Yasmene Mumby

Dr. Yasmene Mumby began her yoga and meditation practice eleven years ago while teaching middle school Social Studies in Baltimore City Public Schools. She was looking for a natural way to calm her rushing anxiety and restore her energy.

Yoga and meditation brought forward incredible healing for her. Both practices supported Yasmene through two benign tumor surgeries, an eye stroke that impaired her left eye’s vision, and letting go of 17 pounds of extra weight. She did not know that it would take the permanent distortion of her vision and body for her to ultimately see life and value the wellness of it differently.

Yasmene continues to prioritize her wellbeing practice and meticulously refines her teaching craft. So far, she’s completed over 1000 hours of training in vinyasa, meditation, yin, and prenatal yoga. Several organizations invite her to lead group wellness workshops focused on equitable access for all people.

Off the mat, Yasmene writes and creates audio-documentaries about inequity, culture, and wellbeing. She wrote the resonant 5089-word essay Amplify Black Voices: Yoga, you can do better. She created the NPR-hosted Higher Purpose about an organization that supports people with legal system records to gain livable wage employment in Baltimore. Her latest sound art piece is Ahimsa, an audio-memoir on yoga, wellness, and Black Lives in 2020. Creative Capital featured her upcoming audio project Daughters of the Yam and the Mothers they Become as one of the noteworthy projects On Our Radar in 2021. Her organizing and teaching background continue to shape her journey as a writer unafraid of sharing stories that want to be told.

A graduate of the McDonogh School, Yasmene earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University and its School of Education, along with a Juris Doctor from University of Maryland School of Law and a Doctorate in Education Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.