Who We Are
Richard Miller,
Board Advisor
Richard C. Miller, PhD is a clinical psychologist, author, researcher, yogic scholar and spiritual teacher. For over 40 years, Richard Miller has devoted his life and work to integrating the nondual wisdom teachings of Yoga, Tantra, Advaita, Taoism and Buddhism with Western psychology. Among his mentors were Jean Klein, T.K.V. Desikachar and Stephen Chang.
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Richard is the founding president of the Integrative Restoration Institute, co-founder of The International Association of Yoga Therapy and founding editor of the professional Journal of IAYT. He is also a founding member and past president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology and a senior advisor for the Baumann Foundation for the study of Awareness and its impact on well-being.
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Author of Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga, Richard serves as a research consultant studying the iRest Yoga Nidra protocol that he has developed (Integrative Restoration ~ iRest, a modern adaptation of the ancient nondual meditation practice of Yoga Nidra) researching its efficacy on health, healing and well-being with diverse populations including active-duty soldiers, veterans, college students, children, seniors, the homeless, the incarcerated, and people experiencing issues such as sleep disorders, PTSD, chemical dependency, chronic pain, and related disorders.
Bob Grimmick,
Executive Director
Bob’s professional background spans 40 years as a partner in the Commercial Real Estate Development and Investment industry. He has a broad range of in financing, leasing, construction, property management, and contract negotiations with major companies. His professional education includes an MBA from USC and many certificates related to the real estate industry.
Bob is an FCC licensed amateur radio operator (call sign N60X) and has served as past president of the Golden Triangle Radio Club, past vice president of the San Diego DX club. Bob is also a life member of the Clipperton DX club and the ARRL.
Bob found the practice of yoga in search of relief from a serious back injury from mountain biking. He is a forever student and is constantly expanding his yoga practice through training, workshops, and travel to places like India and Nepal. As an active Yoga teacher, Bob has received training at Soul of Yoga, Yoga Fit, Yoga Tree, and Peace and Love Yoga. He is a certified Reiki Master. His passion in Yoga is sound, playing a variety of instruments for sound healing and meditation. He actively volunteers with the Bishwa Seva Foundation playing for the Monday monthly sound meditations at Seaside Spiritual Institute, as well as many trainings with the Sound Institute at the Soul of Yoga.
Bob’s favorite quote is from BKS Iyengar: “If you don’t want your life to change, don’t get on your mat.”
Ryan Stanley,
Founder
Ryan is an owner of Soul of Yoga, a world renowned yoga studio located in Encinitas, CA, which runs teacher training of all types and levels for students all over the world. Ryan recognized that the training was not financially accessible to all students, and that scholarships would be easier to give more often if there was a source of charitable funding.
Neither the non-profit or for-profit models are ideal for yoga studios, and perhaps both types of entities working in concert with one another might make Yoga the most accessible and sustainable. In 2018 Ryan founded Yoga Will Change My Life and became the first Executive Director.
To ensure Yoga Will Change My Life has independence in its affiliations with any for profit yoga studios, the board transitioned the Executive Director role to Bob Grimmick in 2020. Ryan still offers his founder vision when consulted, and gives time to other Yoga Will Change My Life initiatives under the direction of Bob Grimmick.
Samantha Mullett,
Marketing & Development Director
Samantha Mullett is the Marketing & Development Director of Yoga Will Change my Life. She has practiced yoga for over 15 years. Yoga led her to find meditation, where she completed a silent 10-day Vipassana sit in 2020 that altered the trajectory of her life for the better. After Vipassana, Samantha moved to the west coast, became a Reiki master, and chose to make changes that would allow her to live in alignment with her higher values.
Samantha gives time to Yoga Will Change My Life in order to increase community access to yoga and meditation. She believes everyone has the power to heal themselves and that mindfulness is an impactful vehicle for change on both individual and collective levels.