When I was growing up, I didn’t have any LGBTQ+ role models, and I didn’t know it was okay to be myself. It seemed that no matter where I went, I never quite “fit in,” whether this sentiment was felt internally or reflected back to me externally. Feeling that my true self would never be accepted, I attempted to mold myself to fit the needs of whoever was around me at that time. I expected perfection from myself constantly, but the mental goal posts kept moving because I subconsciously based them on the opinions of others.

Through over a decade of Yoga practice and nearly a decade of deep study and living a Yogic lifestyle, I have unraveled (and continue to unravel) layer after layer of mental and spiritual conditioning and illusions. And somewhere along the way, I decided to become the role model of my own dreams. Today, I’m a 500-hour Registered Yoga Instructor, a 600-hour Ayurvedic Health Counselor, a Transformational Retreat Facilitator, and an Intuitive Astrologer. In 2022, I founded Queer Soul Alchemy.

I’m also very out and proud as a queer and nonbinary human. My pronouns are they/ them. While I enjoy working with all people, I feel especially drawn to work with fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community. I believe that Yoga, Ayurveda, Community, and Astrology have an immense healing ability to open us to the primal divine energy (adi para shakti) within. I hope that we can walk together on this path of self-acceptance, upliftment, and transformation.

Ohio is home. In 2017, I received both my 200-hr Yoga Teaching Certification from Yoga Central, and my Bachelor's Degree in Entrepreneurship from Kent State University. Since then, I have travelled internationally and domestically, spent time in various Intentional Yoga Communities, and deepened my personal practices. I was initiated into the Sivananda Yoga order with the name “Parvati Devi” by one of my teachers, Swami Sankaranandaji.

My remembrance and self-initiation into the Priestess Arts and the path of Goddess Worship has been witnessed and guided by several wonderful mentors over the years. I am a devotee of the Goddess within all beings and specifically work with the energies of Hecate, Demeter, Persephone, Isis, Kali Ma, Maria Magdalena, Durga Ma, Sheela-na-gig, Parvati Devi, Lakshmi Ma, as well as many masculine deities including Ganesh, Shiva, and Jesus. As a Priestess I am of service to the community by offering ritual, practical, and energetic support in times of great transition, grief, and life’s major portals.

In 2021, I completed my 300-hour Yoga Teaching Certification with the Mount Madonna Institute in California. Last year, I graduated from the Shakti School’s training program in healthy holistic lifestyle coaching through the ancient practices of Ayurveda and Tantra. Since 2022, I have been hosting transformational Yoga retreats both internationally in Guatemala and locally in Northeast Ohio. A life-long artist, I have self-published two original coloring books: Creatures of the Earth, and 12 Signs of the Zodiac. (Learn more here.)

My sankalpa, or intention, is to cultivate safe spaces for our collective liberation through the events, retreats, and services that I offer, and to empower others with tools for their own self-development and self-care.

Jai Ma! —Paisley Parvati Devi