Skill in Action
the 2nd edition
Revised, expanded, and now available!
Michelle has spent over a decade centering conversations and practice around the intersection of social justice and yoga. Her unique work in the world calls her to inspire people to remember our interconnectedness, take action to make change so everyone can be well and have what they need to thrive, and engage in spiritual practice to create a just world.
Michelle’s experience as a Black woman seeking healing and spiritual practice in a white-washed industry led her to begin asking questions about why the industry of yoga was so exclusive. These questions led her to write and publish the first edition of Skill in Action in 2017 with the hopes of disrupting the way the yoga industry operated. These questions led Michelle to then create a guide and resource that urges people to move into alignment with the true meaning of yoga and move away from samskaras, which causes us to be separated from our true essence, nature, and one another.
After the first edition of Skill in Action was published, Michelle traveled nationwide, working with various yoga communities to raise awareness about the intersection of social justice and yoga. She taught practitioners, aspiring and certified teachers, and studio owners and managers new skills to create more inclusive and liberatory spaces. The skills Michelle taught were deeply informed by her study of the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient text that teaches us to live in a way that supports us seeing the divinity within everyone and everything, and to devote our actions to something bigger than ourselves.
The first edition of Skill in Action lit a fire in the wellness and yoga industries, which led Michelle to write the second edition of Skill in Action. This edition was deeply informed by her interactions with various people across the globe who had the same questions she did about creating a just world through the practice of yoga and creating a world in which we all are free. This new edition of the book is a deeper dive into how we can engage our yoga practice to create a more just and equitable world.
This new, revised and expanded book offers:
Ideas about how to integrate justice into teaching the eight limbs of yoga;
Ways to support people as they move through their resistance and discomfort in the face of injustice;
A thorough analysis of how power and privilege inform the yoga industry and how we practice yoga;
A clear call to remember our role as teachers and change-makers;
Potent tools and practices to both ground and inspire us, such as journaling prompts, pranayama exercises, meditations, and rituals.
Michelle hopes this edition of Skill in Action will continue to shift the yoga and wellness industry and inspire yoga practitioners, teachers, and anyone interested in creating equity through embodiment and spiritual practices to take action.
What People Are Saying
The promise of yoga is freedom. Freedom is both an individual and collective journey. Our liberation is tied to one another and so is our yoga practice. Skill in Action is a freedom guide-and it also asks questions that demand answers. What is information if it is not heeded? What is knowledge if it is not activated? What good does it do us to stand on our heads if we can't stand on our own two feet or stand up for each other? Can there be 'love and light' without acknowledging and contending with our personal and societal darkness? Within Skill in Action, Michelle C. Johnson calls us out, in, and together and teaches us what it means to live our yoga, greater purpose, and activate our power for the greater good off the mat. This is a book for all time and especially now. —Octavia Raheem
[Michelle's] book, Skill in Action, is the go-to resource for any student interested in understanding the intersection of spiritual context in the framework of social justice. Michelle’s powerful writing brilliantly provides the reader with a holistic understanding of race and its implications in American culture, while also offering practical tools and the necessary skills to confront and navigate white supremacy and oppressive behaviors; both within society and in ourselves. Michelle is fierce in her commitment in teaching all of us how to embody a practice of equity both on and off the mat, but also compassionate in her ability to meet each student where they are at. I am immensely grateful for the many ways Michelle’s teachings have impacted the communities of yoga and beyond, and how she has informed and matured my own justice work in the world. —Seane Corn
This book set my entire soul ablaze. Michelle Cassandra Johnson has an authentic and clear way of breaking down the construct of white supremacy and the work we must do to dismantle it on individual and collective levels. This approach to liberation and transformation through yoga gives me hope and fuel in the fight to create a new experience for myself, my children, my community, and the world. —Kelley Nicole Palmer
Michelle Cassandra Johnson has brilliantly and lovingly exposed the heart of yoga in the midst of a world struggling with racism, separation, and suffering. Her masterful book represents a sea change in the contemporary interpretation and practice of the ancient yoga teachings. —Jivana Heyman
Skill in Action:
the audiobook
The new audiobook is narrated by Michelle Cassandra Johnson herself and available for purchase through Audible.
Skill in Action Book Club
Michelle created this book club discussion guide to help you and your community dig into the work of Skill in Action on a deeper level. Coming together to discuss these questions is a powerful way to catalyze change and build resilience together wherever you are.
This guide is intended to help people host book club gatherings free of charge, not to facilitate Michelle’s work for a fee. If you are interested in collaborating with Michelle (for example, hosting a Skill in Action workshop at your studio) or training as a Skill in Action facilitator, please contact us.
Michelle hopes this guide serves you, and she looks forward to hearing how you use it. Please feel free to tag @skillinaction in your book club photos on Instagram so that we can stay connected, and so that we can share the ways in which this work is coming to life.
“On this path no effort is wasted, no gain ever reversed. Even a little practice will shelter you from sorrow.”
—The Bhagavad Gita