Teacher Spotlight: What Changed the Way Jessica Taddeo Teaches Yoga
If you’ve taken a Monday evening class at Prana Yoga Center in Geneva, you probably know Jessica Taddeo as the calm, knowledgeable teacher guiding you through Vinyasa or inviting you to slow down and settle into Yin. But there’s a lot more behind Jessica’s thoughtful cues: years spent studying how people move, how individual bodies experience movement differently, and how yoga can become more accessible to more people.
She also happens to be a triplet, loves hiking among the redwoods, and has seen ODESZA live at least eight times.
Jessica recently earned her Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) and is also a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, bringing her understanding of the human body together with years of yoga practice and teaching every time she steps into the studio.
Where Yoga and Occupational Therapy Meet
Jessica’s path has given her opportunities to work with people who might never think of themselves as traditional “yoga students.”
She previously owned a private practice combining yoga therapy and occupational therapy, where she worked with a wide range of clients, from individuals living with Parkinson’s disease to people simply hoping to deepen their yoga practice.
She has also participated in grant-funded yoga projects through Northwestern Medicine, helping bring yoga to brain injury support groups, scholarship programs, and community enrichment events.
For Jessica, this work reflects something she deeply believes: yoga should be accessible.
She is especially passionate about finding ways to bring yoga to people who may not typically walk through the doors of a yoga studio.
That perspective has also changed the way she teaches.
A New Chapter: Earning Her Doctorate
Earning her Doctor of Occupational Therapy has added another layer to the knowledge and experience Jessica brings to her students.
Occupational therapy looks at much more than an isolated muscle, joint, or movement. It considers the whole person and how the body, environment, daily activities, habits, and individual needs interact.
That perspective has reinforced something Jessica has learned through years of teaching yoga: there isn’t one “right” way for every body to experience a pose.
You can see that philosophy in the way she teaches both Vinyasa and Yin at Prana, two very different practices that each offer opportunities to listen, explore, and notice.
From “Perfect Alignment” to Feeling the Pose
Jessica readily admits that when she first began teaching yoga, she was obsessed with alignment.
Early in her teaching, she wanted students to perform poses “correctly.” She often made adjustments based on how she had learned a posture was supposed to look.
Years of teaching, along with studying the human body through occupational therapy, have shifted that philosophy considerably.
Today, Jessica is much more interested in what students feel than what their poses look like from across the room.
Instead of trying to make every body conform to one version of an asana, she encourages students to pay attention to sensation and explore the posture within their own bodies. Alignment still matters, but it exists alongside curiosity, awareness, and individual experience.
It’s an important reminder that yoga isn’t a performance.
Two people can practice the same pose and have it look completely different, and both may be having exactly the experience their bodies need.
Yoga isn't about making every body fit the same shape. Jessica encourages students to notice what they feel and explore the pose within their own bodies.
Growing Up as One of Three
Here’s something you might not know about Jessica: she’s a triplet!
Despite sharing the same age and childhood, Jessica and her siblings grew into very different people, each with their own interests, personalities, friend groups, and career paths.
Growing up alongside two strong personalities also taught Jessica something she still carries with her: how to use her voice.
If she wanted to be heard, she learned to speak up, communicate what she wanted, and make sure her voice was part of the conversation. She credits that experience with helping her become more confident in expressing herself today.
For Jessica, yoga travels well beyond the studio.
Finding Stillness Among the Redwoods
When Jessica isn’t teaching, studying, or working, she loves to travel, and one place has stayed with her more than almost anywhere else: Redwood National Park.
She describes the enormous, ancient trees as unlike anything she had experienced before. She could spend hours hiking through the cool forests, constantly looking upward in amazement.
During one visit, Jessica meditated inside the hollow of a redwood.
She remembers feeling as though she could hear the “hum of the earth.”
It’s a moment that has stayed with her. She describes the redwoods as peaceful, grounding, and almost magical.
And Then There’s the EDM…
If your image of Jessica is entirely calm Yin teacher and knowledgeable occupational therapist, we have one final plot twist.
Jessica loves EDM (electronic dance music).
When she has free time, you may find her dancing at concerts and music festivals. Her favorite artist is ODESZA, whom she has seen live at least eight times.
And yes, if you listen closely, you might even catch the occasional EDM track making its way into one of her yoga playlists.
Jessica brings many different parts of herself to Prana: occupational therapist, lifelong student, yoga teacher, traveler, triplet, music lover, and someone who genuinely believes movement should meet you where you are.
You can practice with Jessica Taddeo on Monday evenings at Prana Yoga Center, where she teaches Vinyasa Flow and Yin Yoga + Meditation.
Join Jessica on the mat, and don’t be too surprised if a little ODESZA finds its way onto the playlist.