Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts is an internationally-celebrated Peloton yoga teacher and scholar. Highly regarded as a leader in a new generation of yogis and with an online community of over 230K, she is passionate about making yoga and meditation accessible to everybody.
Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, Chelsea always knew she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her mother and become an educator. Chelsea earned teaching credentials after graduating from Spelman College with a B.A. in Child Development, and later completed her M.A. at Teachers College, Columbia University with a degree in International Educational Development. Following her M.A, Chelsea then earned her Ph.D from the Division of Educational Studies at Emory University, cementing her as Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts. With these degrees, she has taught pre-service school teachers, graduate level literacy classes, and co-facilitated race and yoga trainings with her husband Shane. She has also impacted a diverse range of yoga practitioners interested in yoga and social justice throughout her career. It was during her experiences as a public classroom teacher, however, that Chelsea began to make connections between literacy development, yoga, and other mindful practices.
While she has been part of the Peloton family within their yoga modality for two years, Chelsea has honed her style of yoga that blends contemporary hip-hop, electronic, and R&B with asana for nearly two decades. She developed this style by calling on her midwest roots and the influential connection with her local community when she lived in Atlanta, GA. An expert in slow-flow and restorative yoga, Chelsea prides herself in creating classes that leave her students with a strong sense of belonging and accomplishment. She is a certified E-RYT and RCYT, completing her initial 200-hour yoga teachers’ training at Kashi Atlanta Urban Ashram under the guidance of her beloved teachers Swami Jaya Devi and Ma Jaya in 2007 and specializing on instructing children and teens.
With this specialization, in 2014, Chelsea founded Yoga, Literature, and Art Camp at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, which later birthed Red Clay Yoga. Red Clay Yoga is a nonprofit organization focused primarily on youth, marginalized communities, and their allies; dedicated to using yoga as a tool for education through training programs and community outreach. Some of their programs and highlights include Diversity Workshops, Social Justice Modules, and Yoga Alliance Continuing Education trainings.
Chelsea’s writing and research has been published in the International Journal of Qualitative Studies of Education and most recently, she contributed perspectives on issues concerning yoga and body image at the intersection of race, class, and gender in Yoga and Body Image: 25 Personal Stories about Beauty, Bravery, and Loving Your Body edited by Melanie Klein and Anna Guest-Jelley. Her most recent research utilizes the lived experiences of Black teen yoga practitioners who use yoga and storytelling as mediums for critical literacy development.
Chelsea brings her deep Midwest and Southern roots to the mat with a style of yoga that is accessible to all bodies and levels of skill. Through the Peloton platform and her prior experience, she has connected with clients of all ages and backgrounds including celebrity supporters Jennifer Garner, Shonda Rhimes, and Janelle Monáe and has also toured the world as global yoga ambassador for Lululemon.
Chelsea has advocated for local communities as a faculty member of Off the Mat, Into the World and has collaborated with brands such as the NIH, Starbucks, and the NFL. She has been featured in numerous press outlets that have highlighted her unique ability to articulate her love for yoga and meditation through service including gracing the cover of Yoga Journal twice as well as Experience Life magazine.
When she isn’t practicing yoga and meditation, Chelsea loves gardening, playing the piano and harmonium, and writing. She also serves as an advisor to the Transformative Justice in Education Center at UC Davis.
Chelsea’s smile is infectious and her patient yet inspirational tone adds to her magic, a spell that deepens connections and calls her students into action. Chelsea believes that practicing yoga connects you more deeply to yourself and the world around you, making you happier and healthier in your daily life.
