Teacher Spotlight: Erin — What It Means to Feel Truly Supported in Your Practice

When I started Practice Togetherly, I knew I wanted it to be about more than making it easier to book a yoga class. I wanted people to be able to find teachers who could actually meet them where they are — physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Erin was the very first yoga teacher to join the platform.

So when I sat down with her to talk about her teaching, I wanted to understand what has shaped her approach over more than a decade as a yoga teacher, why she has gravitated toward restorative practices and yin, and what makes working with a teacher one-on-one different from simply showing up to a class.

One word kept coming to mind throughout our conversation:

Support.

And that's something I've experienced firsthand with Erin.

Sometimes the most powerful support is simply taking something off your plate

When Erin and I did our session, we had originally planned something different. Then I got stuck in awful traffic. By the time I arrived, I was stressed, I had less time than we'd planned, and I knew I had somewhere else I needed to be soon afterward.

Erin adapted seamlessly.

But what stayed with me most wasn't simply that she changed the practice. It was that she quietly took responsibility for the time. She kept track of how much time we had left and let me know when we needed to transition. I didn't have to watch the clock. I didn't have to calculate whether we were running over. I didn't have to worry about getting so relaxed that I'd lose track of time and then have to scramble afterward.

She had it.

For someone whose life is usually organized around the clock, that was surprisingly powerful. Between work and family, I'm constantly keeping an eye on what's next and making sure everything happens when it's supposed to.

Having someone simply say, "We still have ten minutes," and knowing that I couldn't mess up the timing because