Shows
Accessible Yoga PodcastThe Teaching of the Heart with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonJoin host, Jivana Heyman, and guest, Michelle Cassandra Johnson, for a rich and insightful conversation about community, collective care, and the creative process. Together, Jivana and Michelle explore the evolving role of the yoga teacher, the importance of being grounded in humility and service, and how we can use yoga as a path to truth and connection.
As an accomplished author, educator, and activist, Michelle offers insight into her books, including her first book, Skill in Action, and her sixth and newly released book, The Wisdom of the Hive, which draws inspiration from honeybees and their interconnectedness...2025-07-0851 min
Sounds True: Insights at the EdgeMichelle Cassandra Johnson and Amy Burtaine: The Wisdom of the HiveMore and more people are waking up to the very real dangers that humanity is facing as a result of a declining honeybee population. Yet as we join the refrain, “Save the bees!” Michelle Cassandra Johnson and Amy Burtaine pose a profound and extraordinary question: What if it’s the bees who are trying to save us?
In this eye-opening conversation with the coauthors of the new book The Wisdom of the Hive, Tami Simon speaks with Michelle and Amy about bees as psychopomps who come to us with guidance; the spiritual lineage of bee priestesses; sustainability and res...2025-06-101h 10
Intuition for Changemakers91. What Honeybees Can Teach Us about Adaptability with Michelle Cassandra Johnson and Amy BurtaineSend us a textWhat if the honey bees are here to save us? Today, my special guests Amy Burtaine and Michelle Cassandra Johnson, co authors of the book, The Wisdom of the Hive: What Honeybees Can Teach Us about Collective Wellbeing and I are going to talk about this question and more. We’ll talk about bees as role models of adaptability, special lessons the bees have gifted these two authors, and they’ll even share with us a practice and contemplation or two that you can do right now to create more honey inside— all today on...2025-05-2048 min
Get Your Favorite Full Audiobooks in Health & Wellness, Mindfulness & MeditationIlluminating Our True Nature: Yogic Practices for Personal and Collective Healing by Michelle Cassandra JohnsonPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/805209to listen full audiobooks.
Title: Illuminating Our True Nature: Yogic Practices for Personal and Collective Healing
Author: Michelle Cassandra Johnson
Narrator: Michelle Johnson
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hours 58 minutes
Release date: December 31, 2024
Genres: Mindfulness & Meditation
Publisher's Summary:
Includes powerful and practical meditations, mantras, asanas, reflection questions, and more, to reduce our suffering—and the suffering of others. We all get stuck in hurtful patterns that continue to create more suffering in our lives. In yoga philosophy, these patterns are known as the five kleshas. In this wise, practical guide, Michelle Cassandra Johnson offers us a...2024-12-318h 58
Read With Your Ears, Explore With Your Heart With Full AudiobookIlluminating Our True Nature: Yogic Practices for Personal and Collective Healing Audiobook by Michelle Cassandra JohnsonListen to this audiobook in full for free onhttps://hotaudiobook.com/freeID: 805209
Title: Illuminating Our True Nature: Yogic Practices for Personal and Collective Healing
Author: Michelle Cassandra Johnson
Narrator: Michelle Johnson
Format: Unabridged
Length: 08:00:00
Language: English
Release date: 12-31-24
Publisher: Tantor Media
Genres: Non-Fiction, Health & Wellness, Philosophy, Mindfulness & Meditation
Summary:
Includes powerful and practical meditations, mantras, asanas, reflection questions, and more, to reduce our suffering—and the suffering of others.
We all get stuck in hurtful patterns that continue to create more suffering in our lives. In yoga philosophy, these patterns are known as the five kleshas. In this wi...2024-12-318h 00
The Connected Yoga Teacher PodcastThe Five Kleshas with Michelle Cassandra Johnson The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast 387: The Five Kleshas with Michelle Cassandra Johnson Description: What lies at the root of all human suffering? How can we relieve our suffering and that of others? According to the yoga sutras, our suffering comes from five root causes, the five kelshas, and there are practices we can do to alleviate suffering. Michelle Cassandra Johnson has studied this topic in-depth and shares her insights. Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an author and activist. She has been a racial equity educator for 25 years and is also a...2024-12-301h 09
Point of Relation with Thomas HueblMichelle Cassandra Johnson | The Honeybees’ Wisdom: Lessons on Care and AdaptationThomas is joined by author, activist, spiritual teacher, racial equity consultant and trainer, and intuitive healer, Michelle Cassandra Johnson. They discuss a new paradigm of collective care and healing inspired by the natural wisdom of honeybees. Michelle, an amateur beekeeper, shares what she’s learned about interconnectedness, adaptation, attunement, and longevity from these incredible creatures. She and Thomas also explore how we can find the medicine that lives within us and learn to recognize and harness our inner resources for healing. We live in chaotic times, within harmful systems, and suffer from constant distractions that dys...2024-12-1750 min
Point of Relation with Thomas HueblMichelle Cassandra Johnson | The Honeybees’ Wisdom: Lessons on Care and AdaptationThomas is joined by author, activist, spiritual teacher, racial equity consultant and trainer, and intuitive healer, Michelle Cassandra Johnson. They discuss a new paradigm of collective care and healing inspired by the natural wisdom of honeybees. Michelle, an amateur beekeeper, shares what she’s learned about interconnectedness, adaptation, attunement, and longevity from these incredible creatures. She and Thomas also explore how we can find the medicine that lives within us and learn to recognize and harness our inner resources for healing. We live in chaotic times, within harmful systems, and suffer from constant distractions that dys...2024-12-1750 min
ConspiritualityRelief Project #3: Michelle Cassandra JohnsonMatthew here with the third installment of Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person. Michelle Cassandra Johnson was an early guest on our show and helped us lay the groundwork for understanding the reality and impacts of racism in the worlds of wellness and new spirituality.She’s an author, activist, and racial equity trainer. Her latest book, A Space For Us: A Guide For Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups, was published by Beacon Press in August 2023. She lives in North Carolina with her sweet dog, Jasper, and her hone...2024-10-2931 min
Radiant Rest Podcast with Tracee StanleyIlluminating Our True Nature with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonWhat are the lessons you’re tired of learning? In yoga philosophy, the kleshas are patterns that create suffering, and exploring them can help us find peace and ease in our personal lives and within the collective. In this conversation, Tracee Stanley is joined by author, activist, spiritual teacher and practitioner, racial equity consultant and trainer, and intuitive healer Michelle Cassandra Johnson, whose new book, Illuminating Our True Nature: Yogic Practices for Personal & Collective Healing is a guide for turning towards—instead of away from—our suffering, not only to better understand why we suffer but also to also open u...2024-09-2644 min
Yoga Teacher Resource PodcastSuffering and our True Nature with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonMichelle Cassandra Johnson explores the kleshas—the five afflictions that cause suffering—within the framework of modern challenges ranging from racial injustice to climate change. Through personal stories, insights on yoga philosophy, and practical advice, Michelle offers a roadmap for understanding and addressing the root causes of suffering both individually and collectively. This conversation will inspire yoga practitioners and activists alike to engage deeply with their practice and strive for personal and social transformation.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
00:00 Introduction to the kleshas
2:10 Levity as sustenance for deep work
04:45 Why Mich...2024-09-1948 min
The Love of Yoga Podcast2.06 Illuminating Our True Nature with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonMichelle Cassandra Johnson is an author, activist, spiritual teacher and practitioner, racial equity consultant and trainer, and intuitive healer. She approaches her life and work from a place of knowing we are, can, and must heal individually and collectively. Michelle teaches workshops and immersions and leads retreats and transformative experiences nationwide. As a dismantling racism educator, she has worked with large corporations, non-profits, and community groups. Michelle was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with embodied approaches to...2024-07-2944 min
The Love of Yoga Podcast12. Getting Free with Michelle Cassandra Johnson“We have to get to the root of the root of the root and actually heal that if we wanna create something different, and if we want to create conditions for us all to be free, that's the conversation…I think the core is the same in every book I've written thus far: Are we gonna do what we need to do to get free?”—Michelle C. JohnsonIn this episode, Michelle joins Tristan Katz as Tristan begins a summer podcast takeover for Anjali Rao!Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an activist, social justice warrior...2024-07-1759 min
The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible YogaTeaching as a Practice with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonIn yoga culture, teachers are often placed up on pedestals, creating an unequal power dynamic. So, what happens when teachers get down from the pedestal and learn alongside the student? When teaching is approached as a practice, a collaborative and intuitive relationship with the student can be formed and opportunities for growth discovered.
