We are connected to all things and the entire web of life. Every raindrop, blade of grass, bird taking flight, baby being born, ancestor transitioning, seed germinating, bear entering a cave to hibernate, whale migrating, and sea turtle resting on the shore. Even though we may know how interconnected we are to all things, we may experience periods of feeling isolated and disconnected. During these times, it is important for us to, instead of retreating into our disconnection, come back into community with one another. We must reach out, connect with compassion and openness, and practice alongside one another to heal from our past and present-day wounds and into the future. The We Heal Together workshop, through ritual, practice, and deepening our connection to ourselves and all beings, past, present, and future, we remind you that we all come from each other. We are kin and community, and we thrive and heal in community. This workshop will include pranayama, meditation, a community ritual, journaling, and discussion.

In times of isolation, heartbreak, and brokenness, reaching out to each other, being in conversation, finding ways to connect with compassion and openness can help us heal, and thrive. This powerful, positive guide coaxes us to go beyond  our individual and collective grief, and courageously re-enter and reclaim our sense of community—which then further strengthens our spiritual practice.

As the season turns, we invite you to gather with us for rituals focused on the sense of rebirth spring cultivates. Rituals of Rebirth is a workshop focused on honoring the energetics and frequencies of the rebirth of spring within and around us. This workshop is meant to move us into contemplation about the many cycles of rebirth we are moving through individually and collectively and how our lives can be altered and shifted by allowing rebirth to occur.

During this workshop, we will move through practices meant to acknowledge what has been germinating in the darkness of winter and what wants to bloom during spring and summer. The workshop will include embodied and contemplative practices such as asana, meditation, breathwork, journaling, and altar creation. This workshop will include an exploration of earth wisdom and medicine as the world comes alive in the season of spring.

Join Michelle as a guest teacher for the monthly BIPOC Centered Rest class with Tejal Yoga.

Join Michelle C. Johnson, the author of We Heal Together: Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection for a community ritual in preparation for the full moon in Virgo.

Michelle’s sun sign is Leo, and she was born on a full moon in Aquarius, which also happens to be her moon sign. As her mother often says, “Michelle always knows where the moon is.” While we bathe in the magic and energy of the full moon, we will engage in a community ritual focused on the engagement of both solar and lunar power to create conditions for collective healing and transformation. This ritual will include meditation, a shamanic practice focused the sun and moon, self-reflection, and magic.

As space holders, facilitators, and people who hold transformative processes and change, it is essential for us to understand how to protect ourselves and the vessel through which our knowledge and wisdom move. Join Michelle C. Johnson for a new offering focused on protection practices for you to implement as you prepare to hold space, while you hold space, and as you close a facilitation or space. Some of the practices you will learn are preparing yourself and your vessel before beginning a facilitation, including protective oils, herbs, and somatic practices to support entering into space with others. In addition, you will learn protective somatic practices that are useful during facilitation to assist you in holding steady and protecting your energy as things arise while you facilitate. You will also learn protection practices using elemental energy to close a space and release its energy. 

Join Michelle C. Johnson for a special Winter Solstice Practice. The Winter Solstice is an auspicious time of year. It is a time when we experience the darkest, longest night. This time of darkness is intertwined with the returning light. During this practice, Michelle will guide you in exploring your relationship with the darkness and the polarity of the dark and light. She will guide you through movement, meditation, pranayama, and self-reflection. This is an all-levels class. Bring a journal with you and anything else that would feel supportive.

Join Michelle C. Johnson on Thursday, November 23rd from 11-12:30PM EST via zoom for a Harvest Day yoga class focused on our relationship with the earth, all we are harvesting at this time, and what we have to be grateful for. This class will include meditation, asana, pranayama, and self-reflection. This will be an all-levels yoga class.

Reclamation is a body of work focused on how intuition can guide one in trusting their voice and story and a framework to support you in bringing your writing project to fruition. Reclamation Part 1 focused on exploring barriers or blocks to embracing yourself as a writer and deepening an understanding of how writing is an intuitive process. In Reclamation Part 2, we take the three parts of the framework: Connect With Your Story, Deepen Your Intuition to Guide Your Writing and Project, and Develop a Devotional Relationship With Writing, and break each part down further as well as practice applying the framework in small groups, through somatic practices, writing, and large group discussions. During this workshop, you will have time to contemplate what writing project you want to begin or if you have already begun writing to continue your process and move your project forward.

