Meet Erin Gaesser. A New Yorker who lives in the dessert. The super zen woman, while in morning she’s a kindergarten teacher by night a yin yoga instructor. Erin teaches yin and kundalini yin for the MLPC. Yin relieves stress and anxiety while opening the body to allow space for all that is meant for our lives. Her classes are sure to leave you well stretched and relaxed.
Erin and Alex met outside a yoga studio cafe back in 2017. They happen to live in the same neighborhood, across each other, in the city of Abu Dhabi. Erin started teaching for the MLPC in April 2020.
Interested to find out more about Erin’s journey and how yoga became part of her life? You are in luck as she was gracious enough to answer the blog questions, so without further ado...
Where in the world are you? Tell us more about yourself?
Erin: I am a New Yorker who has lived in Abu Dhabi for the past 8 years. In addition to teaching yoga I am also an early years teacher specializing in working with children ages 3-5 years old. I love my day job working with students and relish in my evening/weekend work as a yoga instructor.
How long have you been teaching yoga and what pushed you to become an instructor?
Erin: I have been teaching yoga for the past 3 years. I always had yoga as a part of my fitness routine, but then in 2016 I went through some traumatic emotional experiences and yoga became my healing modality. It became the space where I could open up, let go and begin to heal as a more whole version of myself. Wanting to learn more about this transformative practice I dove into a teacher training, not knowing if I would actually teach. During my first teacher training in Bali, I found that sharing yoga with others was a deep calling of my soul.
When did you start practicing yoga (before you started teaching) and how did yoga change your life?
Erin: I started practicing yoga when I first moved to Abu Dhabi 8 years ago when I found a free yoga class in an outdoor park. Moving to Abu Dhabi (a big city in my eyes) from rural NY left me craving connection to nature, so this weekly chance to practice in the grass under trees was very welcomed! At first, I practiced because it was a great workout that also felt really good. But as I continued to practice I noticed a desire to learn more and an itching to understand the practices and what I was feeling in my body.
Yoga has changed my life in every capacity. It has brought so much healing and wellness. Yoga has provided the space for me to peel back the layers of societal conditioning and trauma to heal my body, mind and spirit allowing me to connect with my essential true self. This is a journey that I am still very much on, but I am and always will be so grateful to yoga and my teachers for the gifts it continues to bring in my life.
If you had to describe your teaching style, how would you?
Erin: My teaching style is restorative. It is about allowing the body to open up and heal. It is about releasing stuck energy to allow your esense to flow freely. It is about coming back home to the truest, most authentic version of yourself.
What is the intention you try to instill in your students?
Erin: I try to provide the space for students to open up, connect with themselves and heal from the inside out.
What is your favorite posture? Your least favorite posture?
Erin: My favorite posture is waterfall on a block. It is so relaxing, allows my body to let go of stress and brings me into a state of rest and digest. I love to do it before bedtime to chill out!
My least favorite posture is fish or posture that deeply open my throat chakra. I am a Gemini and often over share and over talk which leads to an imbalance in my throat chakra, so anytime I am deeply opening the throat it is usually pretty intense for me.
"Yoga has provided the space for me to peel back the layers of societal conditioning and trauma to heal my body, mind and spirit allowing me to connect with my essential true self."
Erin g
Erin performing waterfall pose
What is your favorite Mat? And why?
Erin: My favorite mat is my Rumi Earth mat. It is super cushioned and a nice soft fabric, so great for practicing comfy yin poses!
Set the scene for your perfect practice - paint us a picture!
Erin: This was a hard one! My perfect practice is me and my best friend practicing at my house with candles lit, Trevor Hall music playing, incense burning and some laughter! OR also a sunset / sunrise practice on the beach anywhere! I also love practicing out in the desert when I'm camping overnight. Being out in the calm, quite connected to nature is sheer perfection and deeply feeds my soul. <3
What’s the biggest myth about yoga instructors? Set the record straight!
Erin: Hmmm, maybe that we have reached some level of enlightenment or achievement in our yoga practice? I find for myself that it is still a journey of ups and downs and learnings and unlearnings.
What was one of your most heartfelt moments in teaching?
Erin: I think whenever a student has a deep release and is able to let go of baggage from the past. Or when 3 of my regular students decided to go on their own teacher training.
Any advice to newbies teachers/students? (And oldies?)
Erin: I think just that it is a journey that we are all on together. ENJOY the journey. This journey of coming back to ourselves. Of connecting, finding the union, to ourselves, to others and the universe.
Where do you see yoga in the next five years?
Erin: Yoga as a healing modality for all. Humanity using yoga to heal.
Each of Erin’s classes focuses on a different aspect of the physical and emotional body. Currently, classes are themed around the chakras. Catch her and book down below
Read more about the MLPC yin classes here.
Hope you enjoyed this interview with Erin. Leave a comment below if you did! Follow the MLPC on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube !
Until next time, may you all be safe, happy, healthy, and free.
Yasir
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