About Japheth Salsbery

My name is Japheth Salsbery, though most of my clients know me simply as Jai.

I am an independent wellness practitioner based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I help people become stronger, healthier, more capable, and more confident through a personalized combination of movement, strength training, nutrition coaching, wellness coaching, and yoga.

What I do today is the result of a journey that began more than two decades ago.

Where It All Began

I first discovered yoga in 1999 while living and working at Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat and Conference Center in Oregon.

What started as a personal practice gradually became a lifelong fascination with health, movement, and human potential.

Like many teachers, I began by sharing the practice that had positively influenced my own life.

In 2018, my husband Victor Manuel and I founded Vallarta Breeze Yoga in Puerto Vallarta. My goal was simple: create a welcoming space where people could experience the benefits of yoga and discover what the practice had to offer.

Since then, I’ve taught more than 4,000 yoga classes, trained yoga teachers, guided hundreds of personal training sessions, and worked with clients ranging from teenagers to adults in their 80s.

Expanding The Toolbox

As the years passed, I noticed something.

Yoga was incredibly valuable, but it wasn’t always enough.

Students wanted help losing weight. Improving mobility. Recovering from injury. Building strength. Improving posture. Aging well. Increasing confidence. Feeling better in their daily lives.

Yoga often helped. Sometimes tremendously.

But I began to realize that not every challenge should be viewed through a yoga-shaped lens.

That realization changed the direction of my education and my career.

I continued my studies through advanced yoga training and earned certifications in Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Pranayama, Meditation, and Aerial Yoga.

Then I pursued education as a Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist.

For the first time, I felt like I had discovered my native language.

The scientific method.

Objective progress tracking.

Measurable outcomes.

Data.

Zero magical thinking required.

Suddenly I was looking at movement not simply as yoga, but as human movement.

Strength.

Mobility.

Function.

Performance.

Healthy aging.

Injury prevention.

The picture became much larger.

Soon afterward, I completed training in Nutrition Coaching, which added yet another essential piece to the puzzle.

Everything finally clicked.

Yoga.

Strength training.

Nutrition.

Recovery.

Lifestyle habits.

Accountability.

These were not separate systems competing with each other.

They were all pieces of the same whole.

My Approach

Today my work reflects that philosophy.

I believe lasting change happens when good information is combined with practical implementation, accountability, consistency, and support.

Whether I’m coaching a client in the gym, guiding a private yoga session, helping someone improve their nutrition, or mentoring a future yoga teacher, my objective remains the same:

Help people become stronger, healthier, more capable, and more confident in their bodies and their lives.

My coaching is evidence-based, highly individualized, data-driven when appropriate, and focused on long-term success rather than quick fixes.

A Little Bit of a Nerd

Most people know me as a yoga teacher.

What surprises them is that I’m also a bit of a technology nerd.

I have a particular interest in database design, performance tracking, and reporting systems. Over the years, I’ve developed my own methods for planning, tracking, and analyzing client training progress.

At regular intervals, clients receive progress reports, charts, and measurable feedback designed to show exactly how their work is paying off.

I believe wellness should be both intuitive and measurable.

The clearer progress becomes, the easier it is to sustain.

Life Outside The Practice

When I’m not working with clients, you’ll most likely find me surrounded by animals.

I share my home with three large dogs and four cats, and the natural world surrounding Casa Vallarta Breeze is a constant source of joy and inspiration.

Parrots, parakeets, iguanas, tropical birds, neighborhood dogs, and countless other creatures are part of daily life here. I’m not above stopping a conversation to admire a flock of macaws flying overhead.

The natural environment influences the way I think about health and wellness just as much as any certification ever could.

My Philosophy

After decades of practice, thousands of classes taught, countless coaching conversations, and years of continued education, one belief remains at the center of everything I do:

There is no single path to wellness.

Every person is different.

My role isn’t to force people into a system.

My role is to help them discover the combination of movement, nutrition, habits, accountability, education, and support that allows them to thrive.

That’s the work I do today.

And it’s the work I look forward to doing for many years to come.

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Let’s Work Together

Whether your goal is building strength, improving mobility, optimizing nutrition, deepening your yoga practice, or simply developing the energy to enjoy the life you’ve worked hard to create, I’d be honored to help.

Let’s start with a conversation.