Our story
We turn your world upside down so you can see right side up.
YogaRoots On Location, LLC® leads embodied collective liberation through Raja yoga. We aim to meet people where they are and offer humane professional development, continuing education, and Certified Raja Yoga Teacher Training nationwide. Collective liberation is our path to healing. It is our dream to recognize our humanity and find the courage to end systems of oppression such as racism, patriarchy, colonialism, ableism, and capitalism.
We see Integrative Raja Yoga as a path to do so.
Our founder
Creating Pathways Toward Embodied Collective Liberation
FELICIA SAVAGE FRIEDMAN
Wellness Thought Leader & Raja Yoga Guide
Founder & CEO
(she/her)
Felicia has been transforming lives for over 30 years through her trauma-informed practice and teaching of Raja Yoga as an embodied pathway to collective liberation. As a Black, queer, cisgender woman, Felicia nurtures healthy reciprocal relationships through unconditional love, authenticity, and accountability. Her teachings guide us to be more humane with ourselves and each other. Her zone of genius is staying flexible in mind and heart to remain intentionally responsive to what’s happening in the moment.
As the Founder and CEO of YogaRoots on Location, Felicia has taught liberatory frameworks and modalities to thousands of students through Raja Yoga Teacher Training, Youth Yoga Training, Continuing Education, and Professional Development programs. She is the Community Co-lead of The Pittsburgh Study (TPS) and was integral to the success of earning both the W.K. Kellog Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Award and the C. Peter Magrath Awards. Felicia is also a Curriculum Development Advisor at TPS Creating Peace Community and TPS Community Vaccine Collaborative, and a Course Co-Director of Antiracism Health Equity Solutions at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Felicia is partnered with Martin Lee Friedman, a white Abolitionist Storyteller and AntiRacist Trainer. She is the Mamma of Cleveland Savage, an independent inventor, and Maya Savage, an AntiRacist Raja Yoga practitioner and teacher. A lifelong creator, Felicia is the writer of 3 soon-to-be self-published books, a children’s poem with illustrations, a memoir, and a community anthology. She is also an accomplished interdisciplinary artist utilizing and integrating visual, installation, performance, and interactive elements to engage with her audience.
Our team.
Experienced and community-centered professionals committed to collective healing.
Sheba Gittens
Compassionate Joy & Liberation HeArtivist // Co-Director of Yoga Teacher Training
(she/they)
Mother (Guide) to Alioune and sister to humanity, Sheba is an ancestor returned living in this iteration of the world. She is a heArtivist, Arts Educator, Co-creator of Space, Facilitator of Joy, Organizer with Community, and a Weaver of Truth. Sheba received her BA in Africana Studies from the University of Pittsburgh and has spent her career in the practice of equity and justice. She is a certified Wellness Coach (Institute for Integrative Nutrition), a Prenatal Yoga Instructor (SoulWork), and a 200-hr Raja Yoga Instructor (Yoga Roots on Location). Utilizing a multitude of mediums, Sheba presents workshops, co-creates integrative arts experiences, facilitates affinity group spaces with Folks of the Global Majority, and exists as a member of humanity. Through her role with YogaRoots On Location, she bears witness and holds space for the healing and self-discovery that nurture individual and communal balance.
Maya savage
Curator of Peaceful Moments // Director of Programming
(say/my/name)
Maya Savage is a natural educator, deeply committed to helping humanity get to the next level through her lived experience of a race analysis. Born into a vegan Raja Yoga practice, Maya works diligently to bring truth and nourishment to all who inquire. As a Program Director and Facilitator with YogaRoots On Location, Maya creates atmospheres of trust, honesty, and equity where people can work bravely to turn problems into solutions. During her seven years as an Educator, Curriculum Writer, and Dean, Maya worked with students and school leadership to end systemic oppression in the education system. In addition to her work with YogaRoots On Location, Maya is a lead facilitator with Soul Focused Group and founder and CEO of Reclaiming Savage. In all her endeavors, Maya empowers community members by cultivating authentic relationships for all. In practice, Maya experiences a holistically joyful life by breathing equity into all aspects of it.
sue shannon
Conduit of Collective Emergence // Director of Operations
(she/her)
Sue centers relationships, nourishment, nature, and rest in her life as a mother, a queer human, and a white woman of Lebanese and British descent. As Director of Operations with YogaRoots on Location, she facilitates ease and creates open pathways for the vital work of liberation. By prioritizing the human experience, transparency, and flexibility, Sue enables others to focus their energy on their own superpowers. She is a graduate of YROL’s 200-hour Raja Yoga Teacher Training and a continuous student of the 8-Limbed Path. In previous lives, Sue has been an artist, a community garden manager, a bicycle mechanic, a home renovator, an operations specialist, and a career consultant. She is most at home in water.
rebecca rudel
Empathetic Visionary // Director of Marketing
(she/her)
Becca is a passionate, energetic, and empathetic millennial who works as a creative consultant and photographer. She is committed to building community and connection in pursuit of challenging and dismantling systems and symptoms of white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, and racism. As a gentle yet spicy soul, she believes that listening and laughing are the answers to many things.
Becca is a graduate of YROL’s 200-hr Raja Yoga Teacher Training and finds enlightenment by accessing the meditative state. As the Director of Marketing, she supports marketing strategy, social media, web design, photography, and projects stemming from Felicia’s personal creative entity, The Cussin’ Yogini. Born and raised in the East End of Pittsburgh, Becca has immersed herself in local marketing for the past nine years by developing brand identities, designing digital and print content, and bringing creative visions to life.