Vanessa Pattison

Vanessa Pattison is the founder of Zen Yoga Studio which she opened in 2011 after the vision popped into her head one evening while talking to a friend. They sketched the studio on a napkin, broke ground a week later and never looked back. Beyond running Zen Yoga Studio and sister retreat business Nicaragua Yoga Institute, she still loves to get in the studio and lead a class or two a week. Vanessa is also a doula to many expats and local women who live in the San Juan del Sur area.

Originally from California, Vanessa moved to San Juan del Sur with her husband in 2005. Disenchanted with the rat race pace of life and her occupation as a Real Estate Appraiser she pursued her passion of yoga. In the past decade Vanessa has become highly trained with over 500 hours of Hatha and Vinyasa yoga as well as anatomy and Aryuveda. Her teachers are many but she attributes Peter Sterios and James Bailey as two of the most influential. Her most important role is that of mother to her three young boys; Max, Dante and Leo, all born in Nicaragua.

People ask her all the time how she made the transition? They comment on how ideal this easy pace of life must be. Her answer is always the same. She says, “wherever you go there you are!” It means to her that happiness is not determined by physical location but is deeply rooted within. Happiness ebbs and flows. Vacationing to and living in SJDS are two different realities. It is still a third world country complete with power outages and many other frustrations. Living your “dharma” what you are meant to do on this planet is key and she feels fortunate to have found that and to be able to share it with others.