!

Yoga has been something that I have gone back and forth with my entire life (which LORD knows I need, because ya gurl is HIGH strung). My friend Grace and I began talking about the classes I was going to come take from her when I moved back from LA, and you guys, that friendship saved my dream. So, when I moved home, I decided to try out a different studio, Core Power Yoga. I began to feel that sense of community again. I felt back at peace when I came to my mat. I felt the dream of becoming a sculpt teacher begin to come back.

Fast forward a few months, and I decided it was time to put my certification to use. I applied for a fun-filled weekend Intensive with Core Power. Basically, you take my whole 60 hour long journey and crunch it into a Saturday, and Sunday - with auditions on Sunday afternoon. When I applied, I didn’t realize auditions were going to be held in the same weekend and I began FREAKING THE F*CK OUT!!! Thankfully, I had some help and was able to practice some of the rust off before the weekend, but I was still so nervous. Another thing I didn’t realize was that everyone at this intensive, 1. already worked at CorePower (so they alll knew each other), and 2. had taken their 200 hour certifications - so I was dealing with some REAL BADASSES.

Those voices started to creep back into my head…”You really think you can do this? Please…” or “you should probably just pack your things up, and try again next year.” BUT, I fought the urge. Despite not knowing a single soul, I walked up to my now bestie (we literally met last Saturday, crazy right) Mo, and said hi, I’m Ashlyn! We sat next to each other, and people literally thought we’d been friends long before. I went on to create friendships and relationships with many other badass people, and HOLY TITS, the overwhelming amount of support and community I felt in that room, just lit a fire under my ass.

I remember driving to the studio on Sunday morning, and getting down on myself. I had a 30 minute drive, and I knew if I stayed in this mindset, I’d never feel ready enough to audition in eight hours.. I flipped on my favorite playlist, and screamed (SCREAMED) at myself. “This is your dream! You have worked toward this for a whole year! YOU CAN. You can do this! Don’t stop now. Keep going, you are so close!” And I’m not kidding, I had tears rolling down my face. I finally realized how bad I wanted this. For myself.

I set the tone of my audition by telling everyone I wanted my students to feel like badasses after they take my classes. And I’ll be honest, I think I kind of blacked out, but I remember leaving my audition feeling accomplished and proud of myself. I felt so good that whole weekend, that regardless of my results - I KNOW I’ll continue to come to my mat and find that inner peace it brings me, because I will never quit on my dreams again.

If you’re still reading along with me, first, THANK YOU! I know this is a lot. But the moral of this story is, you should never give up on your dreams. You were meant for greatness, and this is only the beginning. It’s never too late to start doing something for yourself, or for others. The second part to this is, be patient. Good things take time. I used to be skeptic of people who said, “you’re right where you’re meant to be.” Like no…life doesn’t work that way. But it is SO TRUE! I wasn’t ready to teach others to love and believe in themselves a year ago, because I didn’t love or believe in my own self. I needed to find myself, so that I could help others find themselves, and embrace it 110%.  

I’ll find out if I’m going to be a yoga teacher in a few weeks!! So keep your fingers crossed for me loveys, and wish me luck!

Xoxo,
Ash 💋