Esther Rodriguez Brown
Esther was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain. Since a very young age, she showed her passion for helping others and got involved in several social justice organizations. She arrived to the United States in 2001 and in 2007 founded The Embracing Project (TEP), a grass-root non-profit organization that services child survivors of sex trafficking and gang violence. Until she opened TEP drop-in center, the first in Nevada for children survivors of trafficking, she served youth in the streets of Las Vegas, using her car as her main office, and many times opening the doors of her home for those youth who needed it. Esther traveled around the world to continue her service to humanity and in particular children and women and expanded her services in several countries in Africa. In 2018, Esther merged TEP with a national organization to expand services for youth in Nevada and to ensure the continuity of her legacy.​
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She is currently working on a curriculum to teach the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, Yoga and Pranayama to incarcerated youth and survivors of violence.
Esther is also founder and owner of Ego Friendly Living, a company based on the principle of compassion, self-healing and self-empowerment, focusing on body, mind and soul, through Ayurveda, Yoga and consciousness practices to decrease stress and increase self-love. She studied Ayurveda under the lineages of Guru Yogananda and Guru Jyotirmayananda and expanded her Ayurveda studies and clinical practice in India, at the Ayurvedic College of DY Patil University of Pune. She is currently studying Ayurvedic herbology and Jyotish (Vedic Astrology). Esther has a master's degree in Psychology with emphasis in trauma.
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She is also a certified Yoga teacher and therapist, with studies in Yoga Nidra and sound therapies under the lineage of Swami Satyananda Bihar School. In addition, she continues her education in Ayurveda and other ancient practices, traveling to India every year.
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Esther is a recognized national and international speaker and has been recognized in national and international media, documentaries, books and film and has received many awards for her humanitarian work with children affected by violence.
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Spirituality and wellness have been Esther's personal healing path to healing from trauma. She comes from a long line of healers (curanderos in Spanish) and intuitive (videntes in Spanish) women on her mother's side of her family. Esther was fortunate to learn a lot from her grandmother in terms of using healing herbs and oils. She became vegetarian 18 years ago and I started practicing yoga, meditation, pranayama, and reading scriptures, in particular the Dhammapada and the Bhagavad Gita since then, which shifted her life completely. Today, she feels peace in her heart and knows that she can bring that to others through Ayurveda, Yoga, and Spirituality.