Chelsea Schmitz-Gillam
Yoga Instructor
Hi there! My name is Chelsea Schmitz-Gillam and I've been offering youth yoga to the community for the last 11 years. 5 years ago I started Youth Yoga Collective because I care deeply about offering both young people and women a space where they can feel genuinely seen, heard, valued and connected as part of a larger community. The spark that's created when a group of people are sharing breath, stories and creative movement reminds me that there is incredible beauty in this world and being with community is a powerful way to tap into the magical flow of the universe. I feel humbled and grateful to have partnered with Yoga Sanctuary for over ten years to offer these classes.
As a highly sensitive individual who has also experienced anxiety, depression and perfectionist tendencies, the effects of a meditation and mindful movement practice on my wellbeing have been deeply transformative. I believe all people should have access to an intentional community centered in breath, movement and connection and I create my youth yoga class as an offering to young people that I only wish I would have had access to earlier in life.
I was trained and certified to teach kids and youth yoga through Kripalu Center in Massachusetts and have taken a variety of trainings and workshops on trauma informed yoga practices. These learning spaces; other professional trainings centered in youth, family and equity work; as well as my lived experience working with young folks for the last 18 years informs the way I hold space for young people in class.
For the last five years, I’ve also lead our Women’s Circle Series at Yoga Sanctuary. This series was created as an act of love for women. A place where women can just show up and expect to be cared for and celebrated for exactly as they are and for precisely where they are in this season of life. We laugh, we cry, we create, we sing (or listen!) and, most importantly, we sit in the sacred practice of talking circles and we weave our stories together, sharing unique parts of ourselves while also noticing the similarities of the human experience.
When I’m not leading youth yoga classes or Women’s Circles, I also work at the Legal Rights Center as a juvenile defense attorney and restorative justice facilitator working in public schools around the Twin Cities. Prior to this work, I was a practicing attorney and restorative facilitator with The Civil Rights & Restorative Justice Project Project in Boston. I also worked as a High School English and Reading teacher in the Recovery School District in New Orleans.
In the last few years, I've also come into one of my favorite roles of all - a Mama Bear to my three kiddos - little Myles Bleu, Otis June and Sunny Solstice.