The journey so far…

I hope what you read will inspire and give you a sense of trust in who I am and what I offer. My name is Emily Gilchrist and I am a mother, yoga teacher, energy healer, massage therapist, mindfulness coach, fun loving, creative, cheeky catalyst for transformation and positive change.

I am devoted

to the path of creating sacred, safe, loving and nurturing spaces where people can come, unravel, and be free to show up without apology, exactly as they are. I believe in being authentic and sharing the imperfect, perfect truth of who I am and life, so we can learn to truly accept and embrace the whole of who we all are.

How it began

I became involved in the art of healing over 20 years ago, after my own personal journey in Yoga had started. Yoga found me at a crucial turning point in my life back in 2001, whilst living in India. 

It was through my own trauma and being left with little confidence in myself and who I was that got me on the mat! It didn’t take long before I noticed the profound benefits Yoga had started to have on my overall state of mind and wellbeing, that I soon found myself on the way to the ashram, in south India, embarking on my first TTC, where the course of my path would change forever! I left knowing it was my mission to share this medicine wherever my heart led me.

At 17 I left home with a strong desire for freedom and discovery as well as spiritual hunger. My life took me on some wonderful, painful twists and turns resulting in living and travelling in a wide variety of countries. My work diverted from waitressing, sales work, acting, wholesaler of clothes, you name it, I tried it and finally found my path in Yoga. I have spent half my adult life living abroad, between; Spain, France, Dubai, India and Ethiopia, which have all played a huge role and impacted the way I teach and who I am today.

During my time in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, I set up a karma yoga project, ‘Yoga in Ethiopia’. Here I initiated and organised a collaboration of local art therapists and international Yoga teachers, to offer courses in local women’s shelters and Juvenile centres. I also set up one of the first Yoga studios and started running retreats, in support of the local expat community.

My work in Ethiopia gave me huge inspiration, passion and affirmation regarding the importance and power of community that is created within the retreat space, so much so that I have continued to love and thrive from running retreats ever since!

I currently reside in Forest Row in the South East of England, amongst a beautiful community of kindred spirits, with my partner Ben and my son Isaac, where I also continue to curate well-being retreats,  run classes, workshops and corporate sessions.

I thank you for taking the time to read a little bit about me. And if our paths haven’t already crossed, I hope that one day they will.

David Keil was introduced to yoga in 1989 by his Tai Chi Chuan teacher. Both the Tai Chi and Yoga practice at the ripe age of 17 began his research into his own mind-body connections. His search continued through massage therapy where he discovered many insights and affirmations of what he had been exploring and finding on his own through his practices. One of the most important elements was the specific understanding of the musculoskeletal system and how fascinating, beautiful, and amazing the body is on the scientific level and how that directly played into and off of his own understanding of the human body. He was given names and explanations for some of the things he had been experiencing and feeling.

As an instructor of Kinesiology (the study of movement and musculoskeletal anatomy) at Miami's Educating Hands School of Massage from 1999-2003, David developed a fun, informal and informative style of teaching. By repeatedly teaching incoming students who had no prior understanding of anatomy, David was confronted with the problem of making such a complex and beautiful system accessible and understandable to the average person.

David brings his unique style and ability to make things simple to the yoga world. Because of his passion and desire to share the human body with everyone, he delivers this complex and sometimes frustrating topic in a way that is very accessible and understandable to yoga practitioners.

Over the years David has used his skills as a Neuromuscular Therapist to help people reduce their chronic pain patterns. He often brings this information into his workshops where students are regularly uncovering painful patterns or injuries in their bodies.

David was introduced to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in 1999. But it was in 2001 that he met John Scott in Penzance, UK, presenting his anatomy workshops for the first time overseas. Two weeks practicing with John was transformational and he realized that he had found his teacher. This began a relationship of both teacher/student as well as a collaborative colleague relationship that continues today.

It was also John who told David to go to Mysore, India the following year, which he did. David arrived in Mysore in 2002 where he studied with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in the “old” shala. In fact, it was the last year that the old shala was used for practice. David was authorized in 2004 and returned yearly for extended visits to Mysore with his wife Gretchen Suarez. They are both Authorized Level 2 and grateful for their time in Mysore, meeting Patabhi Jois and studying with R. Sharath, his grandson, over the years.