Join Jivana Heyman and this episode’s guest, Michelle Cassandra Johnson, as they unravel the intricate layers of teaching yoga as a practice. Together they reflect on the role of wonder and curiosity in teaching, self-trust, and the value of sharing the sacred practice in co...2024-03-1229 min
Working in YogaBeing of Service, Grief, and Our Spiritual Callings. A Conversation with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonWelcome to 2024, Yoga Pros.Our first podcast of the year is with the delightful Michelle Cassandra Johnson, and I was lucky enough to get to ask her so many questions. We had a nuanced conversation regarding being of service to the world, how we hold space for grief, and the tension between the spiritual call to be quiet and the noise we experience in our lives. Take a listen to all her wisdom.KEY TAKEAWAYS:*Often in yoga and wellness we shy away from grief and other uncomfortable topics...2024-01-0351 min
Power-Up With A Vivid Full Audiobook On Your Commute.A Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups by Michelle Cassandra JohnsonPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/699535to listen full audiobooks.
Title: A Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups
Author: Michelle Cassandra Johnson
Narrator: Michelle Johnson
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hours 41 minutes
Release date: December 12, 2023
Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics
Publisher's Summary:
The first comprehensive guide for leading BIPOC affinity groups for challenging white supremacy, healing racial trauma, and taking collective action Meeting in racial affinity groups is a common practice in anti-racist, social justice, diversity, and similar educational endeavors. These groups provide a structured space in which participants can explore how...2023-12-128h 41
Explore the Latest Full Audiobooks in History, The AmericasA Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups by Michelle Cassandra JohnsonPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/699535 to listen full audiobooks. Title: A Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups Author: Michelle Cassandra Johnson Narrator: Michelle Johnson Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 41 minutes Release date: December 12, 2023 Genres: The Americas Publisher's Summary: The first comprehensive guide for leading BIPOC affinity groups for challenging white supremacy, healing racial trauma, and taking collective action Meeting in racial affinity groups is a common practice in anti-racist, social justice, diversity, and similar educational endeavors. These groups provide a structured space in which participants can explore how racism...2023-12-1230 minExplore the Latest Full Audiobooks in History, The AmericasA Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups by Michelle Cassandra JohnsonPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/699535to listen full audiobooks.
Title: A Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups
Author: Michelle Cassandra Johnson
Narrator: Michelle Johnson
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hours 41 minutes
Release date: December 12, 2023
Genres: The Americas
Publisher's Summary:
The first comprehensive guide for leading BIPOC affinity groups for challenging white supremacy, healing racial trauma, and taking collective action Meeting in racial affinity groups is a common practice in anti-racist, social justice, diversity, and similar educational endeavors. These groups provide a structured space in which participants can explore how racism personally...2023-12-128h 41
Listen to Full Audiobooks in Non-Fiction, Current Affairs, Law, & PoliticsA Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups by Michelle Cassandra JohnsonPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/699535 to listen full audiobooks. Title: A Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups Author: Michelle Cassandra Johnson Narrator: Michelle Johnson Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 41 minutes Release date: December 12, 2023 Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics Publisher's Summary: The first comprehensive guide for leading BIPOC affinity groups for challenging white supremacy, healing racial trauma, and taking collective action Meeting in racial affinity groups is a common practice in anti-racist, social justice, diversity, and similar educational endeavors. These groups provide a structured space in which participants can explore...2023-12-1230 minListen to Latest Full Audiobooks in Non-Fiction, Current Affairs, Law, & PoliticsA Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups by Michelle Cassandra JohnsonPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/699535to listen full audiobooks.
