Kim Simon was born and raised in North Florida and is always seeking ways to be more involved in its sustainability and growth.
She graduated from UNF with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, minor in Education, and from Northwestern University with a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration, Nonprofit Management track. Kim has since worked for local nonprofits on issues like domestic violence, substance use and mental health, food and housing insecurity, equity in education, and civil rights and liberties.
While working, she was also a caregiver for her parents for many years and found yoga at a time when she was struggling with grief from losing her mother, anxiety, and debilitating lower back pain. After less than a handful of yoga classes, she was so impressed with how she felt that she jumped into a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program at Centred on Yoga in Fernandina Beach. Kim was interested in learning more about the history and practices of yoga and less so in being a yoga teacher until a friend shared a book on trauma-informed practices and introduced her to Yoga 4 Change. She started the process to became a teacher with Yoga 4 Change soon after graduation in June of 2020.
Kim has since moved within the organization from Yoga Teacher to Lead Teacher to Director of Programs for North Florida, has received her 500-hour registered yoga teacher (RYT) certification from Asheville Yoga Center, is currently an E-RYT 200 and YACEP, and has facilitated Yoga 4 Change’s 200-hour Yoga Teaching Training. She has completed advanced coursework in Yin, Children’s, Women’s, Recovery, and Trauma-Informed/Sensitive Yoga as well as intensives in Anatomy, Arm Balance, Philosophy, Ayurveda and Marma. In 2022, Kim became a Reiki Master through Soulshine Reiki Healing and practices this healing modality with friends, family, and private students.
When Kim isn’t talking a little too much about yoga without being asked and teaching youth, carceral and recovery populations, she can be found seeking out the best foodie spots, walking a trail (that is probably longer than she anticipated or wanted) with her husband, listening to live music, traveling, volunteering with nonprofits in Putnam and St. Johns Counties, or acting as a seat for her tabby cat, Oscar.
