Born in Aguada, Puerto Rico, Vanessa Gutierrez settled in Brooklyn, New York more than two decades ago. Having lived through her own childhood trauma of abuse, Vanessa chose to take care of others with compassion and love. Vanessa has been a nanny, a caretaker and a personal chef but it was her love of yoga where she found her true calling. As a 500-hour yoga teacher, Vanessa credits her practice with saving her life and helping her connect her body and soul. As a Compassion Prison Project Ambassador, Vanessa has earned her certificate in trauma-informed yoga and is currently training to integrate the discipline of qigong into her yoga practice. She dreams of a world with less judgment and more compassion and wants to help people reconnect with themselves and their communities.