About Emily

 

I am a lover of movement and that which involves giving voice to the experience and expression of the body. I have a background as a contemporary dance artist, have been a practising yoga therapist since 2015 and teaching yoga since 2011.

I am currently training as a Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator with the IBMT (Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapies) which integrates principles from three core areas of practice and theory: The Discipline of Authentic Movement, Body-Mind Centering® and Somatic Psychology. In May 2025 I will also begin the three year Somatic Experiencing® professional training to work as Body Oriented Trauma Therapist.

I have spent a lot of time teaching, travelling and practising yoga in Asia and my experiences of the body in movement in natural and elemental spaces contributed to the creation of The Soma Shala, a yoga and movement studio in a specially adapted Mongolian yurt here in Devon where I live. This is the space I teach in and also host multi disciplinary work from other movement specialists, creatives and artists.

I am a mother to three children and can also support women and birthing people through pregnancy and the post-natal period. My journey to becoming a mother and being a mother inspired me to explore yoga as a trauma informed practice which in turn has drawn me towards the world of somatics. Inclusive and welcoming, somatic practices seek to validate the felt experience of the body. In the field of somatic practice I have found space for the many facets of my more marginalized identities to exist and the hidden voices of my body to emerge and move into expression. Somatic practice has also supported me to integrate the dance artist aspect of myself with the more therapeutic practices and explore the intersection of both.

Through the practice of both yoga and somatics I find more spaces where I am free to meet the moment as it is, as I am. I am very grateful to both lineages, that have supported me in finding a sense of home, relief, ground, belonging, creativity and liberation in my body, when it hasn’t always felt this way. As both a mixed race and queer identifying woman I have experienced living with marginalized identities and seek to create spaces that are inclusive, diverse and welcoming to all. I look forward to sharing these embodied practices with you, which are so supportive in my own life.

You can join me in classes, one - to - one therapeutic sessions, workshops and courses both in person and online here at The Soma Shala in Devon, on retreat in Spain and Morocco and with Devon School of Yoga where I am a faculty member teaching on the foundation course, teacher training course and the yoga therapy course.

“‘Movement in all it’s variety of forms is an expression of life and is essential to the continuation of life. As I live, I express my life-force in movement; as I move I feel my aliveness.’ ”
— Linda Hartley
“Emily is a gifted teacher and the benefits that I reap from her yoga class impact through my whole life. Not only does my body have a good stretch, I leave feeling relaxed, rejuvenated and put back in touch with myself. Her style is clear and compassionate and it helps me to be more gentle with myself. Like many people I’m allergic to quasi-spiritual yoga b****cks, yet with Emily I wholeheartedly embrace the wisdoms and questions that she shares through the physical practice. I can take it from her because of her permission giving and down to earth approach to what it is to be a human soul in a body. I love Emily’s classes, it’s yoga for the whole person. ”
— Sara Hurley Yoga Student

Qualifications

  • 1st Class BA Hons Degree London Contemporary Dance School ~ 2004 - 2007

  • Post-Graduate Performance Diploma Transitions Dance Company LABAN ~ 2007 - 2008

  • Yoga Teacher Training with Yoga Life in Dharamshala India ~ 2011

  • Two Year Post-graduate Holistic Yoga Therapy Training and Pregnancy Yoga with the Devon School of Yoga ~ 2013 - 2015

  • Accredited Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher Training - with Susi Wrenshaw, Trauma Therapy Manchester - 2021

  • Somatic Movement Therapist & Educator Diploma with the IBMT - Sep 2024 - Ongoing across five years

  • Somatic Experiencing® Professional Training with SOSI - Beginning May 2025 - 2027

Relevant Professional Courses & CPD

  • Yin Yoga with Norman Blair ~ 2015