Hi!
I’m Rachel, a Swedish native, New York Times best-selling author, non-profit founder, herbalist, serial entrepreneur, and international yoga teacher. You might know me from my Instagram account as Yoga Girl, where I’ve shared my life with millions of people for over a decade. In the past few years, I’ve traded sold-out yoga classes around the world and our yoga studio in The Caribbean for a more quiet life on a homestead in the Swedish countryside. With the forest as my backyard and my family by my side, I spend my days tending to our little farm, writing, making herbal medicine, and sharing everything from recipes and gardening tips to healing practices and nature rituals with my community online.
Sharing practices for self-care and healing is at the heart of everything I do, and I offer a range of tools designed to support you in your daily life (including yoga and meditation, rewilding practices, herbal medicine, tea ceremony, nature rituals, astrology, sharing circles, journaling, and much more).
I am the host of two #1 podcast shows; From The Heart with Rachel Brathen; full-length episodes that release every Friday, and Self Care Daily; a daily podcast with bite-sized practices for personal growth. I’ve written two books; Yoga Girl (a New York Times bestseller!), and To Love and Let Go, a Memoir of Love, Loss, and Gratitude. With over 2 million followers on social media, 15 years of professional experience, and a global audience in over 170 countries, I have been featured in Women’s Health, Yoga Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Tedx Talks, and more.
After graduating from school in Stockholm, I traveled to Costa Rica where I found the joy of incorporating yoga and meditation into my everyday life. As my yoga practice deepened, I moved to Central America where I spent years exploring the intricate studies of yoga and spirituality. After moving to Aruba early 2010, I began teaching yoga full time and dedicated my life to supporting people on their path to healing. My classes focus on integrating alignment, core work, and breathing techniques with basic poses and creative sequencing – but yoga asana is only the beginning. I incorporate transformational holistic therapy tools like sharing, active listening, and journaling in every session, and there is a deep level of heart healing at the center of every class I teach. My classes, online and in-person, serve the purpose of deepening a connection not only to ourselves, but with the people around us.
In 2017, my husband Dennis and I welcomed our first child; our daughter Lea Luna. In that same year we opened Island Yoga – the largest yoga studio in the Caribbean, where we hosted yoga teacher trainings, retreats, workshops, and daily classes for many years. I am also the founder of one of the first online yoga platforms, the now-retired oneOeight.com, which was the most successful crowd-funded yoga project of all time. That platform has since grown and transformed into yogagirl.com, holding a vast community of dedicated practitioners from all over the world looking to cultivate balance and deepen their yoga practice. Giving back to the community has always been at the center of my work. I have founded three non-profit organizations: Sgt. Pepper’s Friends; an animal rescue foundation and animal shelter based in Aruba, 109 World; retreats that serve communities in need, and Yoga Girl® Foundation, an organization benefiting women and children in need.
