Toure' Akela Ra

Founder, Metaphysical Hatha Yoga® Educator

Toure` Akela Ra is the founder of Southwest Atlanta Yoga and the SWAY Yoga Foundation, and the creator of Metaphysical Hatha Yoga® (MHY®), an alignment-based system that integrates breath mechanics, subtle-body awareness, and sound to cultivate disciplined self-mastery and energetic coherence. A U.S. Army veteran with a professional background in healthcare informatics, she brings a rare synthesis of structure, science, and spiritual philosophy to the modern yoga landscape.

Beginning her practice in 2003 and undergoing a profound transformation in 2016, Toure` refined her work into a methodology that does not chase energy, but instead builds the body’s capacity to hold it. She is a graduate of the University of Metaphysics in Sedona and is ordained through the International Metaphysical Ministry, with additional ministry credentials through the Universal Life Church.

An E-RYT 500 and YACEP® with Yoga Alliance, Toure` has led multiple 200-hour teacher trainings since 2019 and developed a 300-hour advanced training intentionally outside conventional frameworks to preserve depth, rigor, and philosophical integrity. Her work bridges classical Hatha Yoga with a modern metaphysical lens, emphasizing breath regulation, nervous system resilience, and what she defines as “energetic hygiene.”

Trauma-informed and community-centered, she has guided Yoga Nidra, somatic recovery, and sound-based practices for underserved populations, including survivors of violence, through her nonprofit initiatives. Her leadership has been recognized with inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who in America.

Through her teaching, writing, and public work, Toure` continues to position yoga not as performance, but as a disciplined path of embodied awareness, ethical structure, and sovereign self-development.