Title: A Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups
Author: Michelle Cassandra Johnson
Narrator: Michelle Johnson
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hours 41 minutes
Release date: December 12, 2023
Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics
Publisher's Summary:
The first comprehensive guide for leading BIPOC affinity groups for challenging white supremacy, healing racial trauma, and taking collective action Meeting in racial affinity groups is a common practice in anti-racist, social justice, diversity, and similar educational endeavors. These groups provide a structured space in which participants can explore how...2023-12-128h 41
Moments with MarianneWe Heal Together with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonAre you ready to reach out to others, be in conversation, and find new ways to connect with compassion and openness? Tune in for an inspiring discussion with Michelle Cassandra Johnson on her new #book We Heal Together: Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection.#MomentsWithMarianne airs in the Southern California area on KMET 1490AM & 98.1 FM, an ABC Talk News Radio Affiliate! Michelle Cassandra Johnson is a social justice warrior, author, dismantling racism trainer, empath, yoga teacher and practitioner, and an intuitive healer. With over 20 years of experience leading dismantling racism work and working with...2023-09-2658 min
Moments with MarianneFinding Refuge with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonAre there simple practices for developing greater connection? Tune in for an inspiring discussion with Michelle Cassandra Johnson on her new #book Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief.#MomentsWithMarianne airs in the Southern California area on KMET 1490AM & 98.1 FM, an ABC Talk News Radio Affiliate! Michelle Cassandra Johnson is a social justice warrior, author, dismantling racism trainer, empath, yoga teacher and practitioner, and an intuitive healer. With over 20 years of experience leading dismantling racism work and working with clients as a licensed clinical social worker, Johnson has a deep understanding of how...2023-09-031h 03
How the Wise One GrowsCommunity Healing: How "We Heal Together" with Michelle Cassandra Johnson (63)It's a common misconception that healing is an individual experience. While individual healing is important, community and ancestral healing are necessary as well. In this episode, we delve into the many aspects of healing with Michelle Cassandra Johnson and talk about her new book, "We Heal Together," as we uncover the continuous process of healing that embraces both personal and collective aspects of our lives. Our conversation spans from the significance of interconnection to the importance of rituals, and the power of joy in our healing journey. We explore the wisdom of our ancestors and discuss the...2023-07-261h 02
Finding RefugeBlack Mama Body ExperienceErin Trent Johnson is a Black Mama Body, embodied coach and liberation guide, storyteller, facilitator. Erin lives by the words of the Combahee River Collective Statement, “If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.”Erin is the Creator of Black.Mama.Body. Experience an embodied communal healing and creative refuge and abundant homeplace for Black, Indigenous and women and femme bodies of culture. In community, Erin holds spaces that ignite spiritual rebellion and remembrance within systems of e...2023-01-0251 min
Finding RefugeAmerican DetoxKerri is the founder of CTZNWELL, a movement that is democratizing wellbeing for all. A descendant of generations of firemen and first responders, Kerri has dedicated her life to kicking down doors and fighting for justice. She’s been teaching yoga for over 20 years and is known for making waves in the wellness industry by challenging norms, disrupting systems and mobilizing people to act. A community organizer, wellness activist and author of the forthcoming book American Detox: The Myth of Wellness and How We Can Truly Heal, Kerri is recognized across communities for her inspired work to bri...2022-12-0155 min
Banyen Books ~ Branches of WisdomEpisode 119: Michelle Cassandra Johnson - Finding Refuge: Healing Collective GriefMichelle Cassandra Johnson joins @Banyen Books & Sound for a conversation on Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief. MICHELLE CASSANDRA JOHNSON is a social justice warrior, author, dismantling racism trainer, empath, yoga teacher and practitioner, and an intuitive healer. With over 20 years of experience leading dismantling racism work and working with clients as a licensed clinical social worker, Johnson has a deep understanding of how trauma impacts the mind, body, spirit, and heart. She has led Dismantling Racism Trainings with large corporations, small nonprofits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, The Center fo...2022-11-261h 04
Prison Yoga Project PodcastSkill in Action: Radicalizing your Yoga Practice with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonCollective liberation is at the heart of Michelle Cassandra Johnson’s work and our work at Prison Yoga Project. We explore what it means to be a leader as facilitators of yoga, living by moral codes offered to us through the yamas and niyamas and leaning into truth and discomfort while allowing resistance and love to be our teachers. Please join us as we host this incredible guest!Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an activist, social justice warrior, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, intuitive healer, and yoga teacher and practitioner. She has led dismantling racism work in many set...2022-10-271h 22
Finding RefugeWhere the Heart IsDuring her childhood, her family traveled throughout India, devoted to a colorful yogic life. Rohini got to experience an upbringing that was centered around a love for their community. Her days were filled with meditation, chanting, yoga, and cleansing the body in an effort to grow as a spiritual being. As she traveled throughout India, staying in different temples and volunteering at community events, Rohini got to see and experience the most sacred places in India where most people were not allowed. Today, Rohini is internationally recognized as a teacher of the Akasha and...2022-10-1650 min
Finding RefugeAre We Free Yet?Tina Strawn (she/they) is a joy and liberation advocate, activist, author of "Are We Free Yet? The Black, Queer Guide to Divorcing America" (Row House Publishing, January 2023). Tina is the owner and host of the Speaking of Racism podcast. The heart of her work is founding and leading Legacy Trips, immersive antiracism experiences where participants visit historical locations such as Montgomery and Selma, AL, and utilize spiritual practices as tools to affect personal and collective change. Tina has three adult children, an ex-husband, an ex-wife, and an ex-country. She has been a full-time minimalist nomad since February 2020 and...2022-10-0152 min
Finding RefugeWhat Happens When We RestThis is the final episode of Season 2. It features me talking about the reason why I decided to take a sabbatical and make space for REST. I recorded this prior to the supreme court's further attack on our civil rights and the planet, so there is no mention of the most recent traumas and horrors happening in our country and world. This episode focuses on rest as a practice and the reality that not everyone has the space to rest. In this episode, I discuss:My decision to take a sabbaticalThe im...2022-07-0840 min
Embodied AstrologyFinding Refuge with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonMichelle Cassandra Johnson is an activist, social justice warrior, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, intuitive healer, and yoga teacher and practitioner.
This episode is offered with love, following April 16’s full moon in Libra which was trine with Saturn and square to Pluto.
In our conversation we explore Michelle’s chart and talk about the work of maintaining connections between our spiritual selves and our human bodies. Michelle shares from her experience as an energy worker and healer, intuitive, witch, activist and guide around how to anchor in our heart’s wisdom in times of stress...2022-04-181h 35
Finding RefugeBroken & Open HeartednessTristan Katz (they/them) is a writer, digital strategist, and equity-inclusion facilitator based on the ancestral land of the Cowlitz and Clackamas peoples and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Siletz Indians, now known as Portland, OR. Tristan offers justice-focused marketing programs for yoga and wellness professionals, along with workshops and trainings centered around queer identity and transgender awareness with an anti-oppression and intersectional lens. Their podcast, ALL THE F*CK IN: Showing up for social justice in your work, is a collaboration with Lauren Roberts, featuring conversations about all things business and entrepreneurship—from...2022-04-1556 min
Finding RefugeFlourishJenée Johnson, Program Innovation Leader, Mindfulness, Trauma and Racial Healing, pioneered and leads the unique effort to bring mindfulness into public health practices and programs though the Trauma Informed Systems of Care Initiative in the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Her goal is to improve the organization’s ability to manage change, stay resilient, inspire growth, and become a mindful culture that leads and serves with compassion.Her work has been featured in various publications, including Mindful Magazine as the cover story in the October 2019, in the Fall 2020 issue as a leader in the mindfulness mov...2022-04-0154 min
Yoga Teacher Resource PodcastSkill in Action with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonHealing comes when we turn toward our discomfort instead of away from it. Michelle Cassandra Johnson, author and social justice activist discusses the intersection of social justice and yoga and the importance of accepting emotional pain.
