Dr Gillian Rai – Holistic health, occupational therapy & yoga

Dr. Gillian (“Gigi”) Rai is a South African-born occupational therapist who has spent over 25 years working as a clinician, educator, yoga instructor, author, coach and speaker across the US, South Africa and beyond. She holds an MEd and Psych (Hon) alongside her OTR/L licensure, and is a certified yoga instructor (RYT 200, E-RYT® 200) and Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP®) a rare pairing of clinical occupational therapy training with deep, credentialed yoga instruction.

360 Degrees of Wellbeing

Gillian’s clinical work has centred on children and families navigating autism, ADD, and learning and developmental challenges, spanning early intervention, school-based, and private practice settings, from birth through age 22. Alongside her clinical practice, she holds teaching appointments at institutions including NYU, Temple University and Marymount University, and serves on Washington DC’s Board of Rehabilitative Therapies.

Her work reaches beyond the US as well — she’s advised organizations including the World Bank Group and the World Bank Family Network on education and disability, and has worked directly in South Africa and Ghana. She volunteers with the Occupational Therapy African Regional Congress (OTARG), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), the Saudi Arabia OT Association (SOTA), and the World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT).

She’s also a mother of five, and describes herself as a community and social service advocate committed to addressing racial injustice and building inclusive, anti-oppressive programs for individuals and families with and without disabilities.

Gillian founded Sublime Living around a simple idea: that wellbeing isn’t one-size-fits-all, and that a person’s physical health, emotional resilience, spiritual grounding and environment are all connected. She works from a strengths-based coaching model, focusing on what a client can do rather than what’s holding them back, and blends her clinical OT training with mindfulness, yoga and trauma-informed practices to support the whole person.

What She Offers

• Occupational Therapy — evaluation and treatment, infants through seniors
• Private Yoga — individual, group and corporate sessions
• Therapeutic Trauma-Informed Yoga
• Coaching
• Social Skills Training
• Feeding and Eating Support

In Her Clients’ Words

Parents describe measurable improvements in their children’s motor skills and confidence within months of working with Gillian, crediting her play-based approach for making sessions genuinely enjoyable. One former student credits Dr. Rai’s mentorship directly with helping her pass her NBCOT board exam and become a licensed OTR herself.

Connect with Dr. Gillian Rai
Website: sublimelivin.com
Book a session: sublimelivin.com/sublime-calendar
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-gillian-gigi-rai
Instagram: instagram.com/sublimelivin