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Janina has been writing essays for several years which have appeared online. Yoga, caregiving, dementia, and nature are common theme as seen in Sisters Newsletter, This is The Exercise Practically Every Black Women Needs Now), and Do Mermaids Practice Yoga for Happiness Between Tails, The Ethel What I learned from Mom about Alzheimer's and Black Hair Care, I Carry You with Me for the National Parks website, and In the Wake of York for NRS Duct Tape Diaries. She studied writing with the Gotham Writers Workshop, award-winning memoirist Marita Golden, Joselin Linder and others. Be Wise: A Daughter's Reluctant Journey Through Dementia is my memoir.
As an award-winning audiobook narrator Janina has recorded more then 500 titles for publishers such as Brilliance Audio, Simon & Schuster, Blackstone, Penguin Random House, and Audible Studios, to name a few. Projects include Alice Walker's Temple of My Familiar, Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date series, the audiobook version of The Lion King and Taylor Branch's Parting the Water, Pillar of Fire, and At Canaan's Edge. She also records journalism pieces for the New York Times. She was featured in the New York Times for her work as a Black narrator. Her narration projects can be found here on Audible.
Janina's eclectic background includes managing the Props Department for the Tony Award winning Alliance Theatre, the Southeast's largest regional theatre, for 5 years. She is also a certified kayak instructor and trip leader. She was a volunteer leader with Outdoor Afro from 2020-2024. Outdoor Afro is the vanguard in diversifying outdoor spaces, and elevating Black leadership. Partnering with Georgia River Network and REI, in 2024 she led fourteen Black people 25 miles on the Altamaha River through her own group, Black Lite. Black Lite's mission is to organize kayaking trips for Black people to experience the fun of paddling.
Janina Edwards is a certified yoga teacher (E-RYT-200 Classical Yoga, RYT-300 Kali Natha Yoga). She has taught yoga and meditation since 2012 at locations including Kashi Atlanta Yoga Ashram, LA Fitness, Decatur Healing Arts, Talbott Recovery Center for addictive behavior (2018-2020), and The Shephard Center for brain and spinal cord injuries (2017-2018). She volunteered as a yoga teacher at the Department of Juvenile Justice (Fulton County, GA), the DeKalb County (GA) jail, and currently teaches yoga at the Partnership Against Domestic Violence women's shelter. She received a Level II certification in Restorative Yoga from Judith Lasater in 2018. Additionally, she has studied Restorative deeply with Octavia Raheem, and had interactions with Dr. Gail Parker and Ms.Tracee Stanley. Janina is a kirtan wallah, singing, and playing harmonium, fiddle and bells.
Originally from Chicago, IL, Janina got her BFA in Acting from New York University. She also has an MFA in Theatre Technology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She lives in Georgia.