OUR FOUNDERS
CEO and Founder of Afro Flow Yoga®
Afro Flow Yoga® founder, Leslie Salmon Jones enjoys a career working with clients, students, diverse populations, youth and community organizations to help develop mastery over their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-beings. Leslie has been cultivating her passion as a professional dancer, yoga instructor, wellness coach, public speaker and community activist. She completed her BA in interdisciplinary studies in health sciences and dance at SUNY, NYC and has had the opportunity to study and train with world-renowned Master of Dance, yoga and spirituality. It was through her intensive dance training at the Alvin Ailey School in New York that Leslie was first introduced to yoga, and nearly twenty-five years later, she remains dedicated to her yoga practice and teaching. It was the connection with African spirituality, yogic principals, the intrinsic expression of movement through nature’s elements and a transformational journey throughout Africa and the Caribbean, that inspired Leslie to create Afro Flow Yoga® in 2008. Along with her husband Jeff Jones multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, musical director and co-founder, they currently offer AFY weekly classes, monthly workshops, teacher trainings and outreach programs to promote diversity and inclusion in Boston, New York and worldwide. AFY workshops and retreats are also offered at The Omega Institute, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Festivals, Schools, Colleges and Universities, private events and at studios worldwide including Hawaii, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Bali and Canada. Afro Flow Yoga® has been featured in Yoga Journal, Black Enterprise, Essence and Oprah Magazines, “Better Living with Liz Walker,” NPR, NBC and ABC news and was voted “Boston’s Best” yoga class in 2016 by the Improper Bostonian. Leslie and Jeff co-produced two wellness DVDs: “Core Strength: Back to Basics” and “Core Power: Radiate the Energy Within”, available online.
Leslie is also a co-creator and faculty member for the annual Omega Women’s Leadership Intensive and at The Omega Women’s Leadership Center.
Leslie is currently a board member of the Yoga Alliance.
To learn more about Leslie’s Living From Your Core™ coaching program, please visit: www.lesliesalmonjones.com.
COO and Founder of Afro Flow Yoga®
Afro Flow Yoga® co-founder, Jeff Jones, is a multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, musical director, composer and co-creator with his wife and founder, Leslie Salmon Jones. Jeff creates an intuitive dynamic flow through a stream of consciousness and the mastery of African inspired rhythms, instruments and vocals, synergizing the class collective. His use of the Djembe, which he brought back from Ghana, congas, bongos, Sudanese Acholi lyre, Indian bells, tambourine along with an eclectic array of tonal instruments, makes for a healing musical journey.
He has co-facilitated classes, workshops and retreats at the Omega Institute, Kripalu Center, Alvin Ailey Dance Center, Boston Yoga and Chant Festival, Caribbean Yoga Conference, Maui yoga retreat, and Forestdance, to name a few.
In addition to his role at Afro Flow Yoga®, Jeff has enjoyed a career as a professional musician for over 20 years and comes from a lineage of three generations of accomplished musicians. He has been blessed to travel the world performing on many continents and has played various musical genres and venues such as Scullers Jazz Club, The Supper Club NYC, Windows on the World, Berklee Performance Center and Mile High Stadium. He has performed for the inaugurations of President Barack Obama and Governor Deval Patrick and has opened for greats such as Little Richard and Al Green.
Jeff produced and engineered two wellness DVD’s Core Strength: back to basics and Core Power: radiate the energy within, which he co-created with Leslie Salmon Jones.
Testimonials for Leslie and Jeff:
“Leslie and Jeff have been awesome additions to our Jackson Mann Community Center family. The way they pour out each week to the kids of our After School program is impressive. The kids come back each week excited to engage and always remembering the different poses, dance moves, and instruments they learned about the week prior. I can honestly say that the introduction of Afro Flow Yoga® into their school week has impacted the kids moods, temperament, and disposition toward one another and their school work. GO AFROFLOW YOGA®!”
