Meet Our Team

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YOGA INSTRUCTOR

My name is India … WITH A CAPITAL I.

I am a Taurus Sun, Scorpio Moon, and Sagittarius Rising.

I struggle with PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety and have only found peace on my yoga mat. I spent 3 years teaching and practicing yoga and tarot TO MYSELF at home alone. I feared going to yoga in public because yoga was my sacred space. Somewhere I cried, screamed, laughed, fell, hurt, and felt my authentic healing. Then in 2020 I found Gabriel Roberts (owner of 612 Jungle). She inspired me and provided me with a yoga community. After only 2 classes I signed up for YTT and got my yoga instructor certificate that same year. I also teach @612Jungle

Black wellness is MY WELLNESS. As a black woman, black wellness is the very essence of who I am. Highlighting black wellness is key to my generational health. As a community, we have gotten lost in the violence of our wellness. I believe that we have trauma and stress stored in our bodies and if we want to be free we must learn to release. Our anger, our pain is all valid, and learning how to transform that energy into our liberation is KEY. Black people deserve to know, feel, and understand the POWER of their healing and liberation. We deserve to experience the joy, peace, and LOVE that comes from our healing journeys. Black wellness is my form of protest.

I started Mii Holistic Healing because representation is HUGELY tied to receiving. We are not healing because we aren’t aware that healing can look like us. Mii Holistic Healing's mission is to create sacred spaces TO AFFIRM that joy, peace, wisdom, alchemy, and LIBERATION are all a part of healing, and every being deserves to feel HEALING.

FUN FACT: 🥭I love mangos 🥭

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YOGA INSTRUCTOR

I am a yoga teacher, wellness professional, rapper, and host of the TPT/PBS Midwest Emmy award-winning series, "Outside Chance." I serve as a consultant to YMCA of the North's Integrative Health and Wellness program, the University Of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing, and am currently developing a yoga and meditation study with the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation for communities impacted by health disparities.

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YOGA INSTRUCTOR

I have been practicing yoga for well over 40 years and earned my first yoga teaching credentials in 2012, after living and working as a volunteer at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health-the largest yoga center in North America. Since then, I have earned certifications in Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and various forms of trauma-informed yoga including training from the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance. I completed my 500-hour yoga teacher training with world-renowned black yoga teacher, Dianne Bondy focusing on equity and accessibility in the wellness field. I also studied with Dr. Gail Parker and Octavia Raheem whose work in centering black wellness has earned national acclaim.

I am a former social worker, youth worker, and crisis worker with expertise in program development and implementation. After graduating seminary in 2018 I integrated my yoga teaching, social service experience, and theological education to help others cultivate grounding, clarity, and peace at the core of their own being. I am the founder of Temple Within which offers spiritual wellness consultation, yoga, and group facilitation services.

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FITNESS INSTRUCTOR

I teach HipHop Cardio Dance Fitness in North Minneapolis encouraging everyBODY at any age to be fit. With music and dance being my passion I decided to become a Zumba Instructor in 2017 but later became a Fitness Instructor to try different workout formats. I am now able to bring my passions together to inspire others and teach classes surrounding the Twin Cities. My mission is to embrace health & wellness through dance and to create a space where daily acts of self-love and self-care are a regular part of everyday life.

For me, Black Wellness means a commitment to prioritizing our mental, spiritual, and physical well-being. It creates an environment where our blackness is centered and nurtured. I believe that we should all be intentional about our healing, for ourselves and our community.

Social Media Handles: @iamkikijones

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FITNESS INSTRUCTOR

I am a certified personal trainer, certified nutrition coach, and certified pure barre trainer. With over 7 years of experience in social services, community leadership, and individualized holistic health, I am a results-driven servant leader and coach. My commitment is to empower and equip individuals and families towards holistic wellness.

