An experience, led to an experience, led to an experience...isn't that how all interesting stories start?

about emily's yoga

In my late 30s, I started rockclimbing (yes rockclimbing!) because I wanted a new challenge. Turns out, rock climbing is really hard! A climber at the gym suggested adding yoga to help me with technique and focus. That small conversation with a stranger changed my ideas about yoga, from thinking yoga was stuffy and boring, to viewing yoga as a practice with benefits that had never crossed my mind. I worked on breathing first, moving second. Slowing down, instead of reacting. Leaning into ease instead of focusing on results. At the same time, I was developing core strength and improving my balance.

I was grateful for free YouTube yoga to get me started with a regular practice, but eventually I wanted to explore on my own. I shifted out of the healthcare industry, survived pandemic homeschooling, and decided to pursue yoga teacher training. In the spring of 2021, we donned masks, stayed 6 feet apart, and started Yoga Teacher Training at Barefoot Works Studio in Lexington. I graduated and was certified by the Yoga Alliance as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) in the spring of 2021. That fall, I launched Emily's Yoga.

Initially, I started Emily's Yoga to share the physical and mental benefits of a fun, accessible, interesting yoga practice. I still teach by those same tenants. Providing supportive, welcoming yoga classes for EVERYBODY is foundational to Emily's Yoga.  However, about a year after I started teaching, I had another experience that changed the way I thought about yoga. I went on a women's retreat by myself in Costa Rica hosted by two podcasters I had never met. In the jungle, with a group of women who were strangers to me at the time, I experienced the power of collective healing energy. The experience of creating good energy with other strong women changed why I practice yoga. My mindset shifted from the purely physical and mental benefits of yoga, to looking at yoga as an energetic, holistic experience as well. Now, my focus is on creating good energy in the body. When you focus on creating energy in your body that makes you feel confident, strong, and calm, the benefits of yoga stay with you long after you leave a class. 

When I’m not working or hanging out with my favorite people (and my dog Sasha), you can find me outside. I love to hike, garden, and plan my next adventure! I'm an avid podcast listener, an amateur quilter, and a consumer of the offbeat (most recently astrology and tarot). I'm new to the world of poetry appreciation, and I share a poem at the end of my classes that speaks to me in some way. My favorite yoga poses are strong balance poses: half-moon and wild thing. Life is a wild thing after all.