(Full Bio - Yolonda Deon Tyler)​

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Yolonda Deon Tyler is the Founder and CEO of Mindful Play Learning™, a play-based mental health and wellness organization redefining how children, educators, and communities approach well-being through mindfulness, movement, and play. She is an entrepreneur, children's mental health advocate, author, speaker, yoga educator, and creator of the Mindful Play Learning Method™.

With more than 25 years of experience spanning psychology, youth development, education, nonprofit leadership, entrepreneurship, and community engagement, Yolonda has dedicated her career to helping children build emotional resilience, strengthen relationships, and develop lifelong self-regulation skills through the power of play.

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Yolonda's journey into mindfulness and yoga began long before she knew either had a name. Growing up during the 1980s, she stretched alongside Mickey Mouse on Mousercise and Denise Austin on VHS before discovering the playful side of yoga through Steve Ross's Inhale on the Oxygen Network in the 1990s. As an avid runner in the early 2000s, she returned to yoga for physical wellness but found something much deeper: a lifelong practice of healing, resilience, and self-discovery.

Raised through a challenging childhood, Yolonda discovered that play, imagination, movement, and mindfulness were more than joyful moments. They became tools for resilience and hope. Those early experiences now shape the work she leads every day, helping children and the adults who support them build stronger mental wellness through meaningful, play-based experiences.

In 2020, Yolonda became a certified yoga instructor and has since earned multiple credentials, including Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT), Registered Children's Yoga Teacher (RCYT), Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher (RPYT), Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher, and Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP).

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In 2009, Yolonda founded Amaya Papaya Playlounge, an award-winning indoor playspace where thousands of children and families experienced the power of connection through play. That experience inspired her to create Mindful Play Learning™ in 2013, combining her background in psychology, yoga, and child development into what is now the Mindful Play Learning Method™. Since then, the organization has partnered with schools, early learning centers, libraries, nonprofits, youth-serving organizations, and corporations to create environments where children and the adults who support them can thrive. Through enrichment programs, professional development, keynote presentations, curriculum development, and consulting, her work has impacted thousands of children, educators, and families.

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Yolonda is also the author of Deon the Mindful Mermaid and the creator of mindfulness and yoga resources designed to make emotional wellness accessible through play. Whether speaking on children's mental health, youth development, mindfulness, leadership, or the science of play, she blends evidence-based practices with personal storytelling and interactive experiences that leave audiences inspired and equipped with practical strategies they can implement immediately.

A proud graduate of Bethune-Cookman University with a degree in Psychology, Yolonda is a lifelong learner, mentor, and advocate inspired by the legacy of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and the wisdom of her grandmothers. Beyond her professional work, she enjoys visiting the House of the Mouse, caring for plants, exploring murals, discovering local history, taking nature walks, and listening to the rich sound of violins. Among the most meaningful moments in her life are hearing her childhood hero, LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow, and the legendary Maya Angelou speak in person.

Yolonda believes that play is not something we outgrow. It is a lifelong practice that helps us heal, connect, and flourish. Through every keynote, workshop, and classroom experience, she invites others to rediscover the transformative power of mindfulness, movement, and play.

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(50 Word Bio - Yolonda Deon Tyler)​

Yolonda Deon Tyler is the Founder and CEO of Mindful Play Learning™, a play-based mental health and wellness organization. A children's mental health advocate, author, speaker, and yoga educator, she created the Mindful Play Learning Method™ to help children, educators, and communities build resilience, connection, and well-being through mindfulness, movement, and play.