The driving force behind Nereus Retreats, New York-born Jen is a nutritionist and health coach with an international client practice. With an MSc in public health, having trained as an Ayurvedic practitioner in India, and with extensive qualifications in functional medicine nutrition, she has worked as a health supportive chef, health educator and yoga teacher, and continues to teach an introductory Ayurvedic medicine course and range of classes to prepare college students for the national board of health and wellness coaching exam. 

Jen also holds a master’s degree in medieval history from the University of St Andrews, which provides a strong foundation in hermetic philosophy and mythology, and, as with her study of the Vedas and Vedic philosophy, attests to a lifelong curiosity about the role of spirit and spirituality.

Having first turned to yoga in 2005, after a back injury stopped her in her tracks, it wasn’t until Jen moved from the US to Costa Rica in 2010 that her practice began to evolve into something more than a physical experience. With the dramatic lifestyle change and natural abundance having created time and space for this transition, she developed a new understanding of the vital role balance plays in living well.

Known for her legendary entertaining – think best-in-class tacos tweaked to suit all dietaries, and the sunniest, most unputdownable pineapple upside down cake you’ll find anywhere – Jen is a passionate believer in, and enabler of, life-changing transformation.