The best way to describe me would be as a cisgender, neurotypical, mixed-race, immigrant woman who was born in Caracas, Venezuela, occupied land from the Arawak peoples. Currently, I live in Durham, North Carolina, unceded territories of the Shakori, Lumbee and Tuscarora Nations.
I am a diversity consultant, antiracist educator, trauma informed yoga teacher and mother to two beautiful girls, Nina Bowie and Lena Matilda.
I started my yoga journey back in Venezuela as a healing practice from intense training as an aerialist and dancer. This journey was influenced by the teachings of Mataji Shaktiananda.
An unstable sociopolitical climate pushed me to immigrate in 2016 in search of hope and peace. I originally landed in Miami where I completed my RYT-200 in 2018 at 305 Yoga.
Later that year, I came across a leadership training with Off The Mat Into The World that change my life by bringing activism to my yoga practice which was new territory for me, but at the same time I could not figure out my yoga without these aspects anymore.
Since then, I have continued my education with Seane Corn, Suzanne Sterling and Hala Khouri with emphasis in Trauma Informed Practices and Social Justice.
From 2018 until 2021 I worked as an elementary educator. Being an immigrant teacher who operates in her second language gave me deep insight on the ins and outs of this supremacist system we are called to decolonize and bring down. It took me a year long fight against discrimination to be Mrs. R-DP, to later find that the institutions are too comfortable operating under racist policies, and my work now has been called to further influence antiracism.
Today I stand strong on and off the mat for the immigrant community and civil rights through public speaking and my role as a Trauma Informed Leader
Trainings and Certificates
- Mentorship Program with HrDay Acosta. 2009 – 2011. Caracas, Venezuela
- Licensure of Science in Pedagogical Sciences. 2011. Andres Bello Catholic University. Caracas, Venezuela. **
- Intermediate Level Pole Fitness Trainer with Evolve Pole Training Education. Caracas, Venezuela, 2016.
- Yin Yoga Immersion. 305 Yoga. Miami Lakes, FL, 2017.
- RYT 200. 305 Yoga. Miami Lakes, FL, 2018.
- Align Your Body, Align Your Life Workshop Series with 305 Yoga. Miami, FL, 2018.
- Yoga Purpose and Action Intensive 2.0 with Off the Mat, Into the World. 305 Yoga. Miami, FL, 2018.
- Yoga for Self-Regulation and Trauma with Hala Khouri, 2018.
- Yoga for Anxiety and Trauma with Hala Khouri, 2018
- Healing Yoga for Refugees, Asylum-Seekers and Displaced People with Emily Brett, 2019.
- Academically/Intellectually Gifted (AIG) Add-on Licensure Program. 2020. Duke University. Durham, NC.
- Trauma Informed Yoga Basics. with Hala Khouri, 2019. Willmington, NC
- The RISE Project. September 2019 – 2020. The Science House. NC State University. Raleigh, NC.
- Skill in Action for Studio Staff with Michelle C. Johnson, 2020
- Trauma Informed Leadership Team. April 2020-June 2021. Durham Public Schools – Duke University. Durham, NC
- Re-Emergence: A Movement of Transformation & Action / 6-Month Training with Off the Mat, Into the World, 2021.
** The recognition of this program as it should be is a battle that I sadly lost to racist policies and lack of cultural responsiveness from the State of North Carolina. Per credit hours should be classified as M.Ed. and it was downgraded to a Bachelor of Science
