About Me

Hi, I'm Carly and I am delighted you have found me! Here is a bit about my why, my background and training, and my journey.

My Why

I fully believe that each of us has unique precious gifts to share with the world, and the world is better through our sharing. We feel our best and do our best in service to the beautiful complex web of life in the world when we are sharing these gifts in reciprocity with all our fellow living creatures - human, flora, and fauna!

The thing is it can be a bit of a treasure hunt, or even archeology dig, to get to these gems. This generally involves addressing old wounds and cracking off the layers of garbage life has piled on us.

For my fellow veterans- reconnecting to who we are under everything we learned and picked up during our military service is critical to our transition process out of the military.

My How

We can embark on the treasure hunt/dig using tools, practices, and mindsets to be more present and curious with what is. In this state of open awareness, we create more space so we have more agency in choosing how to respond to life's stressors, investigate our beliefs, and even process our trauma.

So that is what my aspiration is- to help you with this excavation and discovery. I do this through sharing recorded practices, resource references, and my Rest & Recuperation newsletter. You can find resources here and on my YouTube channel or IG page. I also do individual training and instruction, group work, as well as shamanic healing which can really be a big boost in your healing journey.

My Background

You can check me out/connect with me on LinkedIn if you like too!

I'm a Navy veteran (11 years active duty) who has spent my entire career as an analyst supporting military operations- with big gray boat deployments on active duty and boots on ground deployments as a contractor and civilian serving Army and Special Operations units.

While I may have been safe behind the wire during my GWOT deployments, I had a front row seat to the havoc of trauma the wars were wreaking on the military community writ large. I have 19 years of service between active duty and my chosen service path after, and I have used the tools I share to excavate who I am underneath all of the military and social conditioning and choose how I want to show up in the world. I want to help you do the same!

About 11 years ago, I had what I call a "triple trauma tornado" which was a too much too soon emotional trauma situation, I know now. It threw me for a big old loop and I was really determined to dig into the psychology of it all. Eventually I was like, ok I think I have made sense of a lot, and now I want to start living my life looking forward and in authenticity with who I really am and want to be. That interest led me to discover self-transcendence and self-actualization as well as spiritual practices to support these processes.

After years of practice and experiencing the benefits and fruits of my labor in doing this work, I began to seek training to best be able to teach and share these practices with people.

I have primarily been teaching these practices to my teammates at the units I am working for, such as teaching yoga on deployments and offering meditation workshops back CONUS, and now I am ready to share with the wider military and veteran community!

That being said, this is for everyone - I want to help anyone who is looking for support in doing the work of reconnecting to their authentic selves! I do offer discounted services for members of the warrior class- veterans, active duty military, first responders, as well as their immediate family and partners.

What I'm passionate about

There are several fields that I am especially passionate about and hold intentions to meaningfully contribute to. They are:

Military and veteran mental health and well-being

This goes for the whole warrior class (first responders plus spouses/partners and caregivers)! We go through SO so much that the average citizen does not, and have different considerations for our mental health.

This includes but is not limited to: trauma recovery and post-traumatic growth, moral injury, psychosocial support for transitioning off active duty, and mind-body tools such as yoga and mindfulness meditation for stress reduction, well-being and so much more.

Psychedelic-assisted therapy and post-traumatic growth

This field is so so exciting to me because everything that I have been about for a decade (meditation, yoga, mindfulness, connecting with more-than-human intelligence) is critical to being a supportive psychedelic facilitator or therapist. There is also increasing evidence (clinical and anecdotal) of the power of these medicines to support veterans specifically in trauma recovery and addiction.

It is wild to me how few people are aware of the extensive clinical research on how mindfulness meditation and yoga (including physical poses, breathwork, and meditation) support people in their physical and mental health and well-being journeys. So I aim to change that by sharing the research as I share and guide practices!!

I'm such a nerd for this I wrote my capstone thesis for my Organizational Psychology masters on Why Mindfulness Matters to Military Organizations. I focused on identifying research in organizational contexts to highlight how mindfulness can support resilience, focus, training, and leadership- this on top of the tens of thousands of studies on Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction protocol showing its power on stress reduction in clinical settings.

Honestly, my research helped confirm the hunch I already had that we should get mindfulness meditation as part of our standard training and development curriculum in the military!

Coming soon (or at least eventually)

Podcast, additional resources and programs for some structured self-discovery work...my goal is to have some stuff put together that's worth having a membership so stay tuned...the newsletter will always be free though!😎

I'd be delighted and honored to work with you!

If you like what I am about and sharing here and want to work with me personally, I would be delighted and honored to work with you one-on-one, or work with your group. Nothing brings me greater joy than designing a custom workshop or program for someone or a group to meet their specific needs and seeing people learning and growing! Sign up for a free consultation/vibe check with me 😊

My Professional Trainings

These are listed in chronological(ish) order, but really my intention in sharing is you can see all of the influences that I weave into the teachings, trainings, and healing facilitation I share.

The Mindfulness Center: Science of Mindful Awareness Professional Yoga Therapist Training (800hr) – March 2025 - May 2027(est)
Zendo: Sitting and Integration Training - March 2026
The Embody Lab: Somatic Psychedelic Facilitator (50hr) – November 2025 – January 2026
Tara Mandala: Heart of Buddhism Year Long Immersion Program – February -December 2025
The Embody Lab: Integrative Somatics for Trauma Therapy (60hr) – September – December 2025
The Embody Lab: Breathwork and Movement for Trauma Therapy (60hr) completed September 2025
David Treleaven: Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness Level 1: Completed August 2025
Dr. Arielle Schwartz/The Embody Lab: Applied Polyvagal Theory for Yoga for Trauma Recovery (30hr): completed March 2025
Jane Burns: Advanced Celtic Shamanism Practitioner Training: November 2024-April 2024
Jane Burns: Celtic Shamanism Year-Long Mentorship: February 2024-February 2025
Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley: Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program – February 2023 - February 2025
YogaRenew: Mindfulness Certification (20hr) – Completed August 2023
YogaRenew: Yoga Alliance (YA) Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training – completed July 2022; renewed July 2025
Veterans’ Yoga Project: Mindful Resilience for Trauma Recovery Facilitator Training – completed October 2021
Jane Burns: Two Year Celtic Shamanism Training – April 2019-August 2021
Jane Burns: Introduction to Celtic Shamanism - October 2017

My Formal Education

MSW, at University of Kentucky (Aug 2026 start)
PsyD, Leadership Psychology at William James College - completed 27/68 credit hours before withdrawing to pursue a clinically-focused degree (Jan 2024-May 2025)
MA, Organizational Psychology at William James College (2023)
BA, History with Leadership minor and participation in Naval ROTC and the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech (2005)

Disclaimer:
The content provided by Military Yogini LLC is for educational and informational purposes only. The practices, exercises, and discussions shared on this channel and website are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with your physician, mental health professional, or other qualified healthcare provider before beginning any new exercise program, meditation practice, breathwork technique, or nervous system regulation activity.

If you choose to engage in any movement, breathing, or wellness practice demonstrated or described here, you do so at your own risk. Military Yogini LLC is not responsible for any injury, health condition, or adverse effect that may result from your participation.

Nothing shared on this platform constitutes medical, psychological, therapeutic, or crisis intervention advice.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact your local emergency services, crisis hotlines, or a qualified mental health professional right away.