Melissa Carroll is a writer and poet living on a cattle ranch. She's the editor of the anthology Going OM: Real-Life Stories on and off the Yoga Mat (Viva Editions 2014), which features candid essays by NYT bestsellers Dani Shapiro, Suzanne Morrison, Neal Pollack, Claire Dederer, and many more, with a foreword by Cheryl Strayed (author of Wild). Melissa's nonfiction and poetry have appeared on MindBodyGreen.com and in Mantra Yoga + Health Magazine, Creative Loafing, Poetry Quarterly, New South Review, The Literary Bohemian, and many other literary journals. Her poetry collection Body of Starlight was published in 2019 by Sweet Aperitifs Press. Her poetry chapbook, The Karma Machine (YellowJacket Press 2011) received the Peter Meinke Award, and her collection The Pretty Machine was published by ELJ Publications in 2016. Melissa received her MFA from University of South Florida in 2012 and taught college creative writing courses for a decade. Now she teaches yoga, mindfulness, and creative writing on Zoom and travels to lead workshops. Learn more at www.TheYogaWriter.com