Rachel Allen

Rachel Allen is a Certified Music Practitioner, Sound Healer, Reiki Master and Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher who works from a trauma informed, social justice framework. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology and is based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, serving the greater Pittsburgh region and working with individuals and organizations virtually. Her work, which she describes as merging music, yoga and community, is aimed at creating healthy, diverse and joyful communities.

Music is at the heart of her offerings. Her yoga classes are theme-based and bring together yogic philosophy, breathwork, asana, live music and meditation. She also leads community singing and sound healing, using chant, mantra and free movement. Some of the pieces are her own compositions, and others come from her years of group singing across cultures and from the Yogic tradition. Rachel serves as faculty on Jim Donovan's Rhythm Renewal and Revival Retreats.

Rachel is a graduate of the Music for Healing and Transition Program and served on its Executive Board of Directors for nine years. For the past 16 years she has worked in hospice as a Certified Music Practitioner, playing voice and harp at the bedside. She is a Reiki Level 3 Practitioner and a teaching Reiki Master in the Usui System of Natural Healing, and she weaves Reiki into her yoga and music. She received her RYT 200 in 2012. Her trauma sensitive yoga training includes Off the Mat Into the World, The Breathe Network and the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute. She is a rostered healing arts practitioner with The Breathe Network and a member of the Yoga Body Image Coalition.

She has more than 20 years of experience with hospice patients and their families, survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence, adults and youth with mental illness, and people who are incarcerated. She has partnered with community organizations including Victim Services Inc., the Women's Help Center and the BottleWorks Ethnic Arts Center to offer trauma sensitive yoga and expressive music and movement. She also teaches resilience, mindfulness and compassion fatigue trainings for caregivers and organizations. In 2018 she led one across Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and in 2019 she led one in Queensland, Australia. She also writes, and her blog explores contemplative practice, activism and collective wellness.