Alkhemiyah · Founder Story
Shaman Yawna Shakti
Beyonca Johnson — Founder & Lead Practitioner
Sound healing, breathwork, meditation, and ritual for individuals, private groups, retreats, and organizations. Chicago, Illinois.
I am still becoming
I am not teaching from the end of the road. I am practicing from within the journey.
Alkhemiyah exists because the practices that carried me through my own life were live, responsive, rooted, and consent-led — never scripted, never performed, never demanded of anyone.
The path behind the practice
The work did not begin as a business. It began as a personal need for a way to return to my own body and my own breath after periods that asked more of me than I knew how to hold.
Over more than fifteen years, ceremony, rhythm, sound, and stillness became the steady ground beneath the rest of my life. What I offer now is what I still practice.
Activation, not arrival
The ceremony was never the destination. What I did with what it showed me mattered more.
I am careful not to promise transformation. I hold conditions in which people can slow down, listen, and meet themselves — and then return to their lives with something usable.
How I hold space
- Live.
- Every experience is facilitated in real time rather than delivered from a recording or a rigid script.
- Responsive.
- Pacing, sound, breath, rhythm, and silence respond to the people and the environment in the room.
- Rooted.
- Cultural influences, instruments, voice, and ancestral traditions are acknowledged rather than stripped of context.
- Consent-led.
- Participation is invitational. No one is required to disclose, perform, release, or reach a particular emotional state.
Training and continuing practice
- Fifteen-plus years of ceremony, facilitation, and personal practice.
- Sound healing with crystal and metal singing bowls, gong, drum, chimes, and voice.
- Somatic and conscious-connected breathwork facilitation.
- Meditation, guided stillness, and ritual design for groups.
- Ongoing study with teachers, elders, and traditions beyond any single classroom.
Where this work fits
- Individuals and private groups — one-to-one sessions, family and friend circles, milestone gatherings.
- Organizations and teams — offsites, leadership gatherings, employee wellbeing programming, conferences and summits.
- Retreats, hotels, and studios — signature experiences, spa menu additions, seasonal activations, floating sound baths.
Scope of practice
This work is not medical care.
Shaman Yawna Shakti (Beyonca Johnson) is not a physician, psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist, or licensed medical provider. Alkhemiyah experiences — sound healing, breathwork, meditation, and ritual — are wellness and relaxation practices. They are not medical treatment, mental health treatment, diagnosis, or therapy.
Nothing stated in this document, on the Alkhemiyah website, or during a session diagnoses, treats, cures, or prevents any illness or condition. No clinical outcome is promised, and individual experiences vary.
These sessions do not replace care from a qualified health professional. Participants should continue any prescribed treatment and consult their provider before participating if pregnant or living with cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, seizure, or psychiatric conditions — breathwork in particular can be contraindicated.
Participation is invitational and consent-led. Participants may rest, pause, or leave at any point without explanation. Anyone in crisis should contact a licensed professional or emergency services — in the United States, call or text 988.
References to ceremony, plant medicine, or personal spiritual history describe Shaman Yawna Shakti's own journey. They are not services, substances, or credentials offered through Alkhemiyah.
For retreat organizers and corporate partners
This document may be shared internally with stakeholders, venue teams, and program committees. For planning conversations, proposals, durations, and pricing, begin an inquiry at shamanyawna.com/book.
Alkhemiyah · Chicago, Illinois · shamanyawna.com