Alicia Dugar Stephenson

Meet Alicia Dugar Stephenson, ERYT. California born in the summer of 1990 to a military family, she has an afinity for warm places and spaces. Her afro hairstyle has become her brand: its natural awesomeness led to her business name (AfroYoga International, llc) and her Instagram account (@afroyoga).  

 

Her lupus diagnosis came after many months of daily inflammation and unanswerable questions. She was 19 years old, an undergrad at Rice University and inspired by her imagined future. 

 

"Diagnosis was my first step toward healing", says the international yoga teacher and motivational speaker. She began researching and exploring everything she could find on Lupus and rhumatism/ auto-immune.  

Yoga minimizes Dugar’s Lupus symptoms, an autoimmune disease that causes pain and inflammation. “Yoga helped me heal myself,” she said. “That’s why I teach – I’m paying it forward.”

 

When she found yoga: little did she know that it would change her life for the better. She practiced yoga as much as her lifestyle would allow, and when that wasn't enough, she changed her lifestyle. Alicia now celebrates the connection to self that she has nourished through daily yoga and meditation. 

 

This inspirational yoga teacher is facilitating personal transformation through her craft. Imagine yourself in a yoga session where self care is explained and encouraged. This is a type of class that beginner to advanced practitioners can expect to connect to themselves on a deeper level than typically available in everyday life. 

 

She has taught over 1000 yoga sessions and is based in Houston, Tx. Her love for others inspires her volunteer instruction with the MHA's Texas Military Veterans Peer Network at the Discovery Green Park in Houston every week. 

 

She has her own company, AfroYoga International, which hosts yoga retreats and online wellness courses, and she is on the executive committee of The Melanin Project, a nonprofit that connects traditionally marginalized communities to emotional wellness. In October, she’s releasing her first self-help book, “Yoga Wife, Happy Life,” which details the role her yoga practice plays in her personal life.  

 

Follow Alicia E-RYT200 on Instagram @afroyoga to be informed of her yoga classes, workshops, retreats and know first about new projects (like an upcoming book or online yoga videos). Reserve your time to work with her through her Instagram. 

 

The next step to healing is yoga. Join AfroYoga in making the world a peaceful and loving place starting with you.