Recipes
Meet Jenn Tardif, NYC-based yoga and meditation teacher and founder of 3rd Ritual, a company that makes objects to bring meaning to the everyday. Learn more about Jenn’s newest 3rd Ritual product and her evolving movement practice as a new mom below.
How did you find your way to yoga? Tell us about the blended style you practice/teach.
My high school was an hour drive from my house so in order to make it to his office on time, my dad would often drop me off at a community center down the street so that I could kill time before and after school. That’s where I first found yoga but had to find it again after my first panic attack, and again after my first heartbreak before it would weave its way into every facet of my being.
I’ve always been drawn to teachers who truly practice what they preach — to those who marry mysticism with science, and esoteric dialogue with modern metaphor — and have had the great privilege of studying under some of the best in the world. I don’t fall into one specific lineage, but instead, pull from different traditions spanning Iyengar and Katonah, with an emphasis on the tools and techniques that resonate most.
What fuels your movement practice?
The desire to feel at home in my own skin. Asana, like many of my favorite rituals, is brought to life by way of the intention it holds. Some days it can be a moving meditation and on others, a way to light a fire and spark creativity.
Tell us about 3rd Ritual. Where did the idea come from?
After experiencing firsthand the transformative effects these practices can have on our mental and emotional wellbeing, I made a lifelong commitment to share them with the world. 3rd Ritual started as a community gathering with workshops that were like tasting menus for ritual that quickly evolved into a line of tools designed to support these practices. Our début object, the BEL, uses fire, gravity, and sound to measure time. When the candle is lit, wax melts and eventually a pin falls, landing with a resonant ding—a beautiful way to end your meditation.
3rd Ritual is about adding meaning to the everyday – what does that look like for you?
Exactly! And that takes shape in the form of big decisions like the people you choose to spend most of your time with and in tiny choices like the intention that fuels every step in your bedtime routine. We believe that with the right tools and techniques anyone can improve their mental wellbeing, so we’ve made it our mission to share them.
As a new mom and a small business owner, what inspires your movement practice? How have those things changed/influenced your practice?
As a new mom, I’m always on the move so carving out time to sit still and deepen the space between thoughts has become my greatest challenge. But the beautiful thing about these practices is that they’ll continue to meet you where they are. At present, even five or ten minutes of meditation counts, it’s about quality vs quantity in my books.
What do you love about aromatherapy? Are there certain blends you’d recommend for movement?
I’ve always been drawn to the alchemical effects of olfaction since it has a direct pathway to the limbic system. Shameless plug, but it is this very correlation that inspired our latest creation, MOON, which was designed as a tool for transition, whether that’s between asana and savasana, day and night, or moving to slowing down.
Favorite Lavva flavor?
Blueberry!
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