~ Kerrian Johnson, Director of School of Age Programming, Jackson Mann Community Center
I would highly recommend Afro Flow Yoga® for any team-building events your organization might have. Whether for a small group or a large party, they’re fantastic. Afro Flow Yoga® has performed at our company parties more than once – they are highly engaging, fun for everyone, talented, and all-around AWESOME.
~ Nicole Sahin, CEO, Globalization Partners, Inc.
OUR TEAM
Boston
Director of Organization Development & Afro Flow Yoga® Certified Teacher
Nyacko is the founder of Yin Consulting, an organization development and wellness group whose vision is to create a more racially just and inclusive world for all. Yin Consulting achieves it’s vision in two ways: 1) Promoting the development and success of organizations run by women, LGBTQ, and men of color. 2) Supporting non-profit and corporate organizations in embodying their values around diversity, equity and inclusion.
As the Director of Organization Development for Afro Flow Yoga®, Nyacko supports the effectiveness of internal operations and the deployment of new infrastructure. Her contributions include change management, strategic planning, and process consulting.
In addition to being an Afro Flow Yoga® Certified Teacher, Nyacko is a 500 Hour Professional Level Yoga Teacher and a Returned Peace Corps Botswana Volunteer. Her expertise includes program management, public health and youth empowerment. Nyacko holds a Masters with Distinction in Organization Development from American University and is a recipient of the university’s Segal-Seashore Fellowship Award for her commitment to social justice.
When Nyacko is not flowing, she can be found in nature with her partner Biplaw and their two Olde English Bulldogs.
www.yinconsulting.com
Afro Flow Yoga® Certified Teacher
Originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Lola Remy has studied and performed the dances of Africa and the African diaspora for over 15 years. She uses dance and movement as a mode of self-exploration and expression and she encourages others to do the same.
Lola has been a student and mentee of Leslie Salmon Jones since 2015. She is grateful for every opportunity to share and lead flow. Lola teaches dance, therapeutic yoga and movement, and fitness classes in Cambridge and Boston.
She has performed and created choreography for theater and dance ensembles including Praxis Stage, Benkadi Dance and Drum, Beat Tree, Cape Cod African Dance and Drum and, Pasy Naay Leer Dance Company.
Afro Flow Yoga® Teacher-in-training & AFY Website Designer
Melina Mon is a healing facilitator who has been in the Health and Wellness field professionally since 2010. She is certified as an Orthopedic Massage Therapist, an Advanced Reiki Therapist, a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Herbalist, and also happens to be an Ordained Minister. She is an avid practitioner of Afro Flow Yoga®, and is currently training to become an instructor as well.
Melina was first introduced to Afro Flow Yoga® in 2013 through Spirit and ceremony. She initially met Leslie Salmon Jones as they danced barefoot around an outdoor sacred fire during the twilight hours to the drumming of Jeff Jones. After her first experience of the embodied practice, she quickly committed to becoming a part of the AFY community. Seven years later Melina is still dedicated to assisting Afro Flow Yoga® classes across the country, and supporting the flow in many ways.
Melina has had the privilege to learn from a few elders and medicine people in oral traditions, ritual and ceremony of First Nations people across points of North America. She has sung Algonquin water ceremony as far north as Alaska and has traveled as far south as Mexico to support in an Aztec fire ceremony. Her life’s work has taken on a blending of many cultural medicines, and she channels this energy into her practice of Afro Flow Yoga® as well.
www.fixedearthintuition.com
New York
Afro Flow Yoga® Certified Teacher
Gina Onayiga, LCSW is a woman committed to connecting members of her community to themselves through yoga. The daughter of Haitian-born parents who filled her ears with music of the diaspora from birth, she developed an early appreciation for rhythm and body movement.
Gina was known for choreographing and teaching routines for shows as a teen into adulthood – a true dancer at heart. Her light shines through her movement and she enjoys connecting to her roots through Haitian folklore dance and actively participates in classes under the guidance of professional dancers in her community.
