My Story.
My grandmother had healing hands. She studied massage, reflexology, hands on healing, nutrition, ayurveda, aromatherapy - pretty much anything related to holistic health. I grew up listening to her stories, eating her delicious food, and asking for foot massages. She told me about the healing power of trees and shared her belief that our Creator was magnificent. I told her that God was not a person, but a power. Some of my earliest memories are feeling unconditionally loved by my grandmother and knowing that there was something magic about her. I realized later that magic was also called love.
My grandfather held me soon after I was born and said that I would be a writer. So from the age of four or five I invented imaginary stories and shared them through words and drawings. I loved creating stories. I loved hearing stories. I loved reading stories. Harry Potter was the first book that absorbed me completely and after that I stayed up late most nights devouring novels. I started writing poems and journals, later venturing into articles and essays. The words flowed and helped me understand and process the sometimes painful journey of growing up.My mom and grandmother took me to a yoga class throughout my adolescence. It was held in a Sikh temple and around 60 people (mostly middle aged and older women) from all backgrounds and faiths practiced kundalini yoga twice a week. I rolled out my mat and faithfully followed along with the exercises. My mat became a place where I could land. Where I could feel better. Where I could heal.
I left home at 17, to study in an enchanted forest with students from around the world (Pearson College UWC). I woke up to see deer outside my window and I sometimes plunged into the icy waters of the Pacific. I eventually graduated from that magical school and left a close knit community. Reluctantly, I started university. There were many ups and some tremendous downs. There were challenges I had never anticipated. I decided to take my foundational hatha yoga teacher training in 2012. I finished it and quickly started teaching classes at my university. Over the years the classes multiplied, I did a formal research study involving yoga, I started to address some of my own deep wounds, and embark on a holistic healing journey. That’s a story for another day. I graduated with my degree, and when I finally walked across that stage, it happened to be the day after my grandmother’s funeral. After traveling and exploring, working in schools delivering consent and violence prevention education, and being completely disillusioned with corporate wellness companies - I came to the awareness that my purpose is to heal. Heal myself, help facilitate healing for others, and healing our relationship to the Earth. I share what I know. From my own life and studies. What I have learned that has helped and what I have found works. My intention is for us all to feel more whole. More authentic. More peaceful. More able to meet what Life brings us with love. So after more than 22 years of steady yoga and meditation practice, and over 12 years of teaching internationally to over 1500 students in 4 countries, I’m ready to own it. I am an international, certified, ancestral yoga teacher and I also have a B.A. in Cultural Studies, minor in Gender and Women’s Studies from UBC. I have taken additional training in compassionate communication, consent and relational education, family and systemic constellations, trauma-informed yoga, therapeutic touch, mind body spirit medicine, pre/postnatal yoga, pre/perinatal massage, teen yoga, and holistic massage and energy healing.
I offer one to one intuitive healing sessions, doula support (birth and postpartum), bodywork for women (including pre/perinatal holistic massage) customized yoga and meditation sessions, and public workshops/events including women’s circles. I have taught for companies and organizations across all sectors like Samsung, UBC, United World Colleges, Rhodes Wellness College, Matsqui Institution Correctional Facility, Columbia College, Yoga for Humankind, the First Nation's Women's Yoga Initiative, Amica Senior's Homes, Strive Living Society, Columbia College, Canadian Actor's Equity/National Society of Intimacy Professionals, Justice Institute of BC, Lululemon, and more. I continue to invest in my learning as a student and a teacher. I believe in being courageous and living our dreams, I believe in being the best we can be.Thank you for reading all of this. I hope to meet you soon and hear all about your story, too. This life is a gift. I look forward to every chance to connect and let the magic do its work.My deep gratitude to all the teachers, healers, mentors and communities that have nurtured me and helped to reawaken my gifts so I could share them with you.
Healing + Coaching + DOULA SUPPORT
We are all healers. Our bodies innately know how to heal, it is simply that we can forget. Having someone be with us to witness as we tap into our own wisdom can be invaluable.
TeachinG
An authentic, ancestral approach to yoga and mindfulness.
My Guiding Principles
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My Mission:
To offer effective holistic strategies to foster business and personal excellence, thriving wellness and vibrant, deep inner peace. To activate inner and interpersonal wellness for a more compassionate world. To bring sanctuary and love through ancestral medicine, systemic solutions, and intuitive insights.
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My Vision:
I see a new model of leadership. This new model is about sustainability. It's about kindness. It's about deep collaboration. It involves emotional wisdom, self-inquiry, diversity, compassionate communication, deeply creative problem solving and mind/body methods for creativity, balance and purpose-led work. I see a world where business is a place of thriving and optimal health - where people feel attuned and embodied in their mission. Where we are led by our soul’s more often. Where we collaborate together to be of service, uplifting and utilizing our strengths, and the cumulative wealth we create is a powerful force for good.
