Swaying Seas started with a dream, and a son who believed in it.
Meet Jess
Jess is happily married and has two sons, Isaiah and Dominick. It has always been a dream to teach yoga on the beach in Costa Rica.
In conversation, Jess told her son, Dominick, she wanted to teach yoga on the beach in Costa Rica. He said, “Mama, you have to go to yoga school.”
And that’s just what she did.
A few years later, she stood barefoot on the black sand of a Costa Rican beach, eyes closed, heart open, teaching her first class. It was everything she dreamed of.
Then everything changed. Jess lost her son, Dominick, in a sudden accident. And just months later, almost lost her older son Isaiah and herself in another accident.
Grief swallowed everything. Except her breath.
Breath. Yoga. Ritual. Structure.
That’s what stayed. That’s what saved her.
The Swaying Sea Goddess is the space she created to survive. Now Jess teaches from lived experience, offering tools that help others move through the unthinkable with clarity, rhythm, and care.
This is how the work was built.
One breath. One breakdown.
One breakthrough at a time.
the timeline
2012
The Dream Is Spoken
Jess declares she wants to teach yoga on the beach in Costa Rica.
2023
The Journey Begins
Jess is still determined to teach yoga on the beach. Dominick says, “then you’ve gotta go to yoga school mamas.
2024
First Class on Black Sand
Jess graduates her 200-hour yoga teacher training.
Jess teaches yoga for the first time in Costa Rica, just as she imagined.
2024
The Unthinkable
Jess’s son Dom passes away suddenly, at 17, in a car accident.
2024
Retreat Connection + Land Purchase
Jess returns to Costa Rica and co-purchases land with other women to eventually host grief retreats.
2025
Survives Second Accident
Jess and her son Isaiah are in a separate serious car accident. She begins recovering from a brain injury and physical trauma.
2025
The Jess Method Emerges
In the fog of trauma, Jess creates a framework to help yoga teachers plan classes when they feel lost or overwhelmed.
2025 & beyond
holding
space
Jess now offers The Jess Method, grief yoga and retreats, and 1:1 support, creating space for others to breathe, cry, and rise.
Carrying his legacy on
The Dominick Galarza Memorial Scholarship is named in honor of Dominick Galarza. Dominick BKA Dom is remembered as our funny friend, brother and loyal sidekick.
Dom was a music lover and played viola in Strongsville Middle School and High School Orchestra. He was a fan of weight lifting, wrestling, boxing, MMA, baseball and basketball. His unique sense of humor was unmatched and he always brought a smile to your face making every situation light. Dom was a young athlete and put heart into every task on and off the field.