Many of us are likely feeling overwhelmed and holding grief in our bones, cells, and tissues in these beautiful and challenging times. Many of us are moving through grief and loss in response to personal conditions present in our lives, and we are all affected by the grief created by divisive systems of oppression. As we acknowledge what we are mourning at this time, various emotions might arise, such as rage, anger, sadness, confusion, and dissonance. One aspect of grief related to these various emotions that is essential for us to explore is where there could be space for forgiveness. In this workshop, we will explore the relationship between grief and forgiveness and how essential grief rituals and forgiveness practices are in ensuring that this moment is transformative rather than perpetuating harm. We will make space to touch into our heartbreak–rage and love combined and engage in a practice of forgiveness so we can more fully complete the cycle of grieving. The workshop will include a grief ritual, small and large group discussions, meditation, and a forgiveness practice. .

As Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, many of us are searching for spaces where we can be in community with other BIPOC to experience joy and self-love, practice self and collective care, and slow down and rest. Join Michelle C. Johnson and Shakira B. Bethea for an opportunity to prioritize your well-being and the theme of what it is like to create a sanctuary within and around oneself.

Sanctuary is a day-long retreat for BIPOC to create sacred space and creatively express our authentic selves through meditation, movement, and community connection.

Join us for a soul-nourishing and fun day!

We are connected to all things and the entire web of life. Every raindrop, blade of grass, bird taking flight, baby being born, ancestor transitioning, seed germinating, bear entering a cave to hibernate, whale migrating, and sea turtle resting on the shore. Even though we may know how interconnected we are to all things, we may experience periods of feeling isolated and disconnected. During these times, it is important for us to, instead of retreating into our disconnection, come back into community with one another. We must reach out, connect with compassion and openness, and practice alongside one another to heal from our past and present-day wounds and into the future. The We Heal Together workshop, through ritual, practice, and deepening our connection to ourselves and all beings, past, present, and future, we remind you that we all come from each other. We are kin and community, and we thrive and heal in community. This workshop will include pranayama, meditation, a community ritual, journaling, and discussion.

In honor of A Space For Us and all those who contributed to the book, we are throwing a virtual launch party on Wednesday, August 9th, at 6:00pm EST via Zoom. Anyone is welcome to join us for this celebration!

Join me and my esteemed colleagues for the party and a panel discussion about our work, lives, and why we, as Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and People of the Global Majority, need healing and affinity spaces. This party is open to anyone. So please join us. I'll be partying with Stephanie Ghoston Paul, Sherene Cauley, Celesté Martinez, Lisa Anderson, Natasha Harrison, and Ayodele Harrison!

Many people I encounter struggle with embracing themselves as a writer. This struggle is only amplified if one holds identities that are less proximal to social and institutional power and if one has internalized toxic cultural norms about their worthiness, voice, and writing ability. Reclaiming our birthright, which is to know our story profoundly and, if we choose, to share it with the world, is not only about grammar, an arc that makes sense, and having the perfect audience or hook. Writing is about intuition, trusting our voice, being willing to be vulnerable, and sharing our vulnerability with others. Writing asks us to be willing to take a risk in birthing an idea into something tangible such as an authentic story someone can hold or listen to from your heart to theirs. Reclamation is a writing workshop intended to support you in deepening your connection with your intuition so you can listen to what desires to come forth in the form of a writing project. In this workshop, we will talk through common barriers that show up as writers work on their writing projects. We will engage in contemplative practices to gain clarity about the exact magic you want to birth in book form. I will offer a framework to support you in learning what writing pattern and schedule will work for you, and I will talk through how to trust yourself and your story as you navigate writing book proposals and the world of publishing.

Every raindrop, blade of grass, bird taking flight, baby being born, ancestor transitioning, seed germinating, bear entering a cave to hibernate, whale migrating, and sea turtle resting on the shore. Even though we may know how interconnected we are to all things, we may experience periods of feeling isolated and disconnected. During these times, it is important for us to, instead of retreating into our disconnection, come back into community with one another. We must reach out, connect with compassion and openness, and practice alongside one another to heal from our past and present-day wounds and into the future.

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Join Michelle Cassandra Johnson in conversation with Dr. Jennifer Wyatt Bourgeois about Johnson's new book, We Heal Together: Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection as a part of Books & Brunch with the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance.

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Third Place Books welcomes Michelle Cassandra Johnson to our Ravenna store! Johnson will be presenting her new book, We Heal Together: Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required in advance.

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