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My Values:
peace, creativity, heart-centered leadership, kindness, authenticity, freedom, sustainability, truth, adventure, learning, and wisdom.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Internationally recognized, broad spectrum experience and training
Highlights of Qualifications:
200 hour yoga alliance certified alignment based Hatha Yoga teacher training (Dan Clement Vancouver School of Healing Arts 2012)
B.A. in Cultural Studies, Minor in Gender and Women's Studies (UBC, 2016)
Trauma Sensitive Yoga teacher training (Yoga Outreach 2013)
Prenatal and Postnatal/Mom & Baby yoga teacher training (MOGA and Lori Lucas, 2018-2020)
Conducted original research on yoga and embodied pedagogy at UBC and presented at the UBC Conference for Teaching and Learning (2015-2016)
http://embodiedpedagogies.wordpress.com
Fully trained youth empowerment facilitator for 3 years, working in violence prevention and consent training through Safeteen: Powerful Alternatives to Violence, reaching over 1000 young people (2017-2019)
Certified Continuum Doula (2022, UK)
Yoga teacher for Bodwell High School's summer program
Wellness Facilitator and Yoga teacher for Crofton House School's outdoor program at Camp Fircom
CPD hours and attendee to Instill Teen Yoga Conference 2017 (Teen Yoga Foundation, London England, 2017)
Workshop facilitator and retreat organizer for wellness, yoga, and mindfulness for students in the United World College movement (Canada and Norway 2017-2018), key member of Health and Wellness Task Force for the UWC Canadian National Committee (2018)
Designated yoga teacher at the Element Music Festival, Princeton BC (2018)
Yoga teacher and women’s circle facilitator in Bristol, United Kingdom at Temple Yoga (2017-2018)
Women’s circle leader in various contexts internationally since 2016
Retreat Facilitator, Assistant, Caterer, Bodyworker for various initiatives and projects since 2018
Corporate yoga teacher since 2012, serving a wide variety of industries
Faculty at Vancouver School of Healing Arts for 240 Yoga Teacher Training and 300 hour Yoga Therapy training for cultural awareness, decolonizing and justice in yoga spaces (2020-2024)
Diversity and Equity Consultant for Rhodes Wellness College (2020-2024)
Cultural Consultant for the First Nations Women's Yoga Initiative led by Yoga Outreach and Cedar & Gold (2020-2021)
Guest speaker for Yoga for Humankind on Cultural Appropriation and Appreciation for Yoga & Social Justice (2020-2024)
Contributor for Dr. Virginie Magnat's Creativity, Culture, and Wellness Research Cluster at UBC designed and created a retreat for teens from Pearson College UWC (2019)
Yoga Teacher & Workshop Facilitator for Bass Coast Festival (Merritt, BC 2022)
Yoga Teacher for Spirit Weavers gathering (California, 2022)
Faculty and Guest Instructor for 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training The Lab in Victoria, BC (2022)
Healing with Resonant Attention Online Training with Stella Osorojos (2022)
Speaker on “The Power of Forgiveness and Ancestral Healing” at the Centre of Love (2023)
Presenter at Soulplay Festival, California (2024)
Completed 8 month Herbal Immersion at Wild Folk Herbal Farm, Salt Spring Island (2024)
Co-founded and Co-led South Asian Women’s Healing Retreats in Nanaimo, BC (2024)
Certificate in Systemic and Family Constellations Exploration Program with Jan Hull (2024-2025)
Taken Safe Beginnings Workshop in Infant/Child CPR/Choking and Injury Prevention in Port Moody (2024)
Featured in Dr. Jessica Barudin’s article in Race and Yoga Journal: Weaving Threads of Collective Liberation: Intercultural Wisdom Among Indigenous and South Asian Women in the Indigenous Yoga Collective (2024) and featured in the documentary, “Braiding Knowledge” by Dr. Jessica Barudin
Trained in pre/perinatal massage with Sanctuary Healing Arts and Bastyr University - Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations (2024)
Mexican Birth Education Workshop- Uses of the Rebozo in Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum with Ximena Lopez (2025)
Infant Fascial Release and Craniosacral Protocol with Lori Hendrickson (2025)
Family Constellation Intensive with Mark Wolynn and Judith Hemming (2025)
MY worDs
My first self-published poetry book, Love Exposure: Poetry for Healing the Heart is a tribute to turbulent emotions and relationships for growth. The book (92 pages) includes a final chapter of journaling prompts/ suggested activities. Order your copy today
FOR MORE WORDS FROM THE HEART: VISIT MY POETRY BLOG:
https://poetrybyemmy.wordpress.com/
For raw emotional spoken word poetry from me: https://soundcloud.com/emmy-chahal