About Jo

Dr. Jo Qinaʻau (she/they) is a trauma-informed Yogacharya, MBSR facilitator, and Indigenous clinical psychologist. They have explored contemplative practice across the globe since 2000, with a commitment to spiritual authenticity, ancestral integrity, and community-rooted healing. Jo holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and is known for bridging wisdom traditions with trauma-informed care, Indigenous values, and grounded compassion.

The Huaka`i, the Sojourn

Jo’s Yoga journey began with a single āsana class that simply felt good. Over time, what began as physical practice became a refuge—transmuting years of compounding traumatic stress. As their commitment deepened to include ritual, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, Karma Yoga, and yogic philosophy, Jo’s viveka (discernment) grew, their relationship to māyā shifted, and they found a powerful sense of flow.

In 2006, after six years of practice and transformation, Jo began teaching. What started as personal healing became a collective offering.

Lineage & Honored Teachers

Jo trained at Sivananda Ashrams in Madurai and Trivandrum, India, where they were initiated into the Advaita Vedānta Shankaracharya lineage and given the spiritual name Jyoti. Their foundational and continuing education includes:

  • E-RYT 750, Yoga Alliance (master-level certification)

  • Yoga Connection, Tucson: Prenatal Yoga and Kids Yoga

  • Additional certifications in Chair Yoga and Hiking Yoga

  • Trauma Center at JRI (Justice Resource Institute): Traumatic Stress Studies

  • Yoga and mindfulness training for trauma, anxiety, depression, and substance use

Jo is honored to have studied with wisdom-keepers and teachers including Lisa Schrempp, Shiva Rea, Richard Freeman, Dharma Mittra, Raj Kumar Vajpayee, and many devoted teachers, some whose day jobs included psychology and medicine, across Buddhist and Yogic lineages.

They descend from a long line of healers in their family: kahuna from Kohala, a Chinese medicine doctor from Fukushima, and a Theosophical Society leader in Dublin. Their work is deeply rooted in ancestral reverence, place-based knowing, and a fierce belief in collective liberation.

Although classes usually draw from multiple lineages, Jo teaches from a trauma-informed non-dual position. Each offering is an invitation—into breath, insight, and transformation.

Trauma-Informed Focus

With in-depth training in Traumatic Stress Studies from the Trauma Center at JRI, PESI certifications, and over a decade working with survivors of complex trauma, Jo’s approach to teaching is deeply trauma-informed.

They have worked and trained in psychiatric hospitals and trauma recovery programs where they were invited to design a specialized Mindful Movement program and trained two mental health providers in the hospital for future delivery. Jo has published on on the topic of trauma in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters and continues to write to raise awareness for community wellbeing.

Given all this and their lived experience, Jo’s trauma-informed classes are shaped by attunement to safety, rhythm, and ea (sovereignty of the kino/body and self).

Buddhist Practice & Mindfulness

Jo began formal Buddhist practice while teaching in Thailand in 2008 at Wat Suan Dok in Chiang Mai and Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit in Bangkok. Inspired to share the powerful practices that brought peace and understanding into their lives, they began to teach meditation for their communities in the U.A.E. and the U.S.. These teachings opened the doors to a 10-day Vipassana experience in India in 2009 and a series of academic and experiential studies:

  • Buddhism and Modern Psychology, Princeton

  • De-Mystifying Mindfulness, University of Leiden

  • Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and the Modern World, University of Virginia

  • Contemplative Psychotherapy Training: Compassion Year, Nalanda Institute

  • Certified MBSR Facilitator, Mindfulness Center at Brown University

They teach meditation in a way that honors trauma-sensitive principles and the liberatory heart of dharma.

Teaching & Decolonizing Practice

Jo has taught Yoga, meditation, and contemplative healing across India, Thailand, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, the U.A.E., and the U.S. After a decade teaching in government funded housing facilities, half-way homes, studios, spas, ashrams, schools, and nonprofit contexts, they stepped away in 2016 from the commodification of spiritual practice, teaching only through trade or gift until contributing to teacher trainings in 2021.

They co-led Project Koa Yoga’s YTT, Hawaiʻi’s first trauma-informed, Native Hawaiian-centered Yoga teacher training. The program centered decolonial values, cultural sustainability, and the sacredness of breath, body, and land. They are now co-creator of the Hawai`i Yoga Institutes’ YTT along with Laura Toyofuku-Aki.

Mentorship & Teacher Training

As a senior teacher and trainer, Jo has had the joy of mentoring dozens of new and emerging Yoga teachers across the U.S. and internationally. Rooted in a trauma-informed, decolonial, and relational approach, Jo’s mentorship emphasizes authentic teaching, lineage awareness, cultural sustainability, and embodied integrity. They have supported practitioners from historically marginalized communities—including BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+/MVPFAFF, and Global Majority folx—in reclaiming contemplative practices as tools of empowerment and healing. In addition to the teacher trainings mentioned above, Jo established a one-on-one apprenticeship model when they were a co-owner at Third Root Community Health Center (a collective center providing sliding-scale healing modalities - Yoga, herbal medicine, acupuncture, workshops on social justice in healthcare).

Recognition & Reach

Jo’s service initiative, Project Surya, has received awards from Yoga Journal and the Yoga Service Council for healing collaborations with Global Majority communities. Their teaching and writing have appeared in:

  • The New York Times

  • The Arizona Daily Star (front page)

  • SHADES Magazine, The Hindustan Times, Natural Awakenings

  • Greater Good Science Center (as a featured meditation content provider)

They continue to write, teach, and speak on the power of trauma-informed contemplative practice to heal, transform, and empower.