Episode Highlights:
Barriers to dismantling racism and how to break them
The hazard of bypassing and how to recognize it in yourself
Ways that we can investigate the different layers of who we are
How to accept imperfection
Tools for approaching discomfort with openness
Why your yoga practice is about checking IN not checking OUT
Links & Resources
Fo...2022-03-1754 min
Finding RefugeDare to DreamTanisha Hubbard-Hood, or Tan (they/them/she), is a caregiver, solo-parent, movement instructor, Yoga student and aspiring activist. While the physical practice of yoga is what drew them to the mat, it was the calling of something deeper that led to the decision to complete a YTT. The introduction of the 8-limbed path during training was the starting point of their curiosity of the intersection of yoga and social justice. Forever a student of the practice, Tan is always eagerly seeking out spaces where crucial conversations around accessible wellness and movement are being held. This includes completing workshops/programs...2022-03-1548 min
Finding RefugeUnwindingMadison Page was the founder of Core to Coeur, a curated marketplace and community for taking and teaching movement, wellness, and fitness classes over live video. Birthed from a virtual Pilates business built on Squarespace in 2017, C2C grew into a larger movement to democratize wellness for all people. Madison's expertise is in building impact-driven businesses, community building, content marketing, and marketing strategy. She is also the co-host of Stretched! a podcast about inclusive wellness powered by Core to Coeur with Liz Getman. She is a fully certified Pilates instructor, specializing in rehabilitation, functional movement, and post-partum exercise. Currently, s...2022-03-0144 min
Finding RefugePause, Rest, BeOctavia Raheem has received national attention for her work training yoga teachers and diversifying the yoga and wellness industry. Trained and mentored by exemplary teachers, Dr.Gail Parker, Tracee Stanley, Chanti Tacoronte- Perez, Octavia’s work as a yoga professional focuses on practical tools to teach individuals how to manage stress, anxiety, and fatigue through restorative yoga, Yoga Nidra, and meditation in a way that is accessible to all levels/abilities, and restorative to the nervous system. Her work has been featured on Yoga Journal, Mantra Magazine, Well+ Good CNN, WXIA, and Atlanta Magazine.Octavia is a yo...2022-02-1546 min
SoulFeed with Shannon AlgeoThe Heart Work of Finding Refuge with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonMichelle Cassandra Johnson is a social justice warrior, author, Dismantling Racism trainer, empath, yoga teacher and practitioner, and intuitive healer. With more than twenty years of experience leading Dismantling Racism workshops and working with clients as a licensed clinical social worker, she has a deep understanding of how trauma impacts the mind, body, spirit, and heart. Her awareness of the world through her own experience as a Black woman allows her to know, firsthand, how privilege and power operate. Michelle’s website.2022-02-061h 24
Finding RefugeA Queer DharmaJacoby Ballard is a social justice educator and yoga teacher in Salt Lake City, Utah. He leads workshops and trainings around the country on diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a yoga teacher with 20 years of experience, he leads workshops, retreats, teacher trainings, teaches at conferences, and runs the Resonance mentorship program for certified yoga teachers to find their niche and calling. In 2008, Jacoby co-founded Third Root Community Health Center in Brooklyn, to work at the nexus of healing and social justice. Since 2006, Jacoby has taught Queer and Trans Yoga, a space for queer folks to unfurl and cultivate resilience a...2022-02-0148 min
Finding RefugeThe Times are Asking us to be EngagedReggie's yoga and meditation journey was born of curiosity; forged in adversity and has become a lesson in surrender to the miracles that exist in commitment to personal peace and wellbeing. Adopting yogic discipline has saved his life and he is committed to sharing these practices far and wide to help others - regardless of their race, identity, orientation or economic status. He has studied extensively with many amazing teachers along the way - ever mindful that the best teacher is the eternal student. Reggie is a 500 hour certified yoga teacher and the founder/Chief Serving Officer of...2022-01-1749 min
Finding RefugeWhat does my heart need to heal?Wambui Njuguna-Räisänen is a Kenyan-American based in Finland, passionate about making wellness through yoga and meditation seamlessly engaged in equity and justice so that more people of the global majority can live well and thrive. Wambui is deeply inspired by spiritual teachers and communities that seek ways to apply the insights from our various practices and teachings to situations of social, racial, political, environmental and economic suffering and injustice. She would like to see wellness spaces engage more in social justice + collective change and activist spaces learn to breathe deeply and practice sustainable self-care in the midst of...2022-01-0144 min
Finding RefugeRemember to RememberAlexis Pauline Gumbs is a Queer Black Troublemaker and Black Feminist Love Evangelist and an aspirational cousin to all sentient beings. Her work in this lifetime is to facilitate infinite, unstoppable ancestral love in practice. Her poetic work in response to the needs of her cherished communities has held space for multitudes in mourning and movement. Alexis’s co-edited volume Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines (PM Press, 2016) has shifted the conversation on mothering, parenting and queer transformation. Alexis has transformed the scope of intellectual, creative and oracular writing with her triptych of experimental works published by Duke Un...2021-12-1547 min
Finding RefugeWe Are NatureMeryl Arnett is a mama, meditation teacher, the creator of The Mindful Minute podcast, and the head of meditation for Shoreline meditation app. Her passion is introducing mindfulness in ways that are accessible to all of us.Meryl's meditation classes have been featured on CNN Headline News, WXIA-TV and Atlanta Magazine, and her podcast has been named a Top 10 meditation podcast. She has been teaching corporate, private & group meditation classes since 2010, and she co-created Sacred Chill {West}, the first meditation + yoga studio in Atlanta to offer regular, independent meditation classes. Meryl continues to study, practice, a...2021-12-0148 min
Finding RefugeReclaiming CareLama Rod Owens is an author, activist, and authorized Lama (Buddhist Teacher) in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Rod is the co-founder of Bhumisparsha, a Buddhist tantric practice and study community. Lama Rod is visiting teacher with Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme), a visiting teacher with Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Brooklyn Zen Center. Lama Rod has been a faculty member for the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s professional education program in mindfulness for educators and has served as a guest faculty member for the school’s course Mindfulness for Educators.He holds a Mast...2021-11-1850 min
CIIS Public ProgramsMichelle Cassandra Johnson: On the Practice of Presence for Healing Personal and Collective GriefIn unsettling and uncertain times, the individual and collective heartbreak that lives in both our bodies and our communities can feel insurmountable. Many of us have been conditioned by the dominant culture to not name, focus on, or wade through the difficulties in our lives. But in order to heal, we must make space for grief, prioritizing our wholeness and humanity.
