Interview with Jessica Erlendson... MRU certified Yoga Therapist and Author
Jun 05, 2026
Interview with Jessica Erlendson
Jessica has a jazz diploma and a B.A music having studied Anatomy, Physiology, Pathologies, Psychology with a minor in Anthropology. She is an MRU certified Yoga therapist with over 950 hours of Yoga training(s), including Pre & PostNatal Women's Health. She completed Dr. Sara Gottfried's course "Beautiful Hormones" in 2024. Jessica has been working in the field of peri & post menopause care since 2019. Her Canadian support group includes over 13,000 members and continues to grow at a high rate. She has been working in education since 2001 and coaches online.
What kind of work do you do?
I have been songwriting since 1987, am a published author and teach music lessons. I use my therapeutic training in yoga and listening to help people achieve their goals. I teach music as life lessons. I help women who are confused in perimenopause or postmenopause to figure out what they need in terms of care. I get people sleeping again with my 21 days to fix your sleep class, get them stable enough to enjoy vacations again and take them from worrying about getting fired to being promoted or getting new jobs they didn't think they could do before. I host workshops, classes and provide individual coaching online.
What inspired you to get started as an entrepreneur?
As a second generation musician and yogi, I wasn't going to be able to get a real job and meet the expectations of being normal. I started working for myself walking dogs when I was 10 years old. I became a professional performer in my late teens, singing in bars, playing guitar in bands and percussion in my Dad's jazz band. I helped produce his vinyl album and went on to record several other albums, my own music and my Dad's. Musicians are all self employed, unless they get hired by an orchestra and I went back to school to study music. I started teaching music lessons in 2001 and continued to learn. I got into yoga at a young age and eventually became a yoga therapist to help myself and others navigate the challenges of modern life. When I finished the Yoga Therapist program at Mount Royal University, I was already in the throws of perimenopause. I started helping other women with what I had learned and staying independent is the best use of my time and energy. I am a self-starter. I work well with others but not well under authority.
What was your biggest struggle to get things going for your online business?
In 2020 we were all asked to stay home. Perhaps due to my background in jazz training and improvisation, instead of just being discouraged, I wondered, how good could working online get for my clients? I found a training program on how to teach online and I got really good at it. Then I started offering Therapeutic Yoga classes and developed the 21 days to fix your sleep for all the stressed out and tired momma's out there. It took me a few coaches to find what works for me - a membership on Parteon "the School of Peri/Menopause" combines everything I have learned in the last 7 years about what helps us during this time. There are hundreds of recorded classes, videos of expert speakers, expert lectures from the yearly conference and I put every FREE resource I find up there. It is a library for women. The hardest part now is convincing women it is worth their time to learn to use a new platform and invest the small fee into the School to keep things running. People are tired of learning new things so even though the School is super easy to use and well organized, it can be a challenge to get people to use it.
Was there a time you thought about giving up? What kept you from quitting?
I think about quitting, especially now, but I'm still making great content. I break the rules though and tell the truth. People love that and it makes them uncomfortable. You may be reading this and thinking why isn't she being positive? Well, because toxic positivity is a thing and I don't want to participate in this. What keeps me from quitting is the satisfaction I get when a woman sends me a message saying "that class was great", or "I slept last night" or a student plays something that's been really hard or shows me a song that they wrote. I have helped 1,000's of people in my lifetime. That's important. It doesn't matter if other people think it's not successful because I don't have a yacht.
What have you learned since beginning?
So many times I have learned, it is the person who just keeps doing it, trying things this way or that way, asking for help, learning from another teacher - those are the people who succeed in achieving their goal. Not the most talented. Not the richest. The person who just stubbornly kept trying until they figured it out!
What’s the best advice you’ve received?
Focus on your strengths! I am neurodivergent and a terrible sight reader. I will always make spelling mistakes, take longer to write something out or read something, so if I accept that, I get more done. I could try forever and never get better because I am dyslexic. I did learn to read but I will never be fast. Your weakness is also a strength. I wrote a book on music theory that makes it easy, even for the neurodivergent, to learn music theory. If learning to read had been easy, I don't know that it would have occurred to me to develop the Music Theory Coloring Book.
