Meet Jessica Ferguson of Groove by Jessica in Inner loop

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Ferguson.

Jessica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I attribute a lot of where I am today as a result of the journey that my life has taken me on so far; which to me feels like a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns. I truly hope that by sharing that part of my story it can help others reading to stay hopeful-with anticipation-along their own journey. Thank you for this opportunity, I feel very honored to be featured in this series.

Growing up, I loved performing and being on stage so my parents put me in dance and local theatre schools at a very young age. I was always very active and driven to make healthy choices partly because I struggled a lot with health issues that started early on. I was born with a weak immune system and at six months was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma that left me blind in my left eye. I was fitted with my first prosthesis at the age of 2 but I didn’t let that stop me from achieving my dreams. I’ll be honest and say that when school started it was difficult as I was treated differently because of my eye and I developed a lot of anxiety. Dance and performing became my outlet and way of expressing myself, so very early on, I was driven and determined to be successful in that field. I moved to Los Angeles right out of high school to pursue a career in music.

I recorded and released music, and my first single, “GO” ft Kevin McCall, was picked up by MTV and played in Malls and Gyms nationwide. Things were taking off when I suddenly had to press pause on my career to attend to some health issues that spiraled out of control. I moved back to Houston only to start visiting doctors and found myself once again being controlled by my health issues, in the worst way. I stumbled upon a Holistic Doctor in Sugar Land, Dr. Peter Osborne, that was the first to give me answers and hope towards finding solutions. After years and years of struggling, I started the journey into gaining and maintaining my health. For the first time, I finally felt a sense of control over my wellbeing.

This is where yoga became a huge part of my life that changed me for good. I had always practiced yoga, but more for physical reasons to maintain my body to stay in shape for dance. As I started to become healthier and as my lifestyle started to shift, I found the practice of yoga daily for the therapeutic benefits towards benefitting my mind and body as a whole. While living in LA, I found a yoga studio named Modo Yoga, a group of over 70 studios around the world that practice an accessible approach to yoga, and the teachers were always encouraging me to attend teacher training… I guess you can say that the rest is history. I received my 500 HR certification through Modo Yoga and since then have started ‘Groove by Jessica’ where I teach private and group sessions in dance and yoga. { I also teach at multiple studios and business around the Houston area (Empower Fitness Lab, Yoga Pod West Houston, and Socially Fit) and I keep my social media accounts updated with my schedule weekly if interested in taking any of my group yoga classes. }

My job has lead me to be successful in helping others achieve goals in their health and wellbeing through a safe and accessible practice of movement and I am loving every moment of it. Groove by Jessica has allowed me to have a clientele ranging from late ’20s to early ’80s.

My passion is driven by being able to help those find the movement within their body to become free from anything that may be causing them to feel stuck. The most beautiful and rewarding thing for me is when I get to witness that shift within a person’s wellbeing happen in just one hour.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh no. As I mentioned, my health definitely got in the way of a lot of major moments in my life. And that struggle was at its worse in my 20’s. But those struggles were not only with just my health issues and my immune system but with the anxiety that I developed from them. I suffered from severe anxiety especially during social settings that caused me to never fully be able to experience the moment and the beauty around me. I honestly just felt helpless and hopeless a lot of the time towards even understanding or knowing how to get better. However, deep down saw and knew in the deepest part of my soul, that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I never lost sight of that light and I knew that every circumstance I found myself in was an opportunity for me to grow and that there was a hope towards being able to live my most vibrant life as possible. I quickly became aware of the truth to the saying that your health is your wealth. And too often we lose sight of that and put our health aside for moments of success that will ultimately become shortened when your health isn’t there to support you.

So within those struggles, I learned to see them as sharpening tools used to define the person that I am today as well as the tools that I am able to use throughout my career as an instructor; because of that I’m able to have a better understanding of how to be of service and help towards those in need.

Groove by Jessica – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My personal business model, Groove by Jessica, is about helping others find their groove within their body, mind, and soul. I teach based on a therapeutic standpoint, utilizing breath and movement to create an experience that allows freedom within the body. Most of my clients have injuries or ailments that have caused them to need an alternate approach towards working out, staying fit, and finding health. My specialties are held in offering modifications that help each individual with where they are in their body and their life at that very moment. I’ve so often heard the phrase, “Oh, I am NOT flexible…” or “I can’t dance!”. My response to that has been, “Spend an hour with me and I will have you walking out saying otherwise.” It’s not about the flexibility, it’s about the range of motion and every single person has their own natural rhythm that they can tap into to feel at home in themselves and comfortable with movement.

My background as a dancer gives me the advantage of being able to understand the body and its way of movement and therefore I am able to guide each individual through a safe and effective practice with results of being able to find and live a vibrant life.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I feel so proud every day when I get to see and notice the results of my clients that I work with. However, by far, I am most proud of the program I started, “See the Light” where I offer yoga classes to the Blind and individuals living with disabilities.  I saw a lack in this field of the practice of yoga for these individuals and that bothered me to my core. A lovely friend of mine, Megan Eddings founder of Accel Lifestyle, was so gracious in getting me in contact with the Metropolitan Multiservice Center and I now guide yoga classes twice weekly in affiliation with the Houston Council of the Blind Fundraising at the MultiService Center. They are my favorite classes to teach because each and every single individual continues to look forward to their yoga practice with smiles on their faces and they have the most beautiful practice. Being able to receive positive feedback and see the growth within each and everybody I teach means everything to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.groovebyjessica.com
• Instagram: Groovebyjess
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jessicaferguson722

Image Credit:
Michelle Simmons Photography; Duy Ta Photography

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