Steffany Moonaz, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, Ph.D.

Dr. Steffany Moonaz is a yoga therapist and researcher in Southern California. She serves as Research Director at Southern California University of Health Sciences and Professor at the Maryland University of Integrative Health. She became curious about the importance of mind-body activities at a young age and has always had a passion and a curiosity about the healing power of mindful movement. She completed undergraduate work in biology and dance at Oberlin College, earned an MFA from University of Maryland as well as a CMA from the Laban Institute and spent eight years at Johns Hopkins University, helping to develop and evaluate a yoga program for individuals with the chronic diseases of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, which became the basis for her PhD in public health.

Along with ongoing research collaborations with major research institutions worldwide, Dr. Moonaz is working to bring yoga to people with arthritis directly, as well as educating yoga teachers and yoga therapists about the unique needs of this population. She currently leads Yoga for Arthritis teacher training programs and serves as a mentor for several emerging researchers who are working to study the effects of yoga for various health conditions. Dr. Moonaz also serves on the faculty of several other yoga and yoga therapy training programs, including Integral Yoga, Phoenix Rising, and The Mindfulness Center.

Dr. Moonaz’s work has been covered by Time, HuffPost, the Baltimore Sun, and U.S. News and World Report. She has been invited to speak at Emory University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins Palliative Care, and the Smithsonian. Her Arthritis-Friendly Yoga DVD, produced by the Arthritis Foundation, became their best-selling product when it was released in 2013. Her first book, Yoga Therapy for Arthritis: A whole-person approach to movement and lifestyle, was published by Singing Dragon Publishers in December of 2018, and she has contributed to several other widely used yoga texts. Her second book, Driving Home, a memoir, was released in 2024 by Freisen Press and shares an unforgettable year of identity, responsibility, and the unexpected lessons of adversity.

More Information:

Instagram: @yogaforarthritis

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