What advice would you give someone just starting out?
Find a mentor. Pay them if you can but more importantly, make sure you have the same values. Be really specific about what you want. I was disappointed a few times until I saw that I hadn't actually said, "I need this help" in a very specific way. Don't just try to do it alone. Someone else has already figured out how to do what you want to do.
What’s the professional win you’re most proud of?
I am a published author! My writing is in 3 books already. I put out a book of poetry and lyrics which I practice out of every time I jam with my husband/bass player. When I was a child, I could barely read because of the dyslexia, but once I "got" it (don't read the word, read the sentence) I wanted to read more. I wanted to write a book, but could barely put together a sentence. It seemed impossible, but it wasn't and of everything I've done, I love my books are available and will be for the foreseeable future.
Which book(s) would you recommend to help entrepreneurs with success and personal development?
Read literature about codependency, face your own issues and own them. Read anything and everything you can get your hands on. I am re-reading Wayne Dyer's "I Can See Clearly Now". As an older woman, I am loving his stories about how he developed his character and what he did with those lessons. Anything someone recommends, write it down, buy it or borrow it but at least check it out. Even though you may end up thinking, that's not for me, at least you know!
Do you have a routine that you attest to your success? If yes, what is it?
Morning Meditation, group work with yoga nidra teachers, being committed to signing up and showing up but also showing people patience. For example, I had a client sign up and pay and miss her second session. Then went into the booking software and cancel everything! I didn't get angry, I got curious and sent her a video message saying, I don't know what happened, but you paid for this, and I want to help you. I think you had a blip that's part of the learning curve, and I want to see you again at the same time next week. She replied to that saying she was embarrassed and overwhelmed! I said, I want you to come next week at the same time. So she did and here we are now, with some progress made already! I just don't give up. Not on me and not on you!
How has social media played a factor in your success?
People find me on social media. I met my trainer who was instrumental in my getting good at teaching online. I like talking to people, I have things to say, I don't shy away from my opinion or need to agree with you. People like that. I also think someone in the early 2020's recognized that I was sharing helpful content (yoga and music) and gave me a bump up so many people saw what I do.
What are the biggest social media mistakes you see commonly made?
Remember social media is NOT real - people get so invested in something that is fabricated and click bait has caused chronic stress! You don't even know if that person is real. Sometimes people will take anything personally and it shuts them down. Try not to. People are fake, they think too much about what others may think, and that shuts down authentic interaction. Go outside. Think about it before you respond.
What is the business tool that’s been most helpful?
I'm loving using Patreon. They are working on making it more social. It's been great to have one spot to "show" everything.
What’s coming up for you in the next few months?
I'm working on finishing a daily reader for peri/menopause.
What has being successful taught you?
Success is in the eye of the beholder. My best friend from highschool said once "I slept behind a dumpster and you were basically thrown away, so what you've done is amazing and it's surprising we are both still here". I make art. I have since I was a kid. I consider the practice of Yoga another art that I share. Some people may look at my bank account and think oops! Where did her money go? But I invest in myself, classes, workshops, teachers, mentors, equipment, and that's expensive! Other people will decide you are or aren't successful, so from my teenagers persepective, being successful has taught me that determination is the winning quality.
What are some fun facts about you?
I love dogs and I leash trained my cats, so we can all walk outside together! I hate makeup but use it for "stage" or "camera" and pride myself on 5 mins make up routines. I really can play guitar, piano, jazz flute, percussion, and sing. I also studied many other instruments. I have investigated psychic mediumship and am highly attuned to my intuition. I was conceived at a Maharishi Yoga intensive in 1970. I wrote 100 songs by the time I was 25. I married my bass player over 20 years ago and we are a stable pair. I am the leader but he is the man. It works. I have also studied painting, learning styles, meditation, Feng Shui, belly dancing, business and have a minor in Anthropology.
How can our readers find you online?
My Patreon: the School of Peri/Menopause http://patreon.com/schoolofperimenopause
My Music Theory Coloring Book: https://a.co/d/bIIahvp
My Poetry & Lyrics Book: https://a.co/d/c7dHEC6
https://www.facebook.com/jessica.erle208
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-erlendson/
https://www.jessicamusic.ca/about
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