RINA DESHPANDE is an educator, author, and artist. After teaching in NYC public schools, she was a founding Assistant Professor of Practice with Relay Graduate School of Education in 2010. Raised with yoga as an Indian American, Deshpande completed her ERYT-500 yoga certification and earned a masters in neuroscience and education at Harvard, designing yoga and mindfulness research curriculum. She currently authors and illustrates a monthly Yoga Journal magazine column on the culture and science of Yoga and is a faculty member. She's been published in Self, The Huffington Post, Headspace, Talkspace, Sonima.com, and Learning & the Brain. Deshpande is a lead advisor for education organizations. She loves yoga and art as much as her cat, which is a lot. Follow her at @rinathepoet on IG or rinadeshpande.com.