Social justice activist, social worker, and yoga teacher Michelle Cassandra Johnson offers the tools people need to be present and open hearted with their grief. In this episode, program innovation leader in mindfulness, trauma, and racial healing Jenée J...2021-11-0400 min
Finding RefugeJoyous ResilienceAnjuli is a Pakistani American licensed marriage and family therapist, specializing in trauma, recovery, resilience, building and cultivating joy. She has 15 years of practice working with immigrant south Asian, middle Eastern Muslim, and LGBTQ plus populations. Sherin received her B.A. in sociology and anthropology from Mary Washington University and her M.A. from CIIS. She has trained and mentored with leading figures in trauma recovery and energy psychology, including Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Staci Haines and Vianna Stibal. In addition to awards for academic excellence and community service, Sharon received the 2007 emerging leader award from the E-Women network and has...2021-11-0351 min
Finding RefugeI am HeldAdriana Adelé, she/they, is a yoga facilitator and an advocate for collective well-being who studies and shares yoga as a practice of liberation. Through yoga, Adriana holds space for intentional movement, deep rest, Black holistic well-being, disruption of toxic dominant narratives, discernment in action, learning/unlearning, embodiment and affirmation of our eternal divine wholeness as individuals & in service of collective liberation. Her work helps adults and kids effectively integrate the practices and benefits of yoga including movement, meditation, deep rest, and breath techniques to their busy, messy, very real daily lives. Adriana is a RYT-500, E-RYT-200, a yoga t...2021-10-1546 min
Finding RefugeA Clear VesselAshley Williams, MS, C-IAYT is a Yoga Therapist and Mindfulness Educator with 12 years experience in the fields of education, behavioral and mental health and community programming in Richmond, VA. As a builder and weaver, she bridges mindfulness, diversity, wellness and inclusion on micro and macro-levels to achieve equitable, socially stable and conscious spaces for individual and collective care.She is the Founder of BareSOUL Yoga & Wellness, a community-based organization initially created to offer accessible yoga offerings, and Mindful on Life, a curriculum-based program dedicated to transforming community through the practice of mindfulness education. As an advocate for dive...2021-10-0150 min
Finding RefugeLiving on PurposeShakira practices a natural dance called Rhythmic Bloom to recreate what it means to flow through her life’s journey. During her undergraduate studies, she awakened to the systemic rules of wellness, boosting her interest in alternative healing methods that support the whole person. The catalyst to her embodiment of wellness sparked during her training to become a Licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist in 2011. Her bodywork practice focuses on moving through the deep, underwater currents of growth to extend the practice of music for musicians and artists. Shakira continues the rhythmic journey of interweaving social justice and wel...2021-09-1546 min
Explore SpiritualityMichelle Cassandra Johnson, Finding RefugeMichelle Cassandra Johnson is an activist, social justice warrior, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, intuitive healer, and yoga teacher and practitioner. Her new book is Finding Refuge: Heartwork for Healing Collective Grief. Read our review of Finding Refuge from the July/August 2021 issue of Spirituality & Health. Rabbi Rami and Johnson start by defining racism throughout history. They explore ethnocentrism, white privilege, generational trauma, radicalizing yoga, the problematic nature of “color-blindness,” and more. “We are in physical bodies and yet we are not our bodies. But we need to recognize what our bodies are doing to o...2021-09-0335 minExplore SpiritualityMichelle Cassandra Johnson, Finding RefugeMichelle Cassandra Johnson is an activist, social justice warrior, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, intuitive healer, and yoga teacher and practitioner. Her new book is Finding Refuge: Heartwork for Healing Collective Grief. Read our review of Finding Refuge from the July/August 2021 issue of Spirituality & Health. Rabbi Rami and Johnson start by defining racism throughout history. They explore ethnocentrism, white privilege, generational trauma, radicalizing yoga, the problematic nature of “color-blindness,” and more. “We are in physical bodies and yet we are not our bodies. But we need to recognize what our bodies are doing to o...2021-09-0335 min
Finding RefugeLoveJivana Heyman, C-IAYT, E-RYT500, is the founder and director of the Accessible Yoga Association, an international non-profit organization dedicated to increasing access to the yoga teachings. He’s the author of the book, Accessible Yoga: Poses and Practices for Every Body (Shambhala Publications 2019), as well as the forthcoming book, Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage & Compassion (Shambhala Publications, Nov. 2021). Jivana has specialized in teaching yoga to people with disabilities with an emphasis on community building and social engagement. Out of this work, the nonprofit Accessible Yoga Association was created to support education, training, and advocacy with the...2021-09-0151 min
Finding RefugeTruth Your TruthNamed one of the “35 Under 35 in Wellness to Watch” by Wanderlust, Shannon Algeo is a celebrated speaker, writer, life coach, Yoga Nidra and meditation teacher. His popular podcast SoulFeed features interviews with iconic cultural and spiritual leaders like Deepak Chopra, Caroline Myss, Marianne Williamson, Danielle LaPorte, and many more. In his coaching practice, Algeo works with clients to heal old patterns of trauma so they can show up in the world with power, presence, and purpose.Shannon is known around the world for his gift of processing his own life experience into words that can be heard or r...2021-08-1551 min
CTZNFinding Refuge: Michelle Cassandra JohnsonThis week, my dear friend, Michelle Cassandra Johnson is back to help us tend to the shattered parts of ourselves so that we can embrace our wholeness and do the work of healing the collective heart. In the podcast, she says, what's needed in this moment isn’t to get back to normal or to get back to work or to get back being busy and productive. What's needed is to acknowledge what we’ve gone through and what has been lost. We must feel in order to heal. ...2021-08-0358 min
Finding RefugeDoing the WorkOneika Mays (LMT, E-RYT) transitioned to yoga and meditation from a 20 year career in corporate retail leadership over 10 years ago. Oneika used that experience to support social justice non-profits and teach meditation and yoga inside jails. Today, she is the first Mindfulness Coach at Rikers Island Correctional Facility. At Rikers she works one-on-one with community members in a therapeutic/medical setting. She believes that our justice system needs to focus on transformation and restoration rather than punishment. This idea of liberation and compassion is woven into her work whether it’s in a jail or teaching meditation in a cor...2021-08-0154 min
Honor Your SparkBodyful: Michelle Cassandra Johnson on Finding Refuge and Prioritizing Collective CareWe each have maybe a handful of teachers in our lives that fundamentally shift the way we see or experience— Michelle Cassandra Johnson has been one of those teachers for me.Michelle is a true embodiment of grace, fire, compassion, and grit, and is a radiant example of how to to show up with skillfulness and heart in a dysfunctional world.Her new book Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief was released just this week, and I am so excited to dive into and savor it starting next weekend when I’ve carved out some special time and spac...2021-07-161h 01
