Meet Rachel

My path to entrepreneurship and being a practitioner of the healing arts has been anything but linear. I started out like many of us. I graduated from high school, went to college, and then grad school, and after receiving my Master’s degree in Public Administration, I got a job and eventually purchased a condo. I checked all these boxes by the age of 26, leaving just one that I was desperate to achieve: marriage and motherhood. Eventually, life led me to getting married at 28 and giving birth to my son a year later. By 31, I was divorced, a single mom, and back to living in my condo again. I remember the day I was sitting on my couch, looking around and having a real “WTF just happened?” moment. And so began a 10+ years journey of deep internal healing and shadow work. 

Talk therapy was the first step I took. I wanted to get into the cracks and crevices of my life and better understand what was driving my decisions. I did all of the “right” things and yet, I felt empty and unfulfilled. As I continued to show up for myself, I was learning how to move out of the passenger seat and into the driver’s seat of my life. I had a great job that afforded me travel and a steady income. But I was growing restless with this position. The more aware I became, the more I felt like a traditional 9-5 wasn’t for me. And that’s when yoga appeared. 

The practice of yoga had been in my life for many years by way of my stepmother, who came into my life when I was seven. She didn’t specifically teach me yoga through the physical practice that is done on a yoga mat. She taught me through example by how she lives her life. The compassion she extends to others. The gentleness in how she speaks. Her reverence for Mother Nature. Her ability to just be. While so much of me is my primary birth mother, my stepmother has also been a great influence in my life. And when yoga found me in the place of healing myself, the dots of my life connected. I understood why her practice of 50+ years is something that she stays committed to on a daily basis. 

In 2012, and at the height of my disillusion with my job, I was banged up pretty badly in a car accident (ironically while rushing to my job) and was written out of work for two months. I took some yoga classes as part of the physical healing process but soon felt a deeper shift internally. The yoga teachers I observed all seemed to have that same sense of peace and ease as my stepmother. I wanted more of that in my life and that’s when I felt the nudge to explore teacher training. A few months later, I was enrolled in an introductory yoga teacher training (YTT) program and from there, I went on to complete my formal 200-hour YTT in August 2013. By September 2013, I was teaching my first class. And when that class was done, I knew I had landed smack dab in the middle of the purpose I was so desperately looking for. Just short of two years of teaching yoga classes, I decided I could no longer ignore the feeling in my heart when it came to my 9-5. I had no savings. I had no plan. I was a single mom. But I knew it was time to take a leap and I trusted that I would land. On April 30, 2015, I left my corporate career after almost 15 years. And on May 1, Rachel Voss Yoga was officially born. 

My work has expanded from teaching classes to leading local and international retreats, working with corporate clients, mentoring, writing, podcasting and so much more. The journey of trusting myself and following my heart has not always been easy, but it’s also opened me up to a world I never knew could exist. And now I’m truly co-creating the life I want. My life is my work and my work is my life. No more fragmenting myself or making myself fit into one box. 

Along the way, I came up with the phrase Find Your Free™ - a reflection of what I was (and still am!) working to truly achieve in my life: Freedom. Authenticity. Abundance. And now Find Your Free™  is the foundation of all of my offerings and the messaging I share in my classes, private sessions, and workshops. I am especially committed to helping other women find their free, whether that be through personal healing and self-development, becoming or growing as yoga teachers, or taking their own leap with entrepreneurship. In addition to my live and on-demand classes, you can connect with me through my podcast Find Your Free™  or my weekly newsletter. 

Some other quick fun facts about me: I’m originally (and proudly) from Englewood, New Jersey. I received a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and my Master’s in Public Administration from American University in Washington, DC. I’ve completed over 500 hours of formal YTT, in addition to receiving certifications in Reiki (Level I) and Thai Yoga Massage, and a graduate studies certificate in Ayurvedic Wellness from the Maryland University of Integrative Health. I’ve also completed trauma-sensitive yoga training through Exhale to Inhale and the Prison Yoga Project (PYP). With PYP, I taught volunteer yoga classes for women inmates at a local correctional institution for four years. I am deeply committed to ensuring all populations have access to the healing arts.