Short Bio

Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an author, activist, spiritual teacher, racial equity consultant and educator, and intuitive and shamanic healer. She approaches her life and work from a place of knowing we are, can, and must heal individually and collectively. Michelle facilitates workshops and immersions, leads retreats and transformative experiences nationwide, and offers an array of healing services for individuals and groups. For over 25 years as a racial equity educator, she has worked with large corporations, non-profits, and community groups. Michelle is a five-time published author, and In May 2025, her sixth book, The Wisdom of the Hive, published by Sounds True and co-written with her best friend, Amy Burtaine, comes out.

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 racial equity work, creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. 

Michelle leads courageously from the heart with compassion and a commitment to address the heartbreak dominant culture causes for many because of the harm it creates. She inspires change that allows people to stand in their humanity and wholeness in a world that fragments most of us. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, sweet dog, Jasper, and her honeybees. 

https://www.michellecjohnson.com/.

Long Bio

Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an author, activist, spiritual teacher, racial equity consultant and educator, and intuitive and shamanic healer. She has led transformative work dismantling racism and systems of oppression, disrupting the wellness industry to make it more inclusive and accessible, creating space for healing in myriad ways, and through her work for over two decades as a clinical social worker. Michelle’s work centers on healing from individual and collective trauma, returning to wholeness, and aligning the mind, body, spirit, and heart. 

She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary and a Master's in Social Work from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has worked in several non-profits and served as an elected official in North Carolina from 2011 to 2016. She has led Dismantling Racism Trainings with large corporations, small non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, Spotify, This American Life, The Center for Equity and Inclusion, Mercedes, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Auburn Seminary, Kripalu, Yoga Alliance, and Lululemon, and many others. She published the first edition of Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017 and the second edition of Skill in Action published by Shambhala Publications in 2021. Her second book, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief, was published by Shambhala Publications in 2021. Shambhala Publications published her third book, We Heal Together: Rituals and Practice for Building Community and Connection, in 2023. Beacon Press published her fourth book, A Space For Us: A Guide For Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups, in August 2023. Michelle's latest book, Illuminating Our True Nature: Yogic Practices for Personal and Collective Healing, published by Shambhala Publications, explores the root causes of suffering, how to disrupt them, and how to work toward collective liberation. In May 2025, her sixth book, The Wisdom of the Hive, published by Sounds True and co-written with her best friend, Amy Burtaine, comes out.

Michelle facilitates workshops and immersions, leads retreats and transformative experiences nationwide, and offers an array of healing services for individuals and groups. She 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 racial equity work, creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. In 2020, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which ran for four seasons and explored the themes of collective grief and liberation.

She leads courageously from the heart with compassion and a commitment to address the heartbreak dominant culture causes for many because of the harm it creates. She inspires change that allows people to stand in their humanity and wholeness in a world that fragments most of us. Whether in an anti-oppression training, yoga space, individual or group intuitive healing session, the heart, healing, and wholeness are at the center of how she approaches all of my work in the world. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, sweet dog, Jasper, and her honeybees. 

https://www.michellecjohnson.com/.

Social Media

Instagram: @skillinaction

The Finding Refuge Podcast

Books

Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World

Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief

We Heal Together: Rituals and Practice for Building Community and Connection

A Space for Us: A Guide for Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups

Illuminating Our True Nature: Yogic Practices for Personal and Collective Healing

The Wisdom of the Hive: What Honeybees Can Teach Us about Collective Wellbeing