bringing healing tools
to all
this isn't just my job
It’s my life.
I share it with others because I feel it is my duty, given the benefits I have seen it have in my own life and body.
We can each only heal ourselves, I have a lot of tools and experience to help people find the tools and practices that they find most useful.
working with Diverse populations
Over the course of more than 30 years, I have enjoyed working with a variety of populations, many of whom experience marginalization:
- BIPOC
- Experienced at life (seniors)
- Children and Teens
- LGBTQIA+
- Veteran and Active-duty Military families
- Incarcerated Individuals
- Folks experiencing visible or invisible disability
- Folks with Unknown Chronic Conditions
They have all been individuals wanting to feel better in their own skin, and to have more control over their own health and wellbeing
"safe" /BRAVE space healing
I continuously endeavor to examine my own biases and blind spots, and can never be without an opportunity to learn and unlearn with an eye toward greater cultural humility and person centered experiences in each moment. I acknowledge the following privileges and lenses as part, though not all of my lived identity:
White – Cis Presenting – US Citizen
Educated – Raised with socio-economic privilege
Invisibly Disabled – LGBTQIA+ – Unhoused – Person in Long-term Recovery
*I acknowledge that “Safe Space” can not always be provided for everyone. However, I actively work to ensure that biases are acknowledged and addressed – within myself as well as those that work with me. I am an asker of hard questions. There is space for unlearning and relearning. There will be no tolerance for hate, discrimination, colonialism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, body shaming, ableism, xenophobia, immigration status denigration, or any other such practice in language or action with regard to self or others within my space.
I also meet people where they are. I am willing to hold space for those that are unpacking and working through their own such issues on a one-on-one basis – using the lens of yoga – to the extent that my own boundaries are respected.
Why the lotus blossom flower?
thrives in mud
At first glance, it is just a standard flower, but the lotus is revered from North to South in the Eastern Hemisphere. Unlike any other flowering plant, its roots latched in mud and mire, it submerges every night into the dark murky depths of the water to re-bloom each morning beautifully unfolding petal by petal to show no signs of its origins or nightly sanctuary. The most beautiful blossoms come from the deepest, thickest mud. While its daily resurrection is one thing, the lotus has an almost limitless power of survival – a will to live – and its seed can survive thousands of years without water only to germinate rebloom given the opportunity. As if divine, the lotus continues to resurrect itself on a strong stem each morning, refusing to accept defeat. It has an almost unwavering faith that it will rise above the water’s surface each day.
MY LOTUS BLOSSOM
I have a long history of big and little “t” trauma, physical and mental health challenges, and myriad challenges of neurologic, sociologic, and capitalistic acceptability/belonging. These are what I consider the mud to my lotus blossom – Me, my initials “MLB.” The tools and experiences I bring to everyday are my super powers and part of the beauty of my existence.
It is a wonderful analogy for the human spirit, the lotus blossom. We are rooted in the mud and mire – our own individual life challenges like sadness, loneliness, failure, disappointment, grief, illness. These experiences are processed and integrated – like the growing lotus seed. Through these experiences we gain wisdom, compassion, a gentleness of spirit. We rise from a state of muck as our petals unfold one by one – it is a process to unfold. We must have the will to resurrect ourselves daily and possess an almost unwavering faith in ourselves – just like the lotus. Without the mud of our lives, there can be no lotus – the divine within blooming forth to transcend each day. It is not a one and done event, but a process – the lotus retreats to the depths and darkness each night, as we continuously encounter challenges in our lives, but through our practice, our routine, we, like the lotus can continuously resurrect ourselves time and again, realizing our inner potential and our potential to harness the divine energy within to become more divinely ourselves. Without mud there is no lotus to unfold petal by petal.
Without life’s challenges – big and small – we cannot blossom into our most beautiful, resilient selves.
Training Details and credentials
- Trauma/Anxiety
- Generalized Stress Management
- Lymphatic Issues
- Auto-Immune Disorders
- Joint Replacements
- Structural Issues
- Chronic Pain
- Cancer Recovery
- Diabetes
- Brain Injuries
- Neurologic Issues
- LGBTQIA+
- Children in Foster Care
- Military/Veteran Populations
For Specific Training/Background Information, Please see the link to the right, my LinkedIn Profile, or Ask – there are too many to list all here.
Lenses and Foundational Trainings/Certifications are listed under “Certifications” to the right.
