Hello & Welcome

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I'm Tanisha, founder of Resilient Yoga & Wellness and creator of the Five Layer Wellness Framework™.

For over a decade, I've been bringing yoga to places most studio teachers never go: classrooms, churches, community centers, and recovery spaces. Places where people are navigating real life... burnout, trauma, grief, transition... and need practical tools that actually work when things get hard.

I'm a yoga teacher, writer, and wellness educator who builds communities of practice across Indianapolis. From university faculty writing groups to intergenerational church gatherings to programs serving people in recovery, I show up to the messy, beautiful work of helping people come home to themselves.

 My first yoga class wasn't in a studio. It was in a middle school physical education class, taught by a teacher whose name I don't remember (I wish I did). Looking back, I'm grateful for this gift that started in a community space.

Even after that 4-week yoga unit ended, I kept practicing in the corner of the tiny San Diego apartment I shared with my mom and two siblings. No mat, no mirrors... just a little bit of space and a spark of curiosity.

Like most people, I came to yoga for the poses—fascinated by what my body could do. But over time, my practice deepened. A teacher once explained that yoga is like a chair. Asana (the physical postures) is like one leg of that chair. If you pull on this leg, the whole chair comes with it. And so it was with me.

Yoga stayed with me through raising four children, working in medical research, healing from high-functioning anxiety and PTSD, navigating seasons where survival felt like the only practice I could manage.

Eventually, I left corporate life to study more deeply at the Santosha School of Yoga & Ayurveda in Indianapolis. Over a decade of training taught me that yoga isn't just movement—it's a framework for caring for the whole self: body, energy, emotions, wisdom, spirit.

I teach from that lived experience. Not from perfection, but from the messy, real journey of coming home to myself again and again. The Five Layer Wellness Framework™ is designed for people like me... people navigating hard seasons who still want to show up for themselves with care.

I hold an M.A. in English and a Graduate Certificate in Teaching Writing from IUPUI. I currently teach at IU Indianapolis, where I've been Senior Associate Faculty in the Writing Program since 2016, and work as a Writing Consultant at Marian University.

Before yoga became my focus, I worked in clinical research (regulatory compliance and technical communications for pharmaceutical trials). I wrote protocols for FDA submissions, developed investigator manuals, ensured global compliance. That work taught me how to bridge ancient wisdom with evidence-based practice... how to translate complex systems into language that serves real people.

My yoga training through Santosha School specializes in therapeutic yoga and Ayurveda. Over ten years of study taught me how the koshas (the five layers of being that yogis have known about for millennia) translate into practical tools for modern life.

My work in faith communities began as Children's Ministry Director, where I learned how to create curriculum that serves diverse ages and needs. That experience shapes how I design wellness programming now... not one-size-fits-all, but adaptable frameworks that meet communities where they are.

This intersection (writing and wellness, academic work and embodied practice, faith and movement) shapes everything I do. Whether facilitating doctoral writing groups, leading intergenerational church practices, or teaching university students, I'm always asking: How do we show up for our whole selves while navigating the demands of real life?

• Empowerment: You already have the wisdom. I help you hear it.
• Accessibility: All bodies. All backgrounds. All ages. All seasons.
• Community: Healing happens in connection—not isolation.
• Wellness: Whole-self care through the Five Layer Wellness Framework™—your Earth Suit (physical), Inner Battery (energy), Weather System (emotional), Inner GPS (wisdom), and Inner Light (spiritual).
• Resilience: The golden thread running through every class, workshop, and conversation.