Radiant Rest Podcast with Tracee StanleyFinding Refuge with Michelle Cassandra JohnsonActivist, author, teacher and healer Michelle Cassandra Johnson joins Tracee Stanley for a pertinent and poignant conversation on grief and healing. Michelle discusses her upcoming book Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief and her definition of collective grief. Michelle and Tracee talk through the presence of exhaustion in activist spaces in this past year following immense trauma. They also consider how to be in community to imagine hope and what is possible, and the radical gift of dreaming. They explore losing the illusion of control, and rituals for grief. Join them for a discussion on liberation in...2021-07-0645 min
Finding RefugeWhat Needs to Heal?What an amazing first season of Finding Refuge!!Thank you to all who listened, reached out, shared episodes, and went into their hearts to create a pathway for healing. This episode is quite late. I wasn’t quite sure how to end Season 1. My friend and comrade, Tristan Katz, agreed to have a conversation with me about what’s been on my mind lately. This is a juicy conversation, and I hope you gain something from listening to it. I hope it stirs something in your heart and soul. I hope it resonates deeply with you. ...2021-05-2842 min
Finding RefugeWhat Needs to Heal?What an amazing first season of Finding Refuge!!Thank you to all who listened, reached out, shared episodes, and went into their hearts to create a pathway for healing. This episode is quite late. I wasn’t quite sure how to end Season 1. My friend and comrade, Tristan Katz, agreed to have a conversation with me about what’s been on my mind lately. This is a juicy conversation, and I hope you gain something from listening to it. I hope it stirs something in your heart and soul. I hope it resonates deeply with...2021-05-2842 min
Finding RefugeThere are Many Different PathsKiesha, a full-time yoga teacher and trainer, has a respected and well-deserved reputation in the national yoga community. She is Co-Director of the Yoga Retreat for Women of Color™ and a member of the board of directors for Amplify and Activate, a nonprofit community that focuses on yoga as a form of self-care and social justice. In addition to teaching through her own I Am Yoga organization, Kiesha has been Yoga Director at Charlotte Family Yoga Center and has taught for the YMCA of Greater Charlotte. She is a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher trainer, and has con...2021-04-1553 min
Finding RefugeThere are Many Different PathsKiesha, a full-time yoga teacher and trainer, has a respected and well-deserved reputation in the national yoga community. She is Co-Director of the Yoga Retreat for Women of Color™ and a member of the board of directors for Amplify and Activate, a nonprofit community that focuses on yoga as a form of self-care and social justice. In addition to teaching through her own I Am Yoga organization, Kiesha has been Yoga Director at Charlotte Family Yoga Center and has taught for the YMCA of Greater Charlotte. She is a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher trainer, and ha...2021-04-1553 min
Finding RefugeI Will Rise AgainThis episode is a magical interview with my friend Seán Johnson. Seán is a musician, storyteller, teacher-trainer, and sacred space-holder who has been teaching Yoga for the last 24 years. He is the founder of Wild Lotus Yoga in his native New Orleans, and Soul School, an online interdisciplinary spiritual immersion and Yoga teacher training program that focuses on teaching Yoga with skill and imagination, that he guides with Mitchel Bleier. In all these roles, he relishes creating a playful, tender, brave space for people to open their hearts and voices, sing, and embrace their innate cre...2021-04-0100 min
Finding RefugeI Will Rise AgainThis episode is a magical interview with my friend Seán Johnson. Seán is a musician, storyteller, teacher-trainer, and sacred space-holder who has been teaching Yoga for the last 24 years. He is the founder of Wild Lotus Yoga in his native New Orleans, and Soul School, an online interdisciplinary spiritual immersion and Yoga teacher training program that focuses on teaching Yoga with skill and imagination, that he guides with Mitchel Bleier. In all these roles, he relishes creating a playful, tender, brave space for people to open their hearts and voices, sing, and embrace their in...2021-04-0100 min
Finding RefugeRendering the ImpossibleSyd Yang (they/them) is a mixed race/Taiwanese American queer/non-binary healer, intuitive counselor and writer who weaves together magic, possibility and intention as an energy healer in the world through their practice, Blue Jaguar Healing Arts. As someone who lives with depression and anxiety, and has recovered from severe eating disorders, Syd's work finds its resonance in the stories we each hold at the intersection of memory, body, sexuality and mental health. Syd works primarily with queer and trans BIPOC individuals as well as regularly leads workshops, community healing circles and has been a group facilitator for...2021-03-1500 min
Finding RefugeRendering the ImpossibleSyd Yang (they/them) is a mixed race/Taiwanese American queer/non-binary healer, intuitive counselor and writer who weaves together magic, possibility and intention as an energy healer in the world through their practice, Blue Jaguar Healing Arts. As someone who lives with depression and anxiety, and has recovered from severe eating disorders, Syd's work finds its resonance in the stories we each hold at the intersection of memory, body, sexuality and mental health. Syd works primarily with queer and trans BIPOC individuals as well as regularly leads workshops, community healing circles and has been a group facilitator for...2021-03-1500 min
Finding RefugeBeing Brave & Making SpaceMicky ScottBey Jones she/diva- the Justice Doula - accompanies people as they birth more love, justice and shalom into our world. As a womanist, contemplative activist, movement chaplain, certified Enneagram coach and trainer and nonviolence practitioner, Micky supports students, clergy, activists and everyday leaders in a variety of roles - speaker, writer, facilitator, pilgrimage guide, consultant and teacher. She is the Director of Resilience and Healing Initiatives with Faith Matters Network and the visionary leader of the Daring Compassion Movement Chaplaincy Project focused on infusing movements for social change with accompaniment, care, healing and resilience. Micky was a...2021-03-0100 min
Finding RefugeBeing Brave & Making SpaceMicky ScottBey Jones she/diva- the Justice Doula - accompanies people as they birth more love, justice and shalom into our world. As a womanist, contemplative activist, movement chaplain, certified Enneagram coach and trainer and nonviolence practitioner, Micky supports students, clergy, activists and everyday leaders in a variety of roles - speaker, writer, facilitator, pilgrimage guide, consultant and teacher. She is the Director of Resilience and Healing Initiatives with Faith Matters Network and the visionary leader of the Daring Compassion Movement Chaplaincy Project focused on infusing movements for social change with accompaniment, care, healing and resilience. Micky was a...2021-03-0100 minConspirituality40: White Supremacy: Grift and Gravity (w/Michelle Cassandra Johnson & Daniel Lombroso)Around 2015, the alt-right movement erupted online to both provoke and monetize MAGA momentum and distort and defame the real-world progress symbolized in Barack Obama and agitated by Black Lives Matter. Young white supremacist poster-boy Richard Spencer and edgy internet crypto-racists like Lauren Southern, Mark Cernovich, and Gavin McInnes led the viral charge, racking up subscribers while lining their pockets on the side. Daniel Lombroso of The Atlantic embedded with their ilk from 2016-18, collecting enough footage to release the award-winning documentary, White Noise. Julian sat down to talk with him about the movement, and about making this film while...2021-02-262h 08
