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Dionne C. Monsanto

Dionne C. Monsanto is not your average yoga teacher. She is a native New Yorker who left a successful financial services career twice to become a full-time yoga teacher. She has since taught thousands of yoga/dance classes internationally. Her life after financial services has taken her around the globe teaching, speaking and training. She has appeared on TV, radio, print ads and magazines. As a mental health advocate, public speaker, performer, yoga/dance teacher, and life coach she connects people to their joy and assists her clients in remaining true to themselves. As a bestselling author and proud mother, she hopes to leave an example that her sons will follow to live happy, healthy lives and to make her deceased daughter proud. On any given day you will find her with a coffee cup or water bottle in her hand while on her way to or from, yoga, cooking, walking or coaching. She leads the way and challenges us to claim joy as our birthright and is the pied piper calling us to live life INjoy. Sign up for my newsletter below and get a few free chapters of my bestselling book, 101 Ways to Live Life INjoy. https://www.joyousocean.com/101waysbook-sample

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A collage of photos from the Black Mental Health Awards Gala, including attendees posing together, event signage, a decorated dinner table, and a DJ performing. The images highlight the beauty, community, and cultural pride present at an event honoring Bl
Featured Post

I came into September fragmented and spinning, yet left whole!

Letters for the Living Issue No. 9 September integrated all of me with unexpected beauty. Hey Reader, My world stopped spinning, and when September ended, I was fully myself again. September gave me integration. I am one hundred percent better from the vertigo, fully integrated, and one Saturday in Baltimore showed me exactly what that means. With September fresh in our minds, and as we welcome October, I want to share what happened when I attended the inaugural Black Mental Health Awards...

27 days ago • 6 min read
A close‑up of Dionne holding a tissue to her face, capturing an emotional moment during the Grief in Our Time session after she wiped tears that surfaced while speaking her truth.

The Grief & Joy Weekly Issue No. 42 — October 21, 2026 Expression: Speaking as a Form of Healing Hey Reader, Speaking is one of the oldest forms of expression we have. The speaking I’m referencing doesn’t have to be polished, rehearsed, or “prepared.” It’s the kind that is felt. It rises up from your body in real time and surprises you. And what comes out carries memory, truth, and emotion all at once. At least that’s what happened to me. 🔵 Speaking as Expression Before writing, before art,...

8 days ago • 3 min read
A close‑up photo of Dionne’s throat showing a visible lump on the left side, highlighting sudden swelling and physical expression.

The Grief & Joy Weekly Issue No. 41 — October 15, 2026 Expression: When the Body Speaks Loudly Hey Reader, I can see what you’re not saying. This week my body expressed the truth and my mind had to catch up. When the body expresses itself to the brain… you can feel it, see it, hear it, and sense it. 🔵 A Body That Speaks On Sunday, I was genuinely excited to volunteer at the AFSP Bronx Community Walk. My energy was high, my spirit was open, my body felt ready. I was kinda hyped actually, even...

14 days ago • 3 min read
A candid outdoor photo of Dionne wearing a cap and resting a hand on her chest, surrounded by fall trees. The image reflects a moment of presence, grounding, and personal expression.

The Grief & Joy Weekly Issue No. 40 — October 10, 2026 Expression: Living Your Truth Out Loud Hey Reader, You better express yourself… October is in full swing. Something in me feels ready. Ready to step forward, be seen, and let the inner work I’ve been doing all year show up in my real life. Scared, but ready too. We’ve spent nine months changing, savoring, checking our baggage, becoming aware, aligning, expanding, embodying, being courageous, and integrating. We’ve covered a lot, and now...

19 days ago • 4 min read
A collage of photos from the March On! Festival 2026, including a panel screening event, attendees posing in front of festival backdrops, a poster highlighting the theme “250 Years of Democracy: The Unfinished Story,” and participants capturing moments ou

The Grief & Joy Weekly Issue No. 39 — October 7, 2026 Integration as Civic Practice Hey Reader, September didn’t just integrate my body, it integrated my citizenship. And I didn’t expect that. I recently attended a few days of the March On! Festival 2026, a social impact festival that happens every year — in person and virtually — to make history accessible to everyone. The theme this year was 250 years of democracy… the unfinished story. And let me tell you… It hit me in the same place grief...

23 days ago • 3 min read
Dionne’s business card and an AFSP Out of the Darkness bracelet placed together, symbolizing the support she offered during her commute.

The Grief & Joy Weekly Issue No. 38 — September 27, 2026 Integration on the road to Baltimore. Hey Reader, The magic of a nor’easter, a missed bus, and a full moon all at once. I wrote this to you from a bus station in Baltimore prior to attending the inaugural Black Mental Health Awards, hosted by Black People Die By Suicide Too. It was a full moon day, and maybe that explains everything that happened. I needed to get it all down before I forgot the magic of it all. On Saturday, ,u commute...

about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Dionne lying in the grass holding an apple while her grandson sits nearby, both surrounded by scattered apples in an orchard, relaxed and peaceful in the sun.

The Grief & Joy Weekly Issue No. 37 — September 23, 2026 Integration: The grounding after the tremors. Hey Reader, After the glitch, something softened. The world did not stop spinning all at once. There were still tremors, small ones, but there was also a moment where everything paused. A moment where my body expanded, opened, and felt at one with all things. That moment happened in an apple orchard. 🔵 Apple Picking, The First Calm After the Tremors I took my grandson apple picking last...

about 1 month ago • 3 min read
A collage of four photos of Dionne wearing Suicide Prevention gear — two Tuesday Tea mug photos and two outfit?of?the?day selfies — reflecting her personal, embodied approach to awareness during September.

The Grief & Joy Weekly Issue No. 36 — September 13, 2026 Integration: The spiritual alignment inside the glitch. Hey Reader, I’ve been living in the glitch. Not a malfunction, breakdown or crisis. A threshold. The moment where your old identity ends and your new one hasn’t introduced itself yet. That spot where everything feels wrong, but somehow you feel more right than you’ve ever felt. The disconnect where your spirit is ahead of your body, and your body is trying hard to catch up. That’s...

about 2 months ago • 5 min read
A profile photo of Dionne outdoors under a bright sky, wearing a blue head wrap and looking upward with soft sunlight around her face. The image captures a quiet moment of pause and reflection, matching the in?between space she describes as her body reorg

The Grief & Joy Weekly Issue No. 35 — September 7, 2026 Integration: The in‑between space where my body, my season, and my becoming meet. Hey Reader, Summer is NOT over. We’re in that strange stretch of the year where people swear summer is over, but the calendar says otherwise. Labor Day comes and everyone packs away their beach bags, but the truth is: we’ve still got three more weeks of summer. We’re not in fall yet. We’re not in summer anymore. We’re in the in‑between. And so am I. My body...

about 2 months ago • 4 min read
A mirror selfie of Dionne standing in her entryway wearing denim overalls, a teal headwrap, and a floral?embroidered jacket. She looks grounded and calm, capturing the moment she returned home on the day vertigo began — a reminder that people don’t always

Letters for the Living Issue No. 8 What August taught me about courage through messages from the body Hey Reader, August didn’t end with a roar. It didn’t end with a celebration. It didn’t end with a victory lap. It ended with vertigo. Yes, vertigo. A full stop, forced pause, divine interruption. That pause taught me more about courage than anything else in August. And there were a LOT of lessons. Lemme tell you what happened. 🟠 The Morning the World Spun Saturday, August 29th. I opened my...

about 2 months ago • 5 min read