Who We Are

We are an organization dedicated to providing education, research, and healing through yoga therapy, therapeutic yoga, mind-body integrative therapy, mindfulness, and therapeutic trauma-focused yoga.

We reach everyone, regardless of race, age, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.

Our work includes, and is not limited to: torture survivors, veterans, refugees, neglected children, domestic and sexual abuse survivors, previously incarcerated individuals, those struggling with mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder, those over coming chemical dependency, recovering addicts, individuals struggling with body distortion, and survivors of traumatic accidents.

Our Story

Established in 2015. In our first years, we established a compassionate group of contributors and passionate visionaries to serve as our Board of Directors. Over the past five years we have offered evidence based trauma training and trauma-informed yoga training with CEU’s to a variety of professionals. We have served as leaders in Michigan for Trauma-Informed somatic therapies holding a collective town hall meeting of trauma-based and mental health professionals. We have provided education and research, now expanding and serving beyond Michigan.

We have offered free support through our Being Grace, Trauma-Informed Yoga, and self care programs. We provide scholarships to minorities to attend professional trainings with mentorship at Body Mind Being Institute. We are continually seeking collaboration with groups and individuals from diverse backgrounds, and partnering with organizations to make the body more accessible.

Meet Our Team

Raechel Morrow

President & Dean of Institute | Somatic Therapist and Trauma Educator

M.A. Depth Psychology

Holistic Health and Certifications:

  • E-RYT 500 Yoga Alliance
  • 600 Hour Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist
  • Seeking, 1000 Hour International Association of Yoga Therapy
  • 300-Hour Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator Training, The Trauma Center at JRI, Boston, MA
  • Certificate in Traumatic Health Studies, The Trauma Center at JRI, Boston, MA
  • Holistic Health Care Practitioner, Blue Heron Academy

Raechel provides a compassionate, empowering, and nurturing way to empower oneself to a greater level of healing than believed possible. Raechel has studied depth psychology and yoga for the past twenty years. After working in the field of trauma recovery for the last eight, she was overwhelmed with the profound understanding in the value of actively seeking what was lost from the trauma of colonization.  There is a disconnection to the soul in our culture which has led to emptiness and dismemberment. A sacrifice of body and soul to “getting the job done”. She teaches and facilitates the art of wandering, intuition, and the embodiment of deeply listening to one’s soul.

In her private practice, she uses somatic (body-based) techniques, drawing from a multi-disciplinary well of modalities that support the body’s intuitive and innate healing abilities. Her sacred work may include trauma-informed therapeutic yoga, emotional release, meditation/breathwork, bodywork, psychosocial-spiritual work, holistic counseling, energy work, intuitive coaching, and linking the mind and body to increase interoceptive pathways with yoga therapy.

Raechel works closely with women whose lives have been affected by childhood trauma, sexual assault, domestic violence, and disordered eating. Helping to reclaim what was lost.

Services Offered and Specialties:
  • Yoga therapy
  • Psycho-spiritual Counseling 
  • Training and education
  • Public speaking & workshops
  • Trauma release and empowerment
  • Eating disorders and body image issues
  • Anxiety and depression
  • Facilitates Soul Centered Women
  • Being Grace

 Christine Sharp

Co-Owner of Institute | Licensed Massage Therapist | Yoga Therapist

Holistic Health and Certifications:

  • E-RYT 200 Yoga Alliance
  • Naturopathic Diploma, Blue Heron Academy
  • 300-Hour Trauma Informed Yoga Therapy
  • 1200 hour Massage Therapy
  • Holistic Health Care Practitioner, Blue Heron Academy

Christine’s approach to health and healing is based on “holism,” the belief that there is more to a person than just the physical body. In her practice the “whole” person is taken into consideration. Christine brings twenty years of experience working with clients. In one of her sessions she draws from a multitude of modalities depending on what her client needs. This may include; medical massage, manual therapy, craniosacral therapy, maya abdominal therapy, naturopathy, yoga and mind body integration.

Betsy Rosenbrook

Lead Teacher/Educator

LMSW – Grand Valley State University

Training & Certification:

  • 200 E-RYT
  • Therapeutic Trauma Informed Yoga Educator

Betsy blends the traditional elements of “talk therapy” with yoga teaching to bring health and wellness to the whole person.  Somatic therapies include mindful movements, targeting areas of the body that may be “stuck” to experience emotional release.  Breathwork is also used to create a desired effect in the nervous system, meditation practices, intention setting, and other ancient traditions are also incorporated into teaching.

Wanting to offer something new to the mental health community, Betsy completed her 200-hour registered yoga instructor training at a local studio in Grand Rapids with plans to synthesize the ancient wisdom of yoga into the evidenced-based practices of our modern culture. Since then, she has worked with domestic and sexual assault survivors, kids and teens within the foster care system, social workers and therapists who are exposed to secondary trauma, people struggling with chronic pain, chronically homeless women, and those recovering from addictions.  Betsy believes that everyone is whole, no one is broken or needs to be fixed.  Her goal is for her clients to feel accepted as they are and empowered to become their most truest, genuine version of themselves.  

