Emily Knell

Emily’s Bio:

I began practicing yoga in my hometown Oakland, California in 2004 and it has been an adventure from the start. After a hip injury in the Indian Himalayas landed me in an Ashram in Rishikesh, there was no turning back. I founded the Yoga Club at Willamette University in 2009 and began teaching Vinyasa classes to my peers four times a week.

As a Sociology major at Willamette, I crafted my Senior Thesis so that it included my passion for yoga. Interning at Indigo Wellness Center, I studied the ways community is fostered through a desire for health, and examined yoga classes as a means for social connectedness.

After graduation in May of this year, I took off for Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I completed a month-long intensive teacher-training course with Tias and Surya Little at Prajna Yoga. Their strong emphasis on anatomy and physiology inspired me to look into massage therapy schools. I have since begun my studies at East West College for the Healing Arts in Portland and will graduate next September.

I teach a wide variety of classes focused on breath, alignment, and mindfulness, and I am motivated to instruct and learn with love and enthusiasm.

Current Classes include:
Vinyasa Yoga
Sundays 9:30am-10:45am

Prenatal Yoga
Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:15pm

Current Workshops include:
Postpartum Yoga (bring your baby!)
Sunday February 19th 11:00-12:00pm
Sunday March 18th 11:00-12:00pm

Every day, think as you wake up,
Today I am fortunate to have woken up,
I am alive, I have a precious human life.
I am not going to waste it,
I am going to  use all my energies to develop myself,
To expand my heart out to others,
To achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.
I am going to have kind thoughts towards others,
I am not going to get angry, or think badly about others.
I am going to benefit others as much as I can.
Dalai Lama

 

 

I am a recent addition to the team of yoga teachers here at Indigo, and I would like to share a story with you about my encounter with a life lesson. I am delighted to introduce myself to all of you, and I hope you enjoy my story. I look forward to meeting you in my classes!

When I was 19 years old, I decided that I wanted to backpack through the Himalayas. I couldn’t explain why… regardless, I found a program called NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) that organizes backpacking trips around the world. Wide eyed and terrified, I set foot on my first flight to Delhi where I would join up with other students in NOLS and begin a month-long trek through the Indian Himalayas.

I had slipped down the stairs a few months before the trip, but refused to see a doctor because I did not want someone to tell me I couldn’t go due to a bruised tail bone… So on Day 2 of the trek, I realized that the muscles that were supposed to help me lift my right leg were misbehaving. And all of a sudden, I was dragging my right foot to keep up with the rest of the group and if I tried to lift my leg I was in the most excruciating pain. The instructors didn’t seem worried, so I just kept on going.

Imagine what could go wrong in the Indian Himalayas, and it probably happened to me. Altitude sickness, getting lost, traveler’s diarrhea, leeches, fly bites, migraines, and every day, my hip seemed to deteriorate more and more. I was miserable to say the least. As the days went on I became hopeless. I felt useless, inadequate, weak and pathetic… and I cried through every hike.. It felt as though something was telling me that I should not be there, but I did not see a way out.

 

Finally on Day 10, I was evacuated. Still feeling worthless, fifteen hours later I found myself back at base camp, on the phone to my parents. Explaining my situation was odd because it seemed like the end of the world to me-I was so discouraged. But my parents did not get me on the first flight back home. No, they told me that I had been given lemons.

 

Lemons.

 

So… make lemonade?

That’s right. My parents encouraged me to stay in India instead of giving up and running home. I decided to travel around for a while and then spend my last ten days in an Ashram. I had started practicing yoga in high school but never had a steady practice. For some reason I wanted nothing more than to meditate in an Ashram until it was time to go home.

Anand Prakash Ashram is in Tapovan (translated: the forest of spiritual practice) next to the Ganges river in Rishikesh. When I arrived, I was greeted with smiles, given the key to my room, and the schedule was explained to me. During down time, we were free to use the library, meditate, or schedule an Ayurvedic massage.

9pm-9am Quiet Hours

6am Morning Practice

8am Breakfast

9am Fire Puja

12pm Lunch

4:30pm Afternoon Practice

6pm Dinner

7:30 Kundalini

On my first day, I met Gaurav Malik, the yoga instructor. I explained that I may not be able to do many of the poses because I was injured and he asked for my foot. Wearily, I gave him my foot, and he began pressing and prodding and asking what I felt. Finally, he explained that my tailbone was off center, and my hips were in pain. He also noted that my digestion was out of wack, my neck was out of alignment, my emotions “hurt,” and he could probably help. My jaw dropped… this was my introduction to foot reflexology.

Every morning after the fire puja I would pick Gaurav’s brain, asking questions and learning as much as I could about yoga, Ayurveda, and health. He taught me with patience and a strong emphasis on Karma Yoga. He explained Karma Yoga as performing an action with love, and no expectation of gratitude or anything in return. Every evening after Kundalini, Gaurav would work to heal my body with foot reflexology, and by my final night at the Ashram, not only did my body feel stronger and more confident, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

Not only did Gaurav heal my body, he healed my broken ego. I arrived at the Ashram a puddle of self-loathing and I left with understanding, acceptance, hope, and love that I could not wait to give to the rest of the world.

 

Life lesson?

There is no moon without the sun, there is no light without darkness, there is no good without bad, there is no comfort without pain, there is no life without death.

Everything happens because it has to happen, when it happens, the way that it happens. Namaste.

 

Emily Knell