Jason Battung - yoga instructor

From quarterback football player at University of Pennsylvania to student peace guru and devoted Samo yoga instructor, Jason Battung has come a long way. Battung, who goes by the yogi name JB, has a wide range of knowledge and experience that he incorporates not only during his yoga classes but also in his everyday life.Battung’s yoga career began after he spent an enlightening month studying abroad in Alicante, Spain during sophomore year in college. He was exposed to the raw culture and language of Spain, a different experience from the dorm rooms at Penn. Upon returning from his trip, he had an expanded outlook on the world and learned a major base of yoga: withdrawment from comfort. His passion for yoga stemmed from his new perspective.“There is an importance in getting yourself out of your comfort zone to experience meaningful growth,” Battung said.This liberating trip was only one of many ventures that have contributed to the synthesis of Battung’s personality and view on life. Battung graduated from Penn as a marketing economics major and student athlete. However, he was not completely thrilled with his involvement on the football team, as he was looking for a more open style of fitness. Yoga fit all of Battung’s criteria: a source of athleticism and mindfulness. However, because it was unpopular for a college guy, Battung was not actually practicing yoga.“I kind of just talked about it [yoga] for a long time….but I wasn’t doing anything about it,” Battung said.As a joke, his friend’s gave him a gag gift full of basic yoga gear-a mat, block and strap- thinking that Battung would not use it. But he utilized his first set of yoga gear to its full extent and eventually built up the confidence to attend yoga classes. Battung was later hired by Rustic Pathways: an organization that organizes community service opportunities and other learning experiences in foreign countries for high school students. He could not turn down the opportunity to be director of a program in which he would get paid to travel.During a trip to Southeast Thailand, he encountered Buddhist monks, experienced the culture, and discovered his true passion of working with teens. Although the program was not yoga-based, Battung led meditations and yoga sessions with the students. This was was his first time to become a yoga instructor for the youth. He stated that his love of working with teens can be narrowed down to two reasons.“One, they typically had enough life experience to understand that life isn’t an easy thing. They’ve had ups, they’ve had downs, they’ve celebrated things, they’ve lost stuff. And two, they get this comedy of life that we are in. There are plenty of adults who have had these experiences, but they tend to shut themselves off like they know everything. A teenager is still open enough. Their mind and heart is still open enough to consider many possibilities. That’s why I dig teenagers,” Battung said.After five years, he visited Venice with the program and decided to settle down in Santa Monica. Both of the cities had attracted yoga due to the pleasant weather and great food options for vegetarians. It was prime location for Battung and allowed him to become embedded into a community.“I wanted to be in a community longer than three months,” Battung said. “I wanted to become part of the fabric of it.”Upon arrival in Santa Monica, one of the familial-like affiliations Battung made was at Samo. A colleague of his, Jenna Gasperino, asked if he would like to volunteer to instruct yoga classes at Samo. At the time, yoga was not as widespread as it is today. It was only offered during 5th and 6th period and the majority of the students in the class were females.His involvement with Samo and its yoga program brought Battung to decide what he wanted to do in life: teach yoga.“I came in and started teaching. I realized I dug it,” Battung said.Seven years ago, he became the official, full time yoga instructor at Samo. Since then, Battung has been working to grow the yoga department at Samo and broaden physical education throughout Santa Monica. Battung feels like incorporating yoga, which differs greatly from other sports, is important because it taps into specific social and emotional elements abundant in teenagers. Thus, yoga is a rich learning experience for many students. The demographics and population of Samo is so vast that students are usually only knowledgeable about their own bubble on campus. Battung describes the yoga room as a reflection of Samo. He is glad that because yoga is not a track class, it attracts more students and allows everyone to qualify. Plus, there are no factors in Samo’s yoga that would call for alteration in teaching habits that may arise in a yoga studio. “I never want my students to feel attached to me. Yoga is about freedom. There are so many dynamics in a studio situation and the teachers want you to be attached to them because you coming into class is how they are paying their rent,” Battung said.Battung uses his Economics bachelor degree not only for leading classes at Samo but also as P.E. Department Chair and trainer of Yoga ED. In addition, he is working to receive a masters from LMU in yoga studies in which he must attend numerous history classes and become fluent in the ancient language of Sanskrit. Battung’s future goals include composing a national yoga textbook with valid information and constructing a website—oneloveyoga.com—that would offer high school yoga teachers a forum and series of guidelines and pointers.Although Battung does not have any kids of his own, he is guru to his hundreds of yoga students that are grateful to have him on campus.