Meet Your Teacher
Emma Samson
In January 2018, Emma completed her initial 200-hour yoga teacher training at Panacea School of Integrative Health (Hallowell, ME). She went on to complete over 100 hours of additional yoga training including “Teaching Transformational Classes”, “Yoga for Children”, “Trauma-Informed Principles of Yoga”, and “Yoga for Seniors”. She completed her advanced 300-hour yoga teacher training at Sharing Yoga (Concord, NH) in July 2024 and is an RYT500 (Registered Yoga Teacher through Yoga Alliance). Having previously spent a decade working with children, Emma naturally gravitated toward children’s yoga and pursued a full-time career of teaching yoga to children and adults in 2019. She has led mindfulness-based professional development workshops for multiple public school departments, childcare programs, and the Boys and Girls Club.Currently, Emma teaches weekly yoga classes at 15 different childcare centers and schools while offering at least one public adult class (outdoors at Ricker Hill in the warm months and indoors at Auburn Senior Community Center in the winter) and one public chair yoga class for seniors each week. She leads mindfulness workshops on occasion throughout the year as well.
“I find joy and well-being when mindfully present in nature. I enjoy hiking, swimming, gardening, running, camping, paddle boarding, and exploring natural areas. I value sustainability, minimalism, and low-waste living. I acknowledge the current climate and humanitarian crises and strive to support a healthy environment for all forms of life on this planet through education and advocacy.”
~Emma Samson
HUMAN DIVERSITY & BIODIVERSITY ARE VITAL. HUMANS & NATURE MUST BE PROTECTED & CELEBRATED
BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ LIVES MATTER
Emma’s Teaching Philosophy
I care deeply about making yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practice accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. I study and practice Yogic and Buddhist philosophy, implementing the 8-Limbs of Yoga in my daily life and teachings. My classes focus on mindful awareness and my goal in teaching is to help others find stress-relief by being, not striving or doing, which can be quite hard in modern Western culture.
When we look at trees we can simply accept and appreciate them for what they are, not get caught up in what we wish they were. Maybe they have a crooked trunk, or a funky branch and they’re still beautiful, and incredible, and amazing. I hope to help others find a similar perspective of acceptance for themselves and other beings.
With a deep understanding of yoga as an ancient practice from India and other East Asian regions, I am aware of the harms of cultural appropriation with yoga in the modern West. I strive to ensure that my teaching comes from a place of connection to yoga’s roots and philosophy. Yoga is much more than exercise or stretching and it’s important that my students are aware of this.
It’s also important to me that yoga is accessible to people of all religious beliefs and backgrounds. While yoga is traditionally a spiritual practice, it’s not a religion and it doesn’t promote worship of any particular God or higher power. It is my belief and understanding that yoga can be a great tool for helping one deepen their own individual spiritual beliefs and relationship with something greater than oneself, without religious indoctrination of any sort.
