ABOUT KALA

hello! my name is michaela “kala” macdonald and i’m a midwest native and currently split my time and attention between NYC and LA.

a yoga girly since 2008, i attended my first yoga teacher training program in bali in 2016 following the traumatic losses of my younger brothers, jordan and brenton. since, i’ve become a global mental health focused, yoga-based somatic educator for individual clients and small groups. as well, i am curator and host of small-group biodynamic wine, food, and wellness retreats around the world. these retreat events serve as a potent and immersive method toward stepping out of typical routine and into an exciting, resetting adventure. mental health and wellness may not be in europe or south africa, but i think we should go check just in case.
check out the retreats page for upcoming events!

in 2018 i founded nonprofit org yoga to cope to address a need for accessible, beginner-friendly practices focused specifically on supporting clients through grief, trauma, depression, and the like. yoga and somatic practices that i’ve honed and developed have continued to be critical to my own health and healing. still, i’ve noticed yoga as an industry feeling quite inaccessible, white-washed, and capitalistic, not to mention a quality crapshoot. at the end of the day, yoga and somatic work is simply: breathing, tapping, scanning, and moving.
yoga to cope aims to bring the simplicity of yoga and somatic work down to earth, to anyone who wants to learn and explore their own practice regardless of experience, body type, or socioeconomic status.
yoga to cope offers multiple weekly, free, live support groups and clubs. check them out here.

since 2020 i’ve gone on to pursue multiple scholarly programs to expand my experience, offerings, and clinical expertise via graduate work including an MA in Yoga Studies (LMU) and an MA in Mental Health Counseling (NYU).

i am currently working as a resident telehealth counselor serving Los Angeles/CA and NYC/NY, and as a somatic wellness coach serving everywhere else. i combine somatic practices and aspects of clinical counseling to provide a potent therapeutic, yoga-based approach for clients in bite-sized, accessible formats via individual and group offerings online and in person. my approach is rooted in psychodynamic relational, existential, and narrative theories via a trauma-informed, social justice lens.

if you are in NY or CA state and would like to pursue counseling services, please email hello@wellwithkala.com for instructions to screen your insurance.

for more information about upcoming retreats, events, or fee-for-service 1:1 coaching, please email hello@wellwithkala.com. When available, please use the online scheduler to book an individual, couples, or family session today!

“i can take you as far as i’ve gone”
— dr. jacob ham

Degrees | Certifications | Continuing Edu

M.A. Mental Health Counseling (2026, New York University, New York, NY, USA)*
M.A. Yoga Studies (2023, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, USA)
B.S. Health Sciences (2012, University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA)
700h+ Supervised Clinical Mental Health Counseling Hours (2025-2026, MBIS, NYC, NY)
500 CYT Tantric Hatha Yoga (2016 and 2018, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia)
100 CYT Yoga, Mindfulness, and Social Change (2023, LMU, Los Angeles, CA USA)
45 CYT Level 1 Mama Tree Prenatal Yoga (2018, Jane Austin, San Francisco, CA, USA)
45 CYT Level 2 Mama Tree Prenatal Yoga (2021, Jane Austin, San Francisco, CA, USA)
Birth Doula Core Training (2020, Natural Resources, San Francisco, CA, USA)
Dissection Livestream Specialty Class: Foundations of the Cranium (2026, Anatomy Trains, Tom Myers and Todd Garcia, Virtual)
Dissection Livestream Specialty Class: Central Nervous System (Brain, Spine, and Spinal Cord) (2021, Anatomy Trains, Tom Myers and Todd Garcia)
Dissection Livestream Specialty Class: Deep Dive into the Pelvis (2022, Anatomy Trains, Tom Myers and Todd Garcia, Virtual)
Dissection Livestream Specialty Class: Breath in the Body (2021, Anatomy Trains, Tom Myers and Todd Garcia, Virtual)
YS 207 | The Upaniṣads (Dr. Varun Khanna via Yogic Studies, Virtual)*

*in progress

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