
About Emily
First, I’m a performer. I have been all my life. To me that means I participate. I imbibe presence and the liveliness of now. There is no stronger connection to grace than when on stage. I am also, a healer. Refined through training, but since childhood, skilled. I have combined the two all my life. My classes—are my scripts and story arcs, my art and acting, unique through my teachings.
If you had to describe me in three words, closest say: accepting, authentic, and magical—I’m me. I feed myself daily; sparked by unknowns…I study music, sing; write stories. I believe intelligence is sacred, challenging to exact the brilliance of a songwriter’s phrasing, or a sculptor measuring…
“Emily Branden is known for her tender-rebel yoga mastery…”
– Anne Linden-Steele
ACCEPTING
I teach for all people. The best artists are curious and open, because it affords us more choices and colors. My classes are diverse in age and personality. I offer 18 and under free to celebrate community, and youth. There’s no need for the latest outfit or fancy yoga mat, unless it inspires you to come. You do not have to compare or push yourself to be anything, but who you are. I will encourage you to rest when you need, and practice your free will often, adjusting poses to your body’s liking. We’re too hard on ourselves. I invite a softening while convincing you to keep going. My students are artists, entrepreneurs, doctors, and lawyers balancing families and creative work. They come to me because I tend energy, and fill you back up so you can share more. I meet you wherever you’re at emotionally. Using signature spiritual tools for creativity, you will leave, feeling whole again. A lover of sound, I integrate poetry, and healing, live music performance with yoga for creative transformation. Some classes, a friend plays their Native American flute during final relaxation, and you can hear the faint sound of the train going by… Dubbed, The Goddess of Crossroads, I inspire change within and support your dark night of the soul toward the new. I spark your shift. However you want to get there is fine. But transformation is a practice, so show up as much as you can. You don’t have to keep up, or chant if you don’t want to. Yoga is breath. All you have to do is show up and breathe with me.
AUTHENTIC
The most interesting person in the room is the one being their self. Staying true to me is a necessity. It’s why I choose to live in Santa Fe. Striking a balance with my life and work to be free. I believe we’re all fundamentally okay. You already have everything you need within. And the stranger you are, the more unique and colorful you are, the more truth there is to share. I teach transformative vinyasa yoga, mixing the power of movement with the power of music. Inspiring the shedding of daily anxieties and limitations that keep you from sharing your unique self. I help you do more of you. We’re too serious, I believe in fun. I believe in finding that three year old within and rocking it. Yoga is the practice of integrity, the more you align your body to Divinity, the more truthful you become. I believe acting is yoga, because a great actor embodies true presence. Yoga is you participating in the moment fully. Like a skilled actor you welcome life with courage and ability to show up real, no matter what. The days you come to class when you absolutely don’t want to, are life changing. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Come to class and take care of you, I don’t foster pretension, nor will I require you to look or act a certain way. I welcome diversity, and value dissent. All voices must be heard.
MAGICAL
I believe we possess skills to transform during this lifetime. And that there are many things in our life that stir magic—music being one of the strongest forms. I listen religiously, and my class playlists enchant. You will begin moving to an ambient track leading into a heart track, bringing us together as a people. The middle of class is sound that drives you to keep on, and final tracks a simple ballad into more ambient sounds, to soothe you into deep relaxation and silence. I use music to break us down and put us back together again. I bring beauty into struggle and pain. And possess great skill in accepting dark as a way to reveal new light. Each class is a performance art-like experience. Direct from my childhood play, and exploration of sound and story. My work as an artist, writing dialogue for television or practicing monologue onstage, taught me the power of less is more. I’m short and sweet, in philosophy, and can get you there quickly. I’m currently writing a book on creative transformation through the use of certain, what I call, Sparks—or tools you already possess that will bring about daily change and mojo. The repetition of positive phrases, or mantra is huge. Not a class goes by where there isn’t the magic of song used to open and close our practice. Jumping up and down, singing in the shower, sitting and breathing, listening to nature—this is your magic. Your birthright.
My work, are my creations. I never accepted rejection. Some say I’m not a yoga instructor, although I’ve taught near half my lifetime. Some say, I’m not a writer, or an actor—and yet I’m both. My students start businesses; tour the country or change life paths because hanging with me, means I honor you, and am here for you to share—so much more. We are on this planet to be the creative warriors we already are, to transform bravely without filter, and thrive during these times together. I get tired of two to three sentence bios, social media numbers, and building a platform—but it is the measure of a brand, a mission.
And mine thrives, when you thrive.
Be Your Star…