Finding RefugeLiving LiberatedKennae Miller (she/her) was born in Frankfurt, Germany in a strong military family and was raised on Arapaho and Cheyenne Indigenous land (now known as Colorado Springs, CO) where her father completed his military career and her family planted their roots. While living in Colorado and being exposed to many different experiences and forms of art she discovered yoga as a junior in high school. Initially lured by the invitation of a free class for relaxation as she navigated her teenage years she enjoyed the calmness of mind a yoga practice provided for her. It was only after...2021-02-1500 min
Finding RefugeLiving LiberatedKennae Miller (she/her) was born in Frankfurt, Germany in a strong military family and was raised on Arapaho and Cheyenne Indigenous land (now known as Colorado Springs, CO) where her father completed his military career and her family planted their roots. While living in Colorado and being exposed to many different experiences and forms of art she discovered yoga as a junior in high school. Initially lured by the invitation of a free class for relaxation as she navigated her teenage years she enjoyed the calmness of mind a yoga practice provided for her. It was only after...2021-02-1500 min
Finding RefugeDancing with BreathMirabelle is in an intimate relationship with yoga as a breath-ing experience. She has been on this path of living yoga for 19 years, studying with swamis (monks) and teachers from the Sivananda Saraswati lineage, which traces back to Adi Shankaracharya. She also studied Yoga and Yoga Philosophy from Mumbai University for 2 years. She has taught at yoga ashrams and studios in India, the USA, Canada, Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands and is a guest teacher on trainings on pranayama, bhakti yoga, and the deeper nuances of yoga. Mirabelle invites you into delicious practices of yogic breathwork (pr...2021-02-0100 min
Finding RefugeDancing with BreathMirabelle is in an intimate relationship with yoga as a breath-ing experience. She has been on this path of living yoga for 19 years, studying with swamis (monks) and teachers from the Sivananda Saraswati lineage, which traces back to Adi Shankaracharya. She also studied Yoga and Yoga Philosophy from Mumbai University for 2 years. She has taught at yoga ashrams and studios in India, the USA, Canada, Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands and is a guest teacher on trainings on pranayama, bhakti yoga, and the deeper nuances of yoga. Mirabelle invites you into delicious practices of...2021-02-0100 min
Finding RefugeRadiant RestTracee Stanley was introduced to the practice of yoga nidra in 2001. She immediately recognized it as a healing salve for the world and began to incorporate it into her life and her yoga teaching.She left her high-stress career as a Hollywood film producer to delve deeper into the study of the practices that were empowering and rejuvenating her, so she could share them with others.With over 20 years of experience practice and teaching in the Himalayan Tradition, Tantra and Sri Vidya, she also understands the demands of life as an entrepreneur, wife, and stepmom...2021-01-1500 min
Finding RefugeRadiant RestTracee Stanley was introduced to the practice of yoga nidra in 2001. She immediately recognized it as a healing salve for the world and began to incorporate it into her life and her yoga teaching.She left her high-stress career as a Hollywood film producer to delve deeper into the study of the practices that were empowering and rejuvenating her, so she could share them with others.With over 20 years of experience practice and teaching in the Himalayan Tradition, Tantra and Sri Vidya, she also understands the demands of life as an entrepreneur, wife, and stepmom...2021-01-1500 min
Finding RefugeAll the FeelingsAna is my nine-year old friend. She is an amazing spirit. She is a Cancer Sun, Gemini Rising and an Aries Moon. She loves the ocean and all things water. Ana loves to sing, draw, paint, camp and bake! This podcast episode came to be because Ana was in the car with me listening to my interview on another podcast. I thought she was asleep. After the podcast ended she said, “that was really good.” I said, “I should interview you” to which we responded with an enthusiastic YES! Enjoy this special episode of Finding Refuge. It is sure t...2020-12-2800 min
Finding RefugeAll the FeelingsAna is my nine-year old friend. She is an amazing spirit. She is a Cancer Sun, Gemini Rising and an Aries Moon. She loves the ocean and all things water. Ana loves to sing, draw, paint, camp and bake! This podcast episode came to be because Ana was in the car with me listening to my interview on another podcast. I thought she was asleep. After the podcast ended she said, “that was really good.” I said, “I should interview you” to which we responded with an enthusiastic YES! Enjoy this special episode of Finding Refuge. It is su...2020-12-2800 min
Finding RefugeThe Power of the InvisibleVictoria Santos, MA, designs and facilitates group processes in communities, organizations, businesses, universities and schools. Her work is rooted in a far-reaching vision of human potential. Warm authentic presence, compassionate communication, commitment to social justice and racial equity, and lifelong learning are threads running through all of Victoria’s work. Victoria has a deep commitment to our collective liberation. Equipped with diverse approaches and perspectives, Victoria brings a strong affinity for exploring the ways that intersectional and structural oppressions express themselves in systems, cultures and individuals. She helps organizational leaders clearly recognize systemic barriers to social justice an...2020-12-2143 min
Finding RefugeThe Power of the InvisibleVictoria Santos, MA, designs and facilitates group processes in communities, organizations, businesses, universities and schools. Her work is rooted in a far-reaching vision of human potential. Warm authentic presence, compassionate communication, commitment to social justice and racial equity, and lifelong learning are threads running through all of Victoria’s work. Victoria has a deep commitment to our collective liberation. Equipped with diverse approaches and perspectives, Victoria brings a strong affinity for exploring the ways that intersectional and structural oppressions express themselves in systems, cultures and individuals. She helps organizational leaders clearly recognize systemic barriers to social justice an...2020-12-2143 min
Finding RefugeAn Intimate Connection with the SoulFrancis Weller, MFT, is a psychotherapist, writer and soul activist. He is a master of synthesizing diverse streams of thought from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, indigenous cultures, and poetic traditions. Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief; The Threshold Between Loss and Revelation, (with Rashani Réa) and In the Absence of the Ordinary: Essays in a Time of Uncertainty, he has introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people. He founded and directs WisdomBridge, an organization that offers educational programs that seek to integrate the wisdom from in...2020-12-1448 min
