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THE SOZO STORY
“Oh no! Something isn’t right and I have to get off this plane right now! Get up, Casey! Get UP.”
Those were the last thoughts I remember while on a plane to Philadelphia in the Fall of 2017. The next memory I have is staring at the ceiling of the plane while people looked over me with a lot of concern. As embarrassment and reality settled in, I realized what had happened- I had experienced an anxiety attack so bad that I literally passed out! Later that day, I had to digest a really hard truth - you can love the Lord, serve Him, and still need support with your mental and emotional health.
The week after the “incident” (as it is now so lovingly called), I found myself on a yoga mat in a local studio. Of course, there are lots of details between then and now that I’d love to share but just know that the story of the “incident” has become the story and catalyst of Sozo Wellness. I am now a 200HR certified Yoga instructor who loves God with my whole heart. I feel very strongly that a part of my purpose is to start a conversation and create space for the intersection of faith and wellness. It started as my story, and now I would love for the story of Sozo Wellness to include you.
The Sozo Team
CASEY HOBBS
Founder & Lead Instructor
After teaching elementary school for almost ten years while simultaneously working in the church, Casey found that managing her emotional and mental health had become, well…umanageable. A visit to her medical health professional gave her struggle a name: Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Receiving her diagnosis while starting a new career as a brand new worship artist was difficult, to say the least. Lifestyle change, medication, yoga, and many other tools became a part of her quest to serve God well not just through her music, but through the way, she took care of her body, mind, spirit, and emotions.
Soon Casey realized that her call was not just to take care of herself, but to serve God’s people through helping them find their own intersection of faith and wellness. Casey graduated from the prestigious Asheville Yoga School in 2019 with a 200 Yoga Teacher Certification and has been certified with the Yoga Alliance to serve others in their journey of self-care. She has a passion to help others find a daily wellness practice, as the combination of prayer, biblical study, mindful eating, meditation, yoga, and physical exercise has literally changed her life.
Her philosophy is that “you can love the Lord with all your heart and still need support in your mental and emotional wellness.”
Sozo wellness is a passion project that started simply as Casey’s story and has now become a beautiful space to share and shape the stories of many.
DOMINIQUE HARMON
Contributor
Dominique Harmon is a licensed clinical social worker and a certified yoga instructor with a passion for holistic health and wellness. Dominique has always enjoyed playing sports and being physically active. She discovered yoga in 2015 while going through a difficult divorce. She was using exercise and talk therapy to assist her in coping with stress and decided to attend a yoga class after being encouraged to add it to her list of activities to help with self-care. She quickly began to experience the mind-body benefits, and to her surprise, a deepening in her faith, through the practice. From early on in her yoga practice, Dominique describes having used it as a time of devotion with Christ. She quickly became eager to learn how to teach yoga and meditation practices to others.
Dominique completed her yoga teacher training at {Sacred} Thread Yoga, in Atlanta, GA. Dominique is also a Holy Yoga certified instructor. She offers Christ-centered yoga and meditation classes, expanding the spiritual discipline practices available to support soul care. She continues to advance her yoga training, having competed for intensives in meditation, trauma-informed yoga, yin yoga, and therapeutic touch and assists.
Dominique is in private practice in downtown Decatur, GA, where she provides individual and group psychotherapy services to college undergraduate and graduate students, adolescent girls and adults. She integrates her training in psychotherapy, yoga, and health coaching, to support her clients in reaching and sustaining their optimal cognitive, social and emotional wellbeing.
Dominique is a graduate of Indiana University. She obtained her masters in social work from Clark Atlanta University and completed post-graduate training at Yale University School of Medicine Child Study Center.
SHERELL MOORE-TUCKER
Contributor
Sherrell Moore-Tucker is the Managing Partner for SAGE Holistic Center, an author, speaker, and trauma-informed educator who specializes in holistic stress management. She is the creator of MindBody FAITH, a wellness and lifestyle brand that bridges the gap between science and faith while exploring holistic tools and techniques for health and healing. One of those tools is Faith & Flow Yoga. A yoga practice that teaches people how to use their mind, body, and faith to raise their level of consciousness, reconnect with God, and heal mentally, spiritually, and physically. She also created Sisters Who Meditate as an international movement designed to educate and support women who want to cultivate a spiritual practice and discipline utilizing Christian meditation and prayer to deepen their relationship with God.
Sherell is an iRest Level 1 Teacher informed by the teachings of Richard Miller and iRest Institute. Sherrell is also registered with the National Yoga Alliance (RYT-200) and Holy Yoga (R-HYI). Her specialties and studies include Holy Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa flow-style yoga, Yin yoga, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga, Restorative Yoga for Race-Based Traumatic Stress Injury informed by the teachings of Dr. Gail Parker, Christian Yoga Association Master Trainer (R-CYAMT), and Christian and Hebraic meditative practices. She is certified in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Natural & Holistic health through Trinity School of Natural Health.
WHITNEY WASHINGTON
Contributor
Whitney Washington, a native New Yorker turned Dallasite, is a yogi with a passion for helping Believers deepen their connection to God through a physical yoga practice. Nearly five years ago, she ventured into her first yoga class during a season when work-related stress took a crippling hold on her life and was immediately hooked. In the time since she's launched the Flow & Favor blog, become a teacher at a local studio, and has helped dozens of yogis root their yoga practices in God’s fullness, love, and grace.