Ashley 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.

Shakira 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 wellness practices as she explores her presence in mixed-race wellness spaces. She and other passionate change-makers are building a Worker Cooperative that supports shared values of whole-body healing, uplifting the voices of their community, and to recreate the meaning of wellness through an anti-oppression and anti-racism lens.

Jivana 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 mission of shifting the public perception of yoga. In addition to offering Conferences and Community Conversations, Accessible Yoga offers a popular Ambassador program. 

Named 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 read in service of greater learning, deeper resonance, and profound healing.  

Oneika 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 corporate environment. She believes that meditation, movement and mindfulness practices can forge a path to freedom. Power for the people.

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.

This episode is an interview with Kiesha Battles, a full-time yoga teacher and trainer who has a respected and well-deserved reputation in the national yoga community.

This 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.

Syd 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.

Micky ScottBey Jones she/diva- the Justice Doula - accompanies people as they birth more love, justice and shalom into our world.

Kennae 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).

Mirabelle 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

Tracee 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.

Ana 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.

Victoria is a leader who works for social justice and racial equity with institutions, schools and community organizations in the U.S. and internationally. Victoria is a Spanish-fluent Afro-Latina immigrant born in the Dominican Republic.

Francis 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.

Tamira 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.

This is a special episode of the Finding Refuge podcast, in which Tristan Katz (they/them) and Lauren Roberts (she/her) interview me! We talk about my career path and what led me to the work I do today, my experience as a dismantling racism trainer and how I brings this into yoga and wellness spaces, and more.

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.

Kelley 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.