As a passionate advocate for Black Health, I strongly believe that everyone deserves easy access to quality health and wellness. I strive to create a safe and inclusive space where people can be their authentic selves and build a sense of community. One fun fact about me is that I love doing Burpees.

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BOXING INSTRUCTOR

I am a south Minneapolis native and began boxing at the age of 5. I was trained by Sankara Frazier and Adonis Frazier at the Circle of Discipline, my home gym. While there, I not only learned the sweet science of boxing, but also what it means to be a contributing member of a community.

My training in the ring has resulted in a strong resolve to lead by example. I am the former WBA welterweight champion of the world and currently a top-ranked professional welterweight fighter.

Outside of the ring, I give back as a board member of the Minneapolis College Foundation, a community organizer and mentor at the Circle of Discipline, and a youth advocate. Black wellness is important to me because I like to see all people, especially Black people healthy, whole, and thriving.

Fun fact: My wife is the owner of Reviving Roots!

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YOGA INSTRUCTOR

I have been practicing yoga regularly since I was in graduate school, starting in a gentle yoga class at a senior center in Chicago. I became a teacher in 2018 as part of my journey toward intergenerational healing and have been teaching classes and supporting individuals in the community ever since. I love introducing folks of all abilities and backgrounds to the gentle, adaptive practices of SomaYoga, a mode of yoga that supports functional movement, health, and vitality in all stages of life.

Black wellness is important to me because so many institutions have stolen life from our people. As Audre Lorde taught us: self-care is a radical act of rebellion in a world that devalues Black lives. Through my yoga practice and teaching, I aim to avenge all the grey hairs denied by my ancestors.

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SOMATIC COACH

Gigi is a warm, deeply grounded, poetic public speaker, story teller, somatic coach, meditation and yoga teacher.

She is a certified life coach, has her 200 HR YTT, certified Somatic Body Temple Dance Teacher, completed her 6 month Women's rites of passage inner child healing certification, and is a certified self talk coach.

Her calling is to create programs that guide people to relate intimately to their bodies, visions and wounds they have carried or buried, in order for them to root into their own unique medicine for the world.

She believes when the people are well - the earth is well. And she is on a mission to water the sacred wellness in the lives of as many folks as possible by midwifing them through challenging, confusing or new journeys in their lives.

She can guide people to this level of depth only because she has gone there herself. Her personal journey gives her the ability to coach from a true embodied experience and this is felt and allows her to show up with deep compassion, vulnerability, love, non-judgment, integrity and wisdom to all those she meets. She can meet others with this because she has met herself there.

Some of Gigi’s experience includes: Leading workshops at Ra Ma Yoga institute, speaking at Mankato State University, US Bank, Comcast, and Northeast Middle School and co leading a retreat in Mexico. She is also a former HuffPost contributor, best-selling co- author and creator of the Adore Don't Ignore Black Women Summit, Embodied Ally Program, Birthing a Vision Course, a 3 mos membership for female visionaries and Sacred Mother Yoga.

Most of the programs Gigi creates are birthed through prayer and meditation.

So she bridges the intuitive insights she receives from prayer along with ancient spiritual teachings, embodiment practices and her lifelong devotion to the studies of spirit.

This results in an approach that is grounded, innovative, and poetic

Some personal shares about Gigi are: She is a mother to a 21 year old son, she enjoys painting as a creative way to unwind, taking dance classes and songwriting for fun/healing.

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MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR

Marcus Fard began his martial arts journey at age 12 after years of bullying. It began with a copy of a Goju Ryu karate book he borrowed over the summer before 7th grade. After weeks of attempting to translate the pictures into action, he walked away with just a mediocre side kick and the determination to no longer be a victim. One confrontation at a bus stop, followed by the other kid tasting foot and he was hooked.

Marcus has trained in Wing Tzun Kung Fu for 14 years exclusively and has attained the rank of 2nd degree technician (black belt) as well as authorization to teach.

