Emma Newlyn is a yoga teacher and holistic health coach and trainer. We caught up with Emma to learn more about her and her practices.
Join Emma for online classes throughout May exploring Ayurveda: https://www.yogamatters.com/pages/yogamatters-online-yoga-classes-and-courses
You can learn more about Emma through her Instagram page @emmanewlynwellness and her website emmanewlynyoga.com.
Tell us a bit about yourself…
I’m mum to two naughty black cats, living in Sussex with my husband David. I was born here and love the countryside – we live right next to a forest so plenty of time is spent walking in there and around the beautiful areas of nature close by. As well as yoga teaching, I’m a writer and blogger (much of the time for Yogamatters!), naturopathic health coach and massage therapist. I also lead courses on Ayurveda and holistic health, which I’m deeply passionate about.
What does a typical day look like for you?
It depends upon which classes I’m teaching that day, but usually I’ll wake up early and do my usual morning routine of oil pulling, tongue scraping, and warm water with lemon. Most days I’ll also practice a few minutes of ‘rope rolling’ outside whilst the kettle is boiling, which I’ve really come to love over the last few years. ‘Rope rolling’ involves using a relatively heavy rope, and moving it around the body in different patterns. I’ve found it’s great for brain activation, coordination, balance, and is a great way to ensure I get outside every morning in the natural light, to balance by body’s circadian rhythms. I’ll also practice different variations of sun salutations and yoga flow sequences, depending upon what I feel I need that day and how much time I have.
Next, it’s off to teach classes! I travel by bike, which is really enjoyable on sunny days, and a bit of a challenge on those cold and rainy UK days! My classes are vinyasa-flow based, always adapted to the students who are in the room. The afternoons are often dedicated to writing blogs and articles, giving health coaching consultations with clients, or working in clinics as a massage therapist. Some weekday evenings I’ll be teaching classes or my online courses. On those evenings I have free time, I love to take time to cook seasonal meals, always from scratch with lots of local ingredients.
How did your yoga journey begin and what inspired you to become a yoga teacher?
I had a difficult time as a teenager and at university, struggling with anxiety and body image issues, but it was yoga that truly and genuinely helped me heal. I was brought up in a household where things like crystals, affirmation cards, The Beatles music, meditation and self-development were very much at the forefront of my awareness, so thankfully yoga was never too far away. My mum had been practicing yoga for many years, as well as teaching some yoga and meditation classes, and she invited me to come to a class with her. After the first few sessions, I began to appreciate my body for its strength and how I could move in it, rather than resenting it for how it looked. A couple of years later after I’d finished university, I decided I wanted to help others benefit from yoga in the way that I had, so I signed up for my first yoga teacher training course with Esther Ekhart.
What inspired you to incorporate sound and breath techniques into your teaching?
My university degree was actually in music! I specialised in guitar, played in bands and recorded music, and even though I’m not in that world now, music is still a huge part of my life. I use crystal singing bowls and Tibetan bowls in classes and on retreats, as well as leading kirtan evenings, where I play an Indian instrument known as a harmonium. On my courses, I’ll also teach about mantras and vibrational frequencies to benefit different organs and chakras.
In terms of breathing, this is incorporated in every class I teach; beginning the class with a grounding guided breathing practice, encouraging breath awareness throughout, and finishing with breathing techniques to specifically calm the nervous system. Everyone breathes slightly differently, and I find it fascinating that how we breathe has such a profound impact on how we feel mentally and emotionally too.
How have you seen sound and breath benefit your students?
I’ve seen students moved to tears when chanting mantras in a group, and other students suddenly ‘find their voice’ and feel empowered after experiencing the power of sound, which is amazing to see. With the use of singing bowls and instruments, students often tell me how moved they are, how deeply relaxed they feel, or even about the visions they have whilst listening to the sound frequencies.
I also see students benefit from learning beneficial breathing techniques all the time; simply understanding how to shift their breathing from shallow and stressed, to calm, slow and diaphragmatic is really transformational. When I work 1-2-1 with students and health coaching clients, or on teacher training programmes, I always hear how people have taken a breathing practice off the yoga mat and into their lives, where it’s made a positive difference, and that is such a joy to hear!
Do you have a favourite quote or life motto that you live by?
A few years ago I read an inspiring book called Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl, who was a Jewish-Austrian psychiatrist who founded the psychotherapy school of logotherapy, and was in the concentration camps in the 1940s. In his book, he writes; “Life asks you the meaning of life by questioning you; you don’t ask life. It’s not what you expect from life, but what life expects from you”. These words always remind me to bring meaning and purpose to everything I do, and that no matter the situation, it’s up to me to make the most of the life I have in front of me.
You can learn more about Emma through her Instagram page @emmanewlynwellness and her website emmanewlynyoga.com.