Finding RefugeAn Intimate Connection with the SoulFrancis Weller, MFT, is a psychotherapist, writer and soul activist. He is a master of synthesizing diverse streams of thought from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, indigenous cultures, and poetic traditions. Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief; The Threshold Between Loss and Revelation, (with Rashani Réa) and In the Absence of the Ordinary: Essays in a Time of Uncertainty, he has introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people. He founded and directs WisdomBridge, an organization that offers educational programs that seek to integrate the wisdom f...2020-12-1448 min
Finding RefugeCarry the MedicineTamira is both a student and medium of ancestral and earth-honoring wisdom who is committed to centering personal wellness in service to greater cultural healing. She is the beloved grandchild of West African, British & Irish peoples with deep southern roots.Her Ori (destiny) and spiritual path have conspired to guide her towards studying emergent and embodied ancestral liberation and healing practices, Brazilian earth-honoring traditions and of West African Ifa Òrìṣà tradition. These paths of practice are the foundation of her ritual training and development and continue to shape the contours of the ritual containers and embodied practices that...2020-12-0746 min
Finding RefugeCarry the MedicineTamira is both a student and medium of ancestral and earth-honoring wisdom who is committed to centering personal wellness in service to greater cultural healing. She is the beloved grandchild of West African, British & Irish peoples with deep southern roots.Her Ori (destiny) and spiritual path have conspired to guide her towards studying emergent and embodied ancestral liberation and healing practices, Brazilian earth-honoring traditions and of West African Ifa Òrìṣà tradition. These paths of practice are the foundation of her ritual training and development and continue to shape the contours of the ritual containers and embodied pract...2020-12-0746 min
Finding RefugeRemembering to DreamThis is a special episode of the Finding Refuge podcast, in which Tristan Katz (they/them) and Lauren Roberts (she/her) interview me!Tristan and Lauren are both friends and collaborators of mine and I’m excited to share this conversation with you—a cross-over episode with their newly launched podcast, ALL THE F*CK IN: Showing up for social justice in your work.Tune in to hear about…- My career path and what led me to the work I do today- My experience as a dismantling racism trainer and how I...2020-11-2849 min
Finding RefugeRemembering to DreamThis is a special episode of the Finding Refuge podcast, in which Tristan Katz (they/them) and Lauren Roberts (she/her) interview me!Tristan and Lauren are both friends and collaborators of mine and I’m excited to share this conversation with you—a cross-over episode with their newly launched podcast, ALL THE F*CK IN: Showing up for social justice in your work.Tune in to hear about…My career path and what led me to the work I do todayMy experience as a dismantling racism trainer and how I brin...2020-11-2849 min
Finding RefugeThe Alchemy of HoneybeesThis is a special interview with my friend and fellow lover of honeybees, Karla Michelle Capacetti Quintana. Karla is a magical woman who weaves between the earthly plane and spiritual realms. Karla Michelle Capacetti-Quintana is a medicine maker, sacred beekeeper, and Earth steward. She is a student of sustainable agriculture, community food systems, yoga & Ayurveda, western herbalism, poetry, feminine-form frame drumming, dreaming, anti-racism and decolonization, alternative economies, bee mysticism, permaculture, and priestess arts. Karla’s roots rise from the island of Boriké, colonially known as Puerto Rico. She currently resides in central Florida on stolen and occupied Tim...2020-11-1541 min
Finding RefugeThe Alchemy of HoneybeesThis is a special interview with my friend and fellow lover of honeybees, Karla Michelle Capacetti Quintana. Karla is a magical woman who weaves between the earthly plane and spiritual realms. Karla Michelle Capacetti-Quintana is a medicine maker, sacred beekeeper, and Earth steward. She is a student of sustainable agriculture, community food systems, yoga & Ayurveda, western herbalism, poetry, feminine-form frame drumming, dreaming, anti-racism and decolonization, alternative economies, bee mysticism, permaculture, and priestess arts. Karla’s roots rise from the island of Boriké, colonially known as Puerto Rico. She currently resides in central Florida on stolen and occ...2020-11-1541 min
Finding RefugeUnapologetic JoyKelley is a creator, coach, yogi, community advocate and writer. She is passionately following the path that at times, calls her, pulls her and propels her forward. She is focused on wholeness and liberation. Individually and collective. That intention looks like a few different things for Kelley. It shows up as teaching yoga, working in community and holding space for others to connect to their own practices, rituals and understandings.Kelley is a 200 E-RYT with Yoga Alliance and a certified continuing education provider with Yoga Alliance. She is also a certified Accessible Yoga teacher and trainer. Additionally...2020-11-0156 min
Finding RefugeUnapologetic JoyKelley is a creator, coach, yogi, community advocate and writer. She is passionately following the path that at times, calls her, pulls her and propels her forward. She is focused on wholeness and liberation. Individually and collective. That intention looks like a few different things for Kelley. It shows up as teaching yoga, working in community and holding space for others to connect to their own practices, rituals and understandings.Kelley is a 200 E-RYT with Yoga Alliance and a certified continuing education provider with Yoga Alliance. She is also a certified Accessible Yoga teacher and trainer. Additionally...2020-11-0156 min
Finding RefugeRegenerationShankari Goldstein is a Program Manager at the Mind & Life Institute. Trained in the lineage of Integral Yoga, Shankari has spent years connecting to breath, body, strength, movement, and energy. She is a Certified Yoga of Recovery Instructor, an Accessible Yoga Ambassador, Activist and a founder of The State of Union (Yoga) Address series, Shensara Yoga Festival, The Black Female Farmers Network, and the Black Yogis of Virginia group. An avid Social Justice activist for over a decade, she continues to find ways to help propel the voices of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) forward and share their...2020-10-1539 min
Finding RefugeRegenerationShankari Goldstein is a Program Manager at the Mind & Life Institute. Trained in the lineage of Integral Yoga, Shankari has spent years connecting to breath, body, strength, movement, and energy. She is a Certified Yoga of Recovery Instructor, an Accessible Yoga Ambassador, Activist and a founder of The State of Union (Yoga) Address series, Shensara Yoga Festival, The Black Female Farmers Network, and the Black Yogis of Virginia group. An avid Social Justice activist for over a decade, she continues to find ways to help propel the voices of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) forward and share...2020-10-1539 min
Finding RefugeLove & HumilityTema Okun has spent over 30 years working with and for organizations, schools, and community-based institutions as a trainer, facilitator, and coach focused on issues of racial justice and equity. Dr. Okun currently co-leads the Teaching for Equity Fellows Program at Duke University, which works with faculty seeking to develop stronger skills both teaching about race and racism and across lines of race, class, and gender. She was a member of the Educational Leadership faculty at National Louis University in Chicago and has taught undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral level students in educational leadership and education. She is the author of...2020-10-0142 min