My Story
I am Jessica Alyce Wilson, Ph.D. — a professor, researcher, and certified yoga teacher whose life’s work is about creating spaces where presence, rest, and self-acceptance can thrive. Through my teaching in higher education, my scholarship on communal care, and my offerings like Self-Acceptance Yoga Collective and permission to just be, I guide others into the wholeness I continue to reclaim for myself.
My path began in Detroit, MI, where I was raised in the church — immersed in faith, music, and community, while also shaped by the limiting beliefs of patriarchy, fatphobia, and respectability politics. I found refuge in mathematics, which became both an outlet and a doorway, carrying me from childhood curiosity to a Ph.D. and a career in higher education. Yet alongside my academic journey, I experienced burnout, depression, and the weight of systemic oppression. It was critical consciousness, yoga, meditation, journaling, and a deepening spiritual practice that shifted me from surviving to living — revealing that I am, and always was, enough.
Today, my work is not separate from my story; it is the expression of it. Whether I’m teaching in a mathematics classroom, leading a yoga session, or facilitating a circle, I bring my full self: scholar, teacher, researcher, mover, healer. Everything I create is rooted in self-acceptance, not as a destination but as a practice. My journey reminds me — and those I serve — that wholeness is not something to earn; it is something we return to.
My Approach
My approach is grounded in presence, self-acceptance, and lived experience. I don’t believe people need to be fixed or transformed into someone else. I believe we need space — space to slow down, to feel, to listen, and to remember who we already are. Everything I offer begins with the understanding that wholeness is not something we earn; it’s something we return to. I teach and guide from practice, not perfection, allowing my own humanity to remain visible so others feel safe enough to be seen too.
Whether I am teaching yoga, facilitating conversation, or holding community space, I lead with the body first — breath before words, awareness before analysis. I invite people to observe themselves without judgment and to trust what they feel. My spaces are intentionally affirming, especially for those who have been taught to shrink, perform, or override their needs. I weave together scholarship, spirituality, and embodiment to create environments where people can rest, reconnect, and realign — not by striving, but by simply being present.
My Education
Doctor of Philosophy University of South Florida | Tampa, FL
Mathematics Education
Master of Science Tennessee State University | Nashville, TN
Mathematics
Bachelor of Science Tennessee State University | Nashville, TN
Mathematics
Associate of Arts Oakland Community College | Farmington Hills, MI
Liberal Arts
200-hr RYT The Trap Yoga and Massage Studio | Detroit, MI
Registered Yoga Teacher
