Emily C. in Tempe, AZ

The moment when I began practicing Yoga nearly fifteen years ago now is a moment that changed my life but I did not know it then. It was not until several years later, after a short lived career in the commercial real estate business and a growing disconnection from self, that I found myself using my mat to lead the way. I let it lead me through my very first yoga teacher training (YogaWorks 200 RYT, 2011) where I learned to build my practice and teach others asana. And then through an Ayurvedic Yoga training (Dancing Shiva, 2012) where I learned to be a yogi and to use Ayurveda's medicine. This strong foundation fueled further trainings in Pre/Post Natal Yoga (Silver Lake Yoga, 2013), Ayurvedic Medicine (Center for Ayurveda 2012-2015) and advanced Yoga teacher training including aspects of Restorative Yoga and Yoga Therapies (YogaWorks RYT 500, 2015). My teaching began to blend many forms of Yoga, with an emphasis most importantly on living in harmony with Nature and Soul.

I started to spend most of my time teaching in prenatal classrooms and found myself in a doula training (DONA, 2014) as a way to extend my work on the Yoga mat, but it grew into something more. In the following days after my first attended birth, it became clearer how Yoga had changed my life. It had brought harmony and alignment with who I was. I had never thought or chosen to be a doula, yet living and practicing Yoga and Ayurveda had brought me here. I went on to complete trainings as a postpartum doula (DONA, 2015), infant massage educator (Infant Massage USA), childbirth educator (ICEA, 2017) and turned my specialty in Ayurveda to postpartum care and education.

Then, in April of 2019 I became a mom myself. Giving birth to my son, Oskar, at home was the most incredible experience I have ever had in my life. After years of witnessing births in various settings and situations, I sought out my dream team and birthed as a woman in power. As I re-enter the birth professional space to support families again, I intend to focus my energy as a Childbirth Educator and Yoga Teacher, using the unique perspective my experience and background affords me, to support parents in having calm and joyful birth and parenting experiences.