We’re looking forward to introducing you to Mel Rhoden. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Mel, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
People think yoga teacher training is just about perfecting poses and getting a certificate. At Yogis Choice Academy, that couldn’t be further from the truth. We’re not in the business of creating cookie-cutter teachers—we’re in the business of awakening soul-led leaders.
This is where yoga meets liberation. Our training is a portal: to ancestral healing, embodied confidence, and spiritual self-mastery. Yes, we center Black, Brown, and BIPOC voices—because we’ve been left out of wellness for too long. But we welcome everyone who’s ready to do the inner work with reverence and realness.
If you’re just looking to memorize Sanskrit and snap a handstand for the ’gram, this isn’t for you. But if you’re ready to reclaim your voice, disrupt the status quo, and become the kind of teacher who transforms rooms—welcome home.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Yoga Mel, founder of Yogis Choice Academy—a Black-led, Yoga Alliance–certified yoga school based in Costa Rica. We offer transformational yoga teacher trainings that center Black, Brown, and BIPOC LGBTQ voices in a wellness industry that often leaves us out.
What sets us apart is our commitment to cultural relevance and real transformation. We don’t water things down—we honor lineage, uplift marginalized voices, and teach yoga as a practice of liberation. We teach yoga as a path to soul-alignment, embodied leadership, and collective healing. Our 200-hour trainings, along with specialty certifications like Yoga Nidra and Restorative, are taught both online and in person for those ready to root into their power and rise.
What makes us unique is our devotion to authenticity and impact. We’re not chasing aesthetics—we’re building a global movement of culturally aware, spiritually grounded teachers who are ready to create change in their communities. Our focus now is growing our reach so we can support more students on their path to becoming confident, conscious yoga leaders.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I grew up in Los Angeles, and I was just sixteen when the Rodney King beating was caught on tape in 1991. Watching that video with the rest of the world was a turning point. It was horrifying—but not surprising. What shocked people was that it was finally on camera. But for Black folks, this wasn’t new. It was confirmation of what we’d been saying for generations.
That moment cemented the reality that being Black in America meant constantly being on guard—not just around police, but also around racists who seemed like everyday people, they could be just as dangerous. It taught me early that survival required awareness, resilience, and a deep understanding of how this world sees us—and how we must see ourselves.
Now fast forward to George Floyd, and it’s clear—we’re still here. Still fighting. His murder was captured on video, this time by a cell phone, and once again the world watched in shock. But for us, it was another painful reminder, the violence never stopped. It just got easier to film. And yet, we’re still rising. Still resisting. Still reclaiming our right to breathe.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
I’ve definitely had moments where I questioned staying on this path as an entrepreneur. What people don’t talk about enough is how heavy it gets—the sleepless nights trying to figure out how to reach more people, the financial risk of investing in marketing that doesn’t always land, the emotional toll of putting your heart into something with no guarantees. It’s exhausting, and at times, it’s lonely.
But then, someone tells me, “Your yoga class was exactly what I needed,” or a former yoga student messages me months later to say the yoga teacher training changed their life. Or a coaching client shares that just one session shifted everything for them. That’s when I remember why I started. I may get tired, but I never stay down for long. The impact keeps calling me forward.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
I used to believe that love only looked one way—between a man and a woman. I grew up deeply Christian and conservative, where same-sex relationships were shunned and condemned. I carried that belief for years, even while quietly knowing queer people who challenged everything I was taught. It made me uncomfortable, not because of them, but because of the parts of myself I hadn’t yet met.
Fast forward, and now I’m married to a woman—the love of my life. Being in a same-sex relationship shattered everything I thought I knew about love, and it healed me. I no longer see love through the lens of religion or tradition. I see it as soul recognition. I believe we meet people in this life that our spirit already knows. Gender is irrelevant when the connection is divine.
That old belief was fear disguised as faith. Now I know: real love is expansive, free, and sacred. And when it finds you, it doesn’t ask for permission. It asks for truth.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
People see a Black woman teaching yoga and assume I’m here to keep things calm, gentle, and non-confrontational. What they misunderstand is—I didn’t come here to maintain peace. I came to expose the imbalance that’s been hiding behind it.
My legacy won’t be about making people comfortable. It’ll be about truth-telling, cultural reclamation, and disrupting the wellness industry’s polished silence around race, privilege, and appropriation. I don’t teach yoga to help people escape reality—I teach it so we can face it, fully embodied and spiritually armed.
I’m not here to be palatable. I’m here to be powerful. And if my legacy makes some people uncomfortable, then good. Discomfort is the beginning of awakening.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yogischoiceacademy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogischoiceacademy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yogischoiceacademy
- Other: https://www.heartandsoulrelocations.com
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