Some encounters are not accidental. When I moved back to Miami Beach, my very first morning at sunrise brought me face to face with Jackie Pommier. She was leading a yoga class at daybreak, her movements highlighted by the first light of morning, the ocean breathing just beyond her. Breath Before Light.
I stood there watching her guide the class as the sun began to rise, and even in that moment it felt less like chance and more like destiny. I remain deeply grateful for that encounter with her, because what began as a simple morning on the beach became something far more meaningful in my life. That first morning seeing Jackie remains vivid, not only because of her presence, but because it was the first time I felt yoga as an atmosphere rather than simply an activity.
I captured a quick photograph of her on the beach and later posted it on social media. That single frame opened the door to a series of photo shoots together, all of them bathed in natural light and infused with the atmosphere that only daylight can offer. But what made those images special was never only the light. It was the energy. Watching Jackie lead that sunrise yoga class on Miami Beach felt like witnessing a moment of renewal, where breath, movement, and the rising sun seemed to merge into one experience.
Some people seem to arrive already illuminated, as if their spirit reaches you before the light does. Jackie’s positive energy exudes naturally. There is a calm strength and openness about her that made a moment feel significant even before I lifted the camera to photograph her. Through her, I began to understand that yoga was not only about poses, but about presence, breath, discipline, and the quiet power of being fully in the moment.
Being around Jackie and the yoga-centered atmosphere that surrounded those mornings had a profoundly positive influence on me. The images carried movement, grace, and presence, but what stayed with me long after the shoots was the feeling. Yoga introduced a different rhythm into my life, one that invited stillness where there had been noise and gratitude where there had been weight.
That sense of peace. That sense of possibility. That sense that certain people arrive in our lives on time for a reason. This experience with Jackie was special, but it is also one of many experiences photography has gifted me over the years. This one guided me during one of the most difficult times of my life, and yoga became part of that healing—teaching me to breathe through uncertainty, remain grounded, and trust that renewal often begins quietly.
There is something about dawn on Miami Beach that always feels like renewal. Before the city fully wakes, before the noise and obligations of the day take hold, there is only breath, light, and the quiet rhythm and sound of the ocean. It is where I go as often as possible to begin the day in gratitude. Gratitude that I can wake up, walk, talk, and move through the world with relative ease. Yoga taught me to recognize that movement itself is a blessing.
That, in many ways, has become what I practice and call David Yoga. It is my own version of the practice. Less about formal poses and more about ritual. A quiet communion with the sunrise, the shoreline, and the body’s willingness to move. Sometimes it is stretching, sometimes it is stillness, sometimes it is simply walking the beach in silence and letting gratitude arrive before thought does. Sometimes it is breath alone. A way of saying thank you before the day begins and a way of reconnecting mind, body, and spirit before the world asks anything of me.
Again and again, the camera has introduced me to exceptional people. People with rare energy. People whose presence changes the emotional temperature of a moment. People who leave something behind in you after the shutter closes. Yoga has deepened that awareness, teaching me to feel the energy in a room, on the beach, and within the people I photograph.
Alissa is another beautiful example of that, regularly inviting me to her yoga immersion events and welcoming me into spaces centered around breath, movement, and healing. Those gatherings carry their own atmosphere of openness and connection, and I remain grateful to be included in them. Each experience reinforces how profoundly yoga has influenced not only my mornings, but the way I move through life itself.
The deeper truth of this piece is not only about yoga. It is about what photography continues to give me and how yoga has helped me receive it more fully. Photography has given me far more than images. It has given me encounters. It has introduced me to extraordinary human beings and to the positive energies that surround them. Yoga has taught me how to remain open to those energies, to witness grace in motion, gratitude in ritual, and connection in its purest form.
For that, I remain deeply grateful. I never want to stop meeting special people. I never want to stop experiencing new positive energies. I never want to stop being surprised by the way life can place someone in your path exactly when you need them most.
Some encounters are not accidents.
Some are gifts.
Work with David
If you’re a creative director, a marketing lead, a brand builder, an interior designer or a collector looking for work with authorship, consider this your invitation to begin the conversation. For commissioned work, contact or send a message to david@siqueiros.com
