“Yoga is Skill in Action.”
— The Bhagavad Gita
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.
Of the many recent programs to emerge from Michelle’s continued work is the evolution of 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. Each facilitator brings a unique perspective to their offerings. We look forward to offering workshops in your community or studio—online and beyond.
About Michelle C. Johnson,
social justice warrior, author, dismantling racism trainer, empath, yoga teacher & practitioner,
& an intuitive healer
Pronouns: she/her
I am a social justice warrior, author, dismantling racism trainer, empath, yoga teacher and practitioner, and an intuitive healer. With over 20 years of experience leading dismantling racism work and working with clients as a licensed clinical social worker, I have a deep understanding of how trauma impacts the mind, body, spirit, and heart. My awareness of the world through my own experience as a Black woman allows me to know, first-hand, how privilege and power operate.
I have a Bachelors 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. I have worked in several non-profits and served as an elected official and on many non-profit boards of directors. I have led Dismantling Racism Trainings with large corporations, small non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, The Center for Equity and Inclusion, Eno River Unitarian Universalist Church, Lululemon, and many others. I published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017; my new book Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief was published in July 2021. I teach workshops in yoga studios and community spaces nationwide and am on the faculty of Off the Mat, Into the World. I was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019, and I have been interviewed on several podcasts in which I explore the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Recently, I created my 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 and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.
I lead courageously from the heart with compassion and a commitment to address the heartbreak dominant culture causes for many because of the harm it creates. I inspire 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 I approach all of my work in the world. There are myriad of ways to work with me. I hope to support you on your healing journey and path towards wholeness in whatever capacity allows you to live your fullest life.