Suzie Carmack, PhD, MFA, MEd, ERYT 500, NBC-HWC, C-IAY
Yoga Therapist, Well-Being Researcher, and Professor
Dr. Suzie Carmack is an award-winning yoga therapist, well-being promotion researcher, and trusted c-suite advisor to federal and global government agencies. She is the best-selling author of Well-Being Ultimatum (2015) and Genius Breaks (2017), and was the leading science contributor on the topic of stress management for Weight Loss for Life (2022) published by Johns Hopkins Press. Her mixed methods doctoral research (Carmack, 2014) explored the role of sense-making and social support in the co-creation of well-being, and inspired the creation of her theory for centered well-being which positions well-being as a "sense-making process in which the individual makes sense of their life story." Her current applied research explores the efficacy of bringing yoga and other evidence-based contemplative practices into healthcare, education, and military workforce settings to improvie leadership and team performance, engagement and creativity while reducing the prevalence of diseases of despair.
Over the course of her 30-year career, Dr. Carmack has served as the personal yoga therapist and leadership well-being coach for 100's of senior c-suite leaders and their teams in the healthcare, military and education fields while concurrently teaching in higher education and developing evidence-based, enterprise-level health programs and campaigns at state, federal and global levels. She has coached and trained senior leaders from all 45 U.S. government agencies in the practice of self-compassion through her support of the U.S. Treasury Executive Institute (2020); developed and delivered the first resilience training for senior leaders of the U.S. Air Force's Air Combat Command (2019); and created a 3-year series for global worker well-being by personal commission of the Pan American / World Health Organization (2013-2015). She continues to lecture and consult internationally to translate the science of well-being for the public and private sector, and to support teams in the conceptualization, design, development and evaluation of evidence-based well-being programs. As a teacher and trainer, she has personally trained 1000's of yoga teachers, yoga therapists, fitness professionals, public health practitioners and health coaches on 5 continents in applied practice. She has also mentored 100's of solopreneurs and fellow thought leaders (from an array of divergent fields) in the development of their personal brand - sharing lessons learned from her own journey becoming a go-to expert, 6 figure course developer, and #1 best-selling author in the well-being promotion and training fields.
Dr. Carmack serves as the Department Chair of Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda for the Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH); as a Senior Scholar for the Center for the Advancement (CWB) of Well-being at George Mason University; and as an Education Advisory Board Member for the MedFit Education Foundation. She also continues to speak, consult and facilitate retreats based off of her books, programming and thought leadership. She is an active member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists; the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching; the American Public Health Association. She earned her PhD in Health Communication from George Mason University (2014); an MEd in Health and Kinesiology from the University of Texas at Tyler (2009); an MFA in Theatre from the University of Alabama (1991) and a BA in Communicaiton Arts from Allegheny College (1989). Her professional training includes certification with the Healthcare Coaching Institute (2020); the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (2018); Yoga Alliance (2006) and the International Association of Yoga Therapists (2022) as well as training as a third generation Pilates teacher and second generation Graham modern dancer.
Learn more about Dr. Carmack and how you can access her free tools for moving you and your team to well-being at www.DrSuzieCarmack.com.