Michael D Huggins

Michael D. Huggins is the Founder and Executive Director of the Transformation Yoga Project. After receiving an undergraduate degree from Villanova University and an MBA from Wharton, he worked his way up to being the Chief Operating Officer, President, and Chief Executive Officer of several medical device firms.

In 2009, Mike pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor as a Responsible Corporate Officer for actions that happened under his watch but that he did not know about, which landed him in prison for nine months. The high-profile case drew national media attention, and Mike's world unraveled in the blink of an eye as he was whisked to the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia.

The yoga he had practiced and taught some years before incarceration turned out to be his salvation on the inside.

He declined lucrative offers to return to the corporate world upon his release, and instead founded the non-profit organization: Transformation Yoga Project, which teaches trauma-informed yoga to prisoners, veterans, and those struggling with addiction. Specially trained in applying yoga practices for addiction recovery and trauma-related issues, he remains active in teaching yoga in prisons, as seen in the Yoga Journal, CBS, FOX, ABC, NBC and NPR. He is a frequent speaker on tools for self-empowerment, and the power of yoga as a tool for rediscovering your true self. He is also a contributor to several books that focus on best practices for teaching trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness to underprivileged populations.