My Story
I loved to dance as a child. I was a natural performer, dancing around the house, dancing in recitals, dancing in school activities. (photo of me with sunshine tutu) I'm so grateful my grandmother on my dad's side suggested I begin dance classes when I was five. I felt seen by her and cherished this connection we had through a love of dancing.
During my middle school and high school years, my family attended a Methodist church and I loved going: there was a time when I was regularly at church 3X per week! I enjoyed the community, bible study, and recreational time with the yough group. Church gave me a good spiritual start - a portal to love and compassion through the contemplation, prayer, and the teachings of Jesus which informed my heart.
Rhonda Mills, Founder of Transformation Playground
Rhonda is a joyous being who is living her mission for more than two decades: to explore what’s deeply essential, and facilitate connection, collaboration, and emergent creativity. Her trauma-informed work opens a space of compassion, inner freedom, and wondrous discovery.
After an international dance career including performing, choreography and teaching, Rhonda discovered yoga, meditation and ayurveda in 1999. A new focus emerged at the intersection of devotional spirituality, the ancient tradition of yoga, and modern influences of mindfulness, and creativity. In 2001, Rhonda began to teach yoga, and in 2003 she was initiated into the tradition of Sri Vidya by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait of the Himalayan Institute. She studied with and assisted ParaYoga founder Rod Stryker from 2003-2009. Rhonda completed certifications as a Big Leap Coach in 2008, a Nonviolent Communication Trainer in 2009, a ParaYoga Level II Teacher (500-hour) in 2009, and Transformational Leadership in 2010. She facilitated and co-facilitated multiple year-long foundational and advanced yoga teacher trainings yearly between 2010-2018. Rhonda founded the Facilitator of Embodied Transformation Training and trained groups of coaches for three years (2015-2018).
Since 2018, Rhonda is engaging in the training community of Thomas Hübl, studying meditation, Transparent Communication, and Trauma Healing on the individual, ancestral and collective levels. She is currently participating in the 2-year Timeless Wisdom Training. In 2020, Rhonda returned to University at Ubiquity towards a B.A. Completion Degree in Integral Transpersonal Psychology. In 2021, Rhonda completed her certificate as a NARM-Informed Professional (Neuro Affective Relational Model for Complex Trauma).
For the last several years, Rhonda is studying the collective traumas of systemic white supremacy and colonialism, to increase her capacity to disrupt domination systems internally and externally. She participated in the St. Louis YWCA Witnessing Whiteness Class Series in 2019 and co-facilitated a cohort in Fall 2021. Rhonda participated in a Pocket Project Research Lab on the topic of Racialized Trauma and Reparations in the U.S. in Spring of 2021. In summer of 2021, she attained a 50-hour certificate for Embodied Social Justice. In Winter 2021, she attended a day-long anti-racism training with Crossroads Antiracism Organization. Her ongoing commitment is to increase capacity to perceive oppressive systems which shape the spaces she inhabits, speak to what she sees, and act in ways that contribute energy towards living systems that benefit everyone and contribute to undoing collective trauma-fueled systems of oppression. " Read more about what Rhonda says about systemic oppression here.
Rhonda continues to be an avid learner, infinitely curious about the intersection between consciousness, intention and attention, embodiment, connection, transformational leadership, and playfulness. In addition to coaching online, she delights in supporting groups in aligning with embodied integrity individually and together, creating powerful, transformative "we-spaces."
After an international dance career including performing, choreography and teaching, Rhonda discovered yoga, meditation and ayurveda in 1999. A new focus emerged at the intersection of devotional spirituality, the ancient tradition of yoga, and modern influences of mindfulness, and creativity. In 2001, Rhonda began to teach yoga, and in 2003 she was initiated into the tradition of Sri Vidya by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait of the Himalayan Institute. She studied with and assisted ParaYoga founder Rod Stryker from 2003-2009. Rhonda completed certifications as a Big Leap Coach in 2008, a Nonviolent Communication Trainer in 2009, a ParaYoga Level II Teacher (500-hour) in 2009, and Transformational Leadership in 2010. She facilitated and co-facilitated multiple year-long foundational and advanced yoga teacher trainings yearly between 2010-2018. Rhonda founded the Facilitator of Embodied Transformation Training and trained groups of coaches for three years (2015-2018).
Since 2018, Rhonda is engaging in the training community of Thomas Hübl, studying meditation, Transparent Communication, and Trauma Healing on the individual, ancestral and collective levels. She is currently participating in the 2-year Timeless Wisdom Training. In 2020, Rhonda returned to University at Ubiquity towards a B.A. Completion Degree in Integral Transpersonal Psychology. In 2021, Rhonda completed her certificate as a NARM-Informed Professional (Neuro Affective Relational Model for Complex Trauma).
For the last several years, Rhonda is studying the collective traumas of systemic white supremacy and colonialism, to increase her capacity to disrupt domination systems internally and externally. She participated in the St. Louis YWCA Witnessing Whiteness Class Series in 2019 and co-facilitated a cohort in Fall 2021. Rhonda participated in a Pocket Project Research Lab on the topic of Racialized Trauma and Reparations in the U.S. in Spring of 2021. In summer of 2021, she attained a 50-hour certificate for Embodied Social Justice. In Winter 2021, she attended a day-long anti-racism training with Crossroads Antiracism Organization. Her ongoing commitment is to increase capacity to perceive oppressive systems which shape the spaces she inhabits, speak to what she sees, and act in ways that contribute energy towards living systems that benefit everyone and contribute to undoing collective trauma-fueled systems of oppression. " Read more about what Rhonda says about systemic oppression here.
Rhonda continues to be an avid learner, infinitely curious about the intersection between consciousness, intention and attention, embodiment, connection, transformational leadership, and playfulness. In addition to coaching online, she delights in supporting groups in aligning with embodied integrity individually and together, creating powerful, transformative "we-spaces."
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