ABOUT ME
I’m Emily, I am a queer, trauma-informed, Norwich based yoga teacher! I have been a yogi for many years, the power of trauma-informed yoga has changed my life, and I cannot wait to share it with you. I believe that yoga is for everyone - my classes are a queer and trans friendly space, and all bodies and identities are always welcome.
I struggled with many mental health issues my whole life, and before I found yoga, I had tried everything to help without ever finding anything that had a lasting impact. I thought I was doomed to a life of barely coping, moving through life dissociated, depressed, anxious, disconnected from myself and my loved ones.
Enter, yoga. Routine was not my forte, so when I began a regular practice, it was 15 minutes of yoga per week. Just 15 minutes, and even then I was grumpy about it! It took weeks and weeks before one day I felt I could try practicing a little longer.
But slowly, it grew. I found in those precious moments something I'd never had before. Peace. I was able to just be with myself, be with my body, to gift myself those beautiful moments of presence where for just a while I was not running away. The body holds our trauma, and it is the body that can release it.
Today my mat is my safe space, a place I can go to be with myself, to embody and experience my emotions, whatever they are. I wanted to find ways to create a yoga practice that was designed for those who had experienced trauma (spoiler: that's most of us!), and thus I discovered the power of Trauma-Informed Yoga.
I underwent my 200 Hour Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher Training, and now am passionate about helping others on their own healing journey. Nothing is going to fix you overnight. But yoga can help you create a relationship with yourself where you can be present, you can start to release all that you have stored away. And maybe, one day, you can start to heal.
The way that people arrive to yoga is different for everyone. However you came to be here, reading this, know that you are welcome, and your experiences embraced.
Training and Qualifications
I have completed 200 hours of training with the School Yoga Institute in Trauma Informed yoga, and have done foundation training in Trauma Sensitive Yoga with the Trauma Center for Trauma Sensitive Yoga.
My teaching is informed largely by the work of Gabor Mate, Peter Levine, Bessel Van Der Kolk, Arielle Schwartz, and Steven Porges, as well as many other incredible practitioners and researchers that have dedicated their lives to working with trauma, and I have been honoured to have attended classes and trainings with many of these individuals.
"Yoga sessions with Emily have always made me feel incredibly safe. I have struggled in other yoga classes due to the demand on my body and anxiety, but Emily's classes allow me to access yoga in a way that suits my body's needs and in an environment that holds space for grounding myself when I need to. I have never experienced anything like it; I always come away feeling empowered and like I've learnt important things about what my mind and body is capable of."