Hello and thank you for being here.
I first discovered yoga and meditation during college studying Human Rights and Social Justice, but began deepening my practice while I was working as a Program Coordinator and Advocate Counselor for underserved and marginalized youth/young adults in New York City. My yoga practice quickly became a ritual of self-care; a space to breathe and feel and rest so that I could show up and do better each day. After five years of working in non-profit education and youth development partnerships in NYC, I moved with my partner to Abu Dhabi, UAE.
I completed my first Yoga Teacher Training in the sacred Kathmandu Valley of Nepal with Heather Elton.
I am a student of rev. angel Kyodo Williams, an Accessible Yoga ambassador, and hold additional training/certification in Advanced Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness (David Treleaven), Therapeutic Crisis Intervention, Somatic Abolitionism (Resmaa Menakem), Teen Yoga, The Embodiment Institute (Prentis Hemphill), Yogic Studies (Seth Powell), Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) with The Justice Resource Institute, Yoga for All (Dianne Bondy and Amber Karnes) and Trauma Informed Yoga Therapy (Sundara Yoga Therapy).
With a background in activism, restorative justice practices and social justice work, my yoga practice has and (inevitably) continues to align with the teachings of trauma-informed and trauma-responsive yoga.
I believe that yoga is a practice of liberation. It begins in the body, but it doesn't stop there. It is a practice of compassionate action. It is seeing the reality of injustice while envisioning something better for all of us. At the same time, I acknowledge and honor the deep roots of yoga and mindfulness practices, which ultimately are not mine to own or claim.
I am a certified Yoga Therapist with the IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists), recent adjunct faculty for Robin Rothenberg's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee (Essential Yoga Therapy), as well as a faculty member for Heather Elton's 200-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings (London and Nepal) where I facilitate modules on the intersections of trauma, wellness, and systemic change.
At the start of 2020, I returned to the United States to my home state of Michigan. I recognize that I am living and working on the indigenous lands of the Ojibwe, Odawa, Bodewadmi nations (Three Fires Confederacy) / Kalamazoo, Michigan USA.
From 2021-2023 I was an external member of Kalamazoo Community Foundation's Anti-Racism Transformation Team (ARTT) which was committed to dismantling the racist policies and practices that exist within the foundation.
Currently, I am a Racial Healing Facilitator for Michigan Transformation Collective (formerly TRHT Kalamazoo).
I am a certified Yoga Therapist with the IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists), recent adjunct faculty for Robin Rothenberg's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee (Essential Yoga Therapy), as well as a faculty member for Heather Elton's 200-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings (London and Nepal) where I facilitate modules on the intersections of trauma, wellness, and systemic change.
At the start of 2020, I returned to the United States to my home state of Michigan. I recognize that I am living and working on the indigenous lands of the Ojibwe, Odawa, Bodewadmi nations (Three Fires Confederacy) / Kalamazoo, Michigan USA.
From 2021-2023 I was an external member of Kalamazoo Community Foundation's Anti-Racism Transformation Team (ARTT) which was committed to dismantling the racist policies and practices that exist within the foundation.
Currently, I am a Racial Healing Facilitator for Michigan Transformation Collective (formerly TRHT Kalamazoo).