About Me

Movement helps me find a sense of joy, peace, power, and belonging in my body.

I have been practicing yoga since 2003, teaching movement practices since 2005, and teaching yoga since 2014. I completed my 200-hour teacher training at Laughing Lotus in San Francisco under the guidance of Jasmine Tarkeshi in 2014, my 300-hour teacher training with Susannah Barkataki in 2021, and studied prenatal and postnatal yoga under the guidance of Jane Austin in 2020. Other teachers who have offered me extensive mentorship and support include Julie Rappaport, Lorin Taylor, and Mary Strong-Sullivan.

I worked full-time as a movement instructor for nearly a decade and was involved in numerous 200-hour yoga teacher trainings where I helped others become yoga instructors. I also led continuing education programs for power yoga and sculpt teachers; and went on to lead and design trauma-informed yoga continuing education programs for The Driven Yogi. My work was featured in Yoga Alliance, Self Magazine, and a number of podcasts. Other movement disciplines I taught include sculpt, barre, TRX, and swimming. Nowadays, I am semi-retired from teaching movement and offer one yoga class a week online, Tuesdays at 12 PM.

My approach to yoga is a high energy, playful, and powerful mix of asana, dance, and Pilates inspired movements that offer creative and dynamic flow, as well as precise strength challenges, to help students develop refined movement technique and deep somatic awareness. I am deeply passionate about bringing the trauma-informed lens into active asana practices and exploring ways in which yoga philosophy and somatic awareness can support social justice work.

I am deeply invested in creating a safe space for all bodies. I grapple with what it means to be a white woman guiding yoga classes and am committed to working towards respecting and honoring a tradition that is not from my own cultural background and is far more complex than asana and savasana. I recognize that white supremacy, fatphobia, and many other systems of oppression must be actively dismantled in the wellness industry.

Off the mat, I have a masters in counseling psychology with a focus on somatics and am a licensed professional counselor in the state of Oregon. I started my private practice Metamorphosis Holistic Counseling in 2022.

-Emma (she/her/hers)