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

Michelle has a bachelor of arts degree from the College of William and Mary and a masters degree in social work from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has worked in several nonprofits and served as an elected official in North Carolina from 2011 to 2016. She has led Dismantling Racism Trainings with large corporations, small nonprofits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, The Center for Equity and Inclusion, Mercedes, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and more. 

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. She is also author of Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief, We Heal Together: Rituals and Practice for Building Community and Connection, and A Space For Us: A Guide For Leading Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Affinity Groups. Michelle's latest book, Illuminating Our True Nature: Yogic Practices for Personal and Collective Healing, explores the root causes of suffering, how to disrupt them, and work toward collective liberation. In 2020, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times.