Black wellness is important to him because we are constantly on the defensive in many arenas of our lives. He recognizes it’s important to have a safe space or “3rd place” outside work or home to decompress and work through life stressors. Often times we’re in perpetual “go mode” until our health sits us down.

His mission is to create and develop community through the teaching of Wing Tzun Kung Fu and to provide a professional, world class education in martial arts, self defense and maximizing human potential while providing a safe space for people to heal and work on their health holistically.

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YOGA INSTRUCTOR

My name is pronounced shore-RAY. I love humanity and am passionate about Black people, Black spaces, Black wellness, Black dreams, Black healing and Black community. I have devoted myself to Black wellness and wholeness, believing no one is well until we are all well and that healing happens individually and in community. I am a student of ancestors and elders, writers, practitioners, leaders and mentors that have supported me and my evolving understanding about what it means to love, to be whole and to thrive.

Professionally, I have spent 10+ years leading anti-racist organizational change work across sectors, but learned that our personal power is what will illuminate our path to wellness. To me, this means no business, team, boss or manager will prioritize my wellness and wholeness more than me. I now understand racism and capitalism exist to keep us disconnected and numb, operating in silos that don't honor physical, mental, spiritual and emotional connection interdependently. With this understanding, I founded Well & Just in 2019, which is my commitment to Black people, and all people, learning, discovering and practicing resourcing their self-system.

I fell in love with yoga at 10 years old and continued to practice and apply yoga principles in my life. I am a certified coach, training, facilitator and completed 235 HR yoga teacher training in 2021 in Minneapolis. I am married to a beautiful person and we created three incredible kids, who have become my greatest teachers. I am a Capricorn sun, part-pitta and part-kapha, silver-lining obsessed, founding member of the Beyhive, and a balanced combination of two influencers during my coming of age in the 90s: Oprah and Lil Kim.

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MASSAGE THERAPIST

I’m Andréa or Drea, some know me as Dandara or Perna Longa I’m open to whichever comes naturally to you. I’m a bodywork practitioner and artist who in recent years has been vehemently pursuing the cultivation and sustainment of inner peace and well-being for myself. Through art and skill exchange, the study and practice of somatic therapy, and radical self-exploration I wish to share the tools and resources that help support me and may potentially benefit others. As I develop awareness and fluency in dialogue with my body, I find what fosters my health and overall energy has been loving authentic creation, allowing pleasurable experiences, genuine connections that practice consent, and permission for unapologetic rest.

As a therapist, I use an integrative approach in my sessions utilizing Swedish and Thai massage techniques as the foundation but might include reiki, cupping, sound, rocking, and/or holds. After a consultation and ‘plactica’ (sacred listening), together we will assess where your body is asking to focus while also acknowledging and honoring your mental and emotional space in the moment. Testimonials claim that I have a firm touch with a gentle approach. I use a variety of techniques that include deep tissue compression, joint rotation, passive or collaborative stretching, acupressure, and/or jostling. I’m an intuitive practitioner who deeply listens to the pace and receptiveness of the client/body I’m working with and encourage you to continuously advocate for what you need throughout.

As a dancer and martial-artist I also hold spaces for guided movement in Afro-Cuban, West African, and Afro-Brazilian styles including but not limited to Orisha dance, Cabaret, Capoeira, and fusion. I facilitate circles that focus on the culture and music from these traditions as they help nourish our connection to Spirit through song and instrumentation. After trying to resolve the ways Black trauma is systematically encouraged in our world through constant organizing and social justice cohorts, a severe burnout forced me to directly and tangibly nourish myself. As I restore myself I realize the value of capacity, presence, and rest to participate in life and community processes in ways that are healthy and sustainable. Black wellness is important to me because I have a dream of contagious Black liberation at its finest. I am learning that a direct and tangible path to this liberation is through restoration, fearless expansion, and authentic expression. We can manage our wellness daily by learning different ways to care for and regulate our nervous system and create more space within our bodies feeding our life force.

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