Introduced to yoga by a colleague in 2010 as means of coping with a demanding foster care job, Gina immediately recognized the benefits. She took her first Afro Flow Yoga class in 2016 and decided to deepen her practice by enrolling in Teacher Training. The training encouraged her to explore African spirituality, Kemet and the contributions of Africa to yoga. Gina expressed that the training guided her inward which was life changing.
Following her commitment to yoga and rhythm, Gina is an Afro Flow Yoga® certified teacher.
A public servant at heart, Gina obtained both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Social Work from Mercy College and Fordham University, respectively. With experience ranging from child welfare, behavioral health, transitional housing, and early education, Gina is committed to serving communities that do not have easy access to yoga. She aims to serve her community the type of spiritual food that connects the mind to the body.
Testimonial for Gina:
“At Athleta Scardale, we have been lucky enough to have partnered with Gina on a couple of occasions when she has come to the store to teach the amazing Afro Flow Yoga® class! Her sweet and authentic energy filled the space and bought such life and joy to a practice so many live by. We look forward to continuing to support Gina as a community partner and would LOVE to have her and Afro Flow back in the store!”
~Amy Sapirstein, Community Coordinator, Athleta Scarsdale
Pennsylvania
Afro Flow Yoga® Certified Teacher
Sheona Little is a true educator at heart. She has a master’s degree in education with over 15 years of experience in urban education, mentoring, the arts, and youth advocate programing.
She is the founder of Siyanda Esha Wellness, which is a collaboration of health and wellness experts on a mission to help people live their best lives through quality holistic health and wellness programs and services. Sheona also founded a program called Siyanda Girls to help guide, lead, and prepare young girls of color for a future of greatness.
Sheona is a native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and began her love of dance and community service as a child, while performing with the Harrisburg Dance Conservatory. She realized the impact of being a young Black dancer in a community where most children did not get to have that experience. It is here where she knew she wanted to share her gifts and talents to uplift and inspire people, especially People of Color.
Sheona was introduced to Afro Flow Yoga® through a friend of hers who encouraged her to do the training. As soon as she connected with Leslie Salmon Jones and learned more about the Afro Flow Yoga® program, Sheona was immediately hooked!
She had been looking for a type of movement exercise that invoked healing, connection and community and Afro Flow Yoga® was the platform she had be dreaming about. Sheona says that she has never felt more connected to any other work of art or group of people.
Sheona is now a certified Afro Flow Yoga Instructor and a 200hr LYT. She is currently teaching Afro Flow Yoga® classes with her husband Steve Little, which she refers to as her biggest blessing and supporter. Sheona’s husband Steve is also an educator and community advocate. Together they have three amazing children. Their goal is to continue to serve and educate the underserved and disadvantaged communities and to work together to promote healing, wellness, and education around the world.
Testimonial for Sheona:
Coming soon…
Tel Aviv
Afro Flow Yoga® Certified Teacher
Netsanet Makonen is a certified Afro Flow Yoga teacher and teacher of yoga, dance and theater from Israel, a graduate of the Academy of Dance with a B.Ed degree in theater education and teaching, a graduate of a female yoga course at Wingate College, and a yoga course on hammocks in Lena’s therapy studio.
She started the yoga path in Tel Aviv about 8 years ago, when she practiced Ashtanga and Vinyasa Yoga with the best teachers from Israel. Since then she has continued her journey in training to teach yoga at the Or Yoga Studio under the guidance of Arian Komar and from there she has traveled to New York, traveled and taught in various places around the world including New York and Boston where she acquired the knowledge of African yoga. In Israel, the movement taught for about 6 years at the Kibbutzim Seminary College.
Today she teaches yoga and lives in Dimona with her partner Eitan and their two twin daughters at the first yoga studio in Dimona city.
Would you like to join the Afro Flow Yoga® Team?
Enroll in our teacher training program