- I facilitate trainings for:
- Yoga and Yoga Therapy Professionals
- Massage Therapists
- Mental Health Professionals
- Allied Health Professionals
- Medical Professionals
- Community Education
- Public Health Education
- Corporate and Manufacturing
- Institutions of Higher Learning
- Healthcare Providers
- Certified Yoga Therapist – International Association of Yoga Therapists (C-IAYT)
- Integrative Yoga Therapy
- Trauma Informed Yoga Therapy (TIYT)
- Licensed Massage Therapy (LMT)
- Lauterstein-Conway Massage School and Clinic
- Stop Chasing Pain
- Certified Peer Support Specialist/ Youth Peer Support Specialist (CPS/YPS)
- Missouri Credentialing Board
- Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS)
- University of Missouri-Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Michelle L BOwles
Founder
My practice
I have been practicing various styles of yoga since the early 1980’s, consistently since 1994, and incorporating yoga into a variety of teaching activities since 2002. After training at Sundara Yoga Therapy, I became a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher in March 2012, was grand-parented as a Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher, became a Certified Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Teacher – Now called Trauma-Informed Yoga Therapist – in May 2012, an Integrative Yoga Therapist at the 500 Hour Level in August 2013 and at the 1,000 Hour Level in May of 2016, and was certified as a Yoga Therapist by the International Association of Yoga Therapists in September of 2016 in accordance with their grand-parenting policy and standardization of training. In 2015, I became an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher at the 500 hour level (E-RYT 500) with Yoga Alliance. As of 2025, I have greater than 6,000 hours of formal training in yoga and have facilitated more than 6,000 hours of yoga practice for others.
In 2013, I was trained in Thai Yoga as part of my yoga therapy training. I taught aspects of massage therapy continuing education from 2015. In 2019, I attended The Lauterstein-Conway Massage School and Clinic in Austin, Texas, passing my MBLEX and becoming a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Texas. I completed coursework to become a Massage Therapy Instructor in Texas in 2021. In 2023, I became a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Missouri as well since I needed to spend larger amounts of time there to support family.
In 2024, I became aware of the credential of Certified Peer Support Specialist (CPS) a credential by which individuals with lived experience in mental health and/or substance use issues are trained to support the recovery of others navigating similar issues. As this is something I have done as a yoga therapist and community educator for many years, I proceeded with the training and board examination through the Missouri Credentialing Board. I became a CPS and Youth Peer Support Specialist (YPS) in 2024. I contracted with and began both facilitating continuing education and training to facilitate foundational trainings with the Missouri Credentialing Board in 2025. I trained with the University of Missouri – Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health to become a Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) passing my exam in 2025, as another tool in the CPS toolkit as I am a former smoker.
My affiliations
-
- American Massage Therapy Association 2019-Present
- Center for Barefoot Massage 2017 – Present and Heeling Sole Barefoot Massage 2016-2020
- International Association of Yoga Therapists Member 2014- Present
- International Association of Yoga Therapists – Member Schools Committee 2017 – 2022
- International Association of Yoga Therapists – Diversity Equity Inclusion Task Force 2020-20224
- International Association of Yoga Therapists – Presenter SYTAR, Member Schools Town Halls, DEI Town Halls – 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024
- Premise Healthcare Injury Prevention Early Intervention – 2022-2023
- Alliance to Advance Comprehensive Pain Management – Member 2020-Present
- Long Covid Alliance Provider – 2020 to Present
- Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US) – Member 2022 – Present
- Integrative Yoga Therapy, 200 Hr Affiliate Program Director 2018 – Present
- Functional Yoga Therapy, Assistant/Faculty/Mentor 2015- 2021
- Returning Heroes Home/Warrior Family Support Center/Soldier Recovery Unit – Rehabilitation Yoga Facilitator 2016-2020
- The Overcoming Anxiety Project, Overcome Facilitator 2012-Present, advisory board 2014-2016
- Trauma-Informed Yoga Therapy Advanced Yoga Therapy Training, guest lecturer, assistant teacher 2012-2016, 2024-Present
- Yoga Alliance – Member, Continuing Education Provider – 2012-2021
- Notre Dame – Maryland University Integrative Health – Guest Lecturer 2024-Present
Missouri Credentialing Board 2024 to Present
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Frequently asked questions
private sessions + public class offerings
All classes and private sessions, other than massage, are virtual unless otherwise indicated.
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