What is Skill in Action
Founded and led by Michelle C. Johnson, Skill in Action emerged from a deep desire to practice actionable yoga off the mat and outside of the confines of a yoga studio. Michelle was co-leading a workshop focused on Spiritual Activism when her co-facilitator, Claudia Horowitz, pulled out a large text and began to read from it. At the time, Michelle didn’t recognize the text, and later learned it was the Bhagavad Gita—an ancient yogic text about devotion, divinity, dharma, resistance to living into our purpose, and practices to guide us back to purpose. Claudia read the verse, “Yoga is Skill in Action” and it lit a fire inside Michelle. Having been an activist for most of her life, Michelle knew that yoga was more expansive than what was being reflected to in the industry of yoga—physical movement, and physical transformation and yoga defined by moving from one posture to the next. Hearing the wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita affirmed the responsibility and Michelle’s deep knowing that we have to engage our practice to create social change and liberation.
Skill in Action evolves
From that moment on, Michelle’s work became focused on living skillfully while taking action to make change for the collective good. Michelle later created both a 200hr and 300hr yoga teacher training program focused on the intersection of social justice and yoga, and she then went on to author her book, Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World, and to travel the world teaching about what it means to center justice in yoga and wellness spaces.
Michelle is available to teach workshops, training, and immersions in Yoga Schools, spiritual spaces, organizations, and communities. Given the interest and demand for Skill in Action, Michelle created a mentorship training designed to support a curated group of facilitators to lead Skill in Action workshops and expand the reach of this important, necessary work. She has six facilitators who are leading Skill in Action workshops and trainings. Each facilitator brings a unique perspective to their offerings. We look forward to offering workshops in your community or studio—online and beyond.
In addition to trainings, workshops, and immersions…
Michelle offers coaching and consulting for yoga practitioners, teachers, studio owners, and anyone who would like to learn more about creating an inclusive and liberatory practice space in their community.
In these coaching sessions, you’ll explore inclusivity, dismantling systems of oppression, culture change, and cultural appropriation.
Michelle will assist you in setting up goals for your practice and space so you can make yoga and wellness accessible and inclusive of all.
If you lead a yoga teacher training, Michelle will support you in developing curriculum based on Skill in Action for your space and clientele.
When you enter into a coaching relationship with Michelle, she asks for an initial three-session commitment; after these sessions, you’ll reassess your needs together. Sessions are an hour and recorded via Zoom for your future reference.
What People Are Saying
“Michelle's workshops attune us back to the power of our hearts; our ultimate tool to facilitate connection and healing. She creates a space where we consider how to carry our histories with wisdom, move toward our hopeful anticipations for the future, and tap into our deepest yearnings to wrap understanding and healing around our present moment experiences. Michelle's offerings create an urgent internal call to action that re-awakens us to the infinite permutations of how we can orient and organize ourselves moment by moment. She reminds us that we are not alone.”
— SKILL IN ACTION ATTENDEE
“Michelle's work realigns us to our common humanity, igniting a fire within us to burn down the systems of privilege and oppression that strip us of our capacity to live well. She reminds us to navigate toward the truth of each moment. Michelle reminds us that how we use ourselves, especially in the context of others, has extraordinarily powerful ramifications on what happens next.”
— WORKSHOP ATTENDEE
“I've attended three workshops and in all of them, Skill in Action taught me the skill to disrupt. Before Skill in Action, I understood disruption only as an act of confrontation and that limited perspective on confrontation was a disempowering point of view for someone who was introverted like me. I thought I had no place in shifting the culture of yoga. These workshops helped me navigate that view through the lessons on social location accompanied by conversations and reflections on rituals, practices, and yoga philosophy. I learned that Skill in Action is inquiry in practice and that will always be a part of my practice, teaching and being.”