Moonaz

Dr. Steffany Moonaz is a yoga therapist and researcher in the San Diego suburbs and serves as Director of Clinical and Health Services Research at Southern California University of Health Sciences. She became curious about importance of mind-body activities at a young age and has been passionate ever since about the healing power of mindful movement. She completed undergraduate work in biology and dance at Oberlin College, earned an MFA from University of Maryland as well as a CMA from the Laban Institute, and spent eight years at Johns Hopkins University, helping to develop and evaluate a yoga program for individuals with the chronic diseases of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, which became the basis for her PhD in public health.

Along with ongoing research collaborations at Einstein and Sinai Hospitals in New York, Connor Whole Health in Cleveland, and other universities overseas, Dr. Moonaz is working to bring yoga to people with arthritis in communities around the country, as well as educating yoga teachers and yoga therapists about the unique needs of this population. She currently leads Yoga for Arthritis teacher training programs in-person and online and serves as a mentor for several emerging researchers working in this space.

Dr. Moonaz’s work has been covered by Time, HuffPost, the Baltimore Sun, the New York Times, and U.S. News and World Report. She has been invited to speak at Emory University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins Palliative Care, and the Smithsonian. In addition to chapters in several seminal yoga therapy texts, she is the author of three books, including "Yoga Therapy for Arthritis: A Whole-Person Approach to Movement and Lifestyle," released by Singing Dragon Press, "Driving Home: Cancer, Concussion, Mom and Me," published by FriesenPress, and "Understanding Yoga Research: A Guide to Evidence-Informed Teaching and Practice" also through Singing Dragon Press.