Kelley Rasch

Teacher/Mentor

Training & Certification:

  • 200 RYT

Kelley received her yoga teacher training through the Body Mind Being Institute. She is passionate about helping her students find Who they are and their purpose in the world. Through her own discovery  she embodies her truth.  She learned to care for herself and reclaim the strong, joyful woman who existed deep inside.  She is a lover of mother nature, plants, flowers, and being outdoors. She is a mother of two beautiful children and has lived and studied abroad for over 15 years in Spain and Costa Rica loving different cultures and traveling the world Spanish is a second language.

Jessica Gladden

Board Leadership/Teacher/Mentor

Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LMSW, PhD

Training and Certification:

  • 500 RYT
  • Therapeutic Trauma Informed Yoga Educator

Jessica Gladden has been a social worker since graduating from Grand Valley State University (MSW) in 2003. She has worked primarily with trauma survivors and noticed the importance of body work in addition to traditional talk therapy in this role. Jessica first came to yoga while studying Spanish in El Salvador on a semester abroad in her MSW program. Taking yoga for the first time in a foreign language can be quite an experience! 

Jessica has worked as a social worker in many different areas, including with trauma survivors, refugees, and with adults with severe mental health diagnoses. In 2012, she completed her Ph.D. in social work at Michigan State University in order to better serve those with a trauma background. Jessica primarily teaches yin and gentle or restorative yoga classes, with a focus on connecting the mind and body for inner healing. She is a part of Two Trees Yoga with her partner, Matt Jarrells. 

Anamaria Pogacean Lorson

Mindfulness Teacher/Mentor

Licensure/Certification:

  • Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
  • Certified Advanced Alcohol & Drug Counselor (CAADC)
  • Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP)
  • Acupuncture detoxification Specialist

Anamaria was born and raised in Romania and brings old-world wisdom and traditions in the healing space. She embodies a balance of the Eastern and Western influences and philosophies. She graduated from Babes Bolyai University, Romania with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and from Western Michigan University with a Master’s of Arts – Counseling Education/ Community Counseling – (Specialty Alcohol and Drug Abuse). She has and has 12-year experience working in a variety of settings. Anamaria also completed extensive trainings in Trauma, Anxiety disorder, Vipassana meditation course, Postpartum depression and anxiety disorders, Trauma informed Yoga, SAFE EMDR, mindfulness and somatic experiencing. She is a Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist, and an Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist. 

Anamaria is engaged in a Mindfulness teacher training that focuses on bringing mindfulness meditation and compassion back into our communities, back into our families.  Her passion is to help each individual to reconnect to their own power of healing and coping, and to empower them to share it with others they love or their children.  Based her cultural and tribal values she believes that knowledge and wisdom should not be a privilege but should be accessible and available to those that need it the most.

Dr. Brandon Yuenger

Meditation Teacher/Mentor/Therapist

Licensure/Certification:

  • Licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy
  • Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP)

Brandon is doctor of physical therapy. I’ve learned a lot over the years but the thing that stays with me most is that people with chronic conditions aren’t being seen as a person but as a diagnosis by our medical system.  In my experience people thrive when there is harmony of mind, body and spirit.  I’ve seen many chronic conditions become just a memory for many people who were once so consumed by a diagnosis that it had begun to define them.  I recognize that we are more than a diagnosis, more than collection of tissues and more than our trauma.  I believe growth and healing are a part of being human but I recognize it’s hard sometimes.  My job is to help clear the barriers to healing so you can thrive.

Rachel Crowther

Director of Marketing | Teacher

B.A.A.-Commercial Recreation & Facilities Management

Training and Certification:

Lynn Bailey-Lake  

Reiki Master | AromaTouch® Practitioner | Front Desk Manager

Lynn is Reiki Master; her teacher is Marie A. Bartram, Reiki Master and Teacher, Sandwich Massachusetts. She has been practicing Reiki since 2016 and AromaTouch® since 2015.  She is a member of Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals Inc. and a hospice volunteer.

Benjamin “Benson” Henson

BA in Business Entrepreneurship & Theatre

Anyone you talk to will tell you Benson has a heart for people, so it’s no surprise that he found himself on the serving an incredible organization such as the Body Mind Being Institute. His passion for seeing people healed, restored, and given the opportunity to grow into the people they were made to be has brought him to a variety of experiences. Benson graduated from Calvin College with degrees in Business Entrepreneurship and Theatre, and has experience in both nonprofits and for-profit organizations. He currently sits on the board of Bloom & Grow Recovery and give back to the community volunteering. When he’s not busy working, Benson loves both going out to see plays, concerts, and art galleries, as well as getting out into the wilderness to do some backpacking, camping, and mountaineering.