BJ’s intention is to serve the greater flow of the Universal Energy in ways that contribute value, meaning and enhance the whole. BJ stands for Benita Jacqueline, her birth name which she is reclaiming. Benita means ‘Blessed’, which has always been her experience. Benita serves from her heart to inspire students to align with the power of Grace and awaken to their own shining Light within.
A passionate student of Anusara® yoga and seasoned Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher, Benita is an “energizing presence, and contagiously uplifting.” After two years of intense Ashtanga study, Benita felt drawn to the Anusara practice and has since dedicated thousands of hours to training, studying and teaching the inspirational style of Anusara yoga in her playful way. She has had a devoted personal practice since 1999.
Benita J. feels grateful to have been blessed with opportunities to travel the world studying with, apprenticing and assisting Master Yoga Teacher and founder of Anusara Yoga, John Friend. Although he has left Anusara yoga, it is with great honor that Benita is a principle leader and visionary in the co-creation of the teacher-led global Anusara® School of Hatha Yoga™, truly a labor of love. She has been integral in introducing Anusara yoga in South America and currently leads bi-lingual immersions, teacher trainings, master classes, retreats, workshops and intensives in South American and other international and national venues.
Ever the student, she continues to refine her yoga studies with great teachers of yoga, philosophy, healing and nature based traditions. She regularly studies yoga philosophy under the auspices of renowned Tantric wisdom scholars Carlos Pomeda, Paul Muller-Ortega, Chris ‘Hareesh’ Wallis and others, and has been a devoted student of Douglas Brooks for 10 yrs. All of these great teachers and teachings inspire the subtle weaving of the life affirming themes into her classes. An ardent desire to connect deeply within her own heart, and the hearts of those around her, fuels the dedication to continued study and practices of other varied healing modalities that naturally expand the body, mind and soul.
John Friend, founder of Anusara, and BJ Galvan Madrid, Spain October 2005
Humbly filled with gratitude, love and devotion, Benita is honored for the privilege to share the wisdom and teachings of grace that her teachers have so graciously and generously showered on her.
“Anusara yoga isn’t what I do, it’s how I live, who I am. It’s aligning with, trusting and celebrating the Energy beating our hearts, growing the trees, shining the sun. It’s immersing myself in the magic of the Flow.”
Benita, also known as Bj or Beeja, was a fully qualified fitness instructor and personal trainer for 15 years. She is also a Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner, Reiki Master and practitioner of other healing, nature based modalities.
Outside of the fitness industry, she founded and managed several successful business ventures, both for profit and not for profit, and served four years on the local school board which built the first green school in the country, as well as served on the board for her neighborhood association. She is proud to be the mother of three extraordinary young men, and overjoyed to be the grandmother of two beautiful little boys and two little Goddess granddaughters.
“You know that space of infinite love and unbounded joy within your Heart, that place you don’t even know exists until you have a child? Well, there is another one for your grandchildren!”
Eternally thankful for her family, friends, her teachers and all those who came before them, she is especially grateful to John Friend, the lineages of Grace and the auspicious blessing that led her to this rocking with Shakti, fun loving, magically transformational, all inclusive, life-affirming community of like hearted people called Anusara Yoga.
