Michelle began her yoga practice with mindfulness and meditation in college. However, after earning her MSW in Colorado and moving to Durham, she really started to embrace yoga as a way to heal, to understand, and to be. She has completed a 200 hour yoga teacher training through MindBody Centering Yoga in Durham, and is in the process of an additional 200 hour training, Skill in Action with Michelle Johnson, where she is learning to combine her social work education, social justice practice, personal experiences, and yoga training into fully authentic, socially aware, and embodied yoga practices to better herself, her students, and the community at large. Through an offering of yoga, Michelle aspires to support others in connecting to their bodies and breath, in creating nourishing self-love practices, and in ultimately embracing individual and collective growth and healing.

As a survivor of sexual violence, Michelle has struggled with depression and anxiety most of her life. Yoga has been her primary method of healing and feeling whole again. Through gentle and sweet practices in her classes, she hopes to help others feel more connected and whole as well. Additionally, as a queer and nonbinary femme, she has experienced many non-inclusive yoga spaces. She strives to create an intersectional, body positive, affirming and inclusive, trauma informed, and anti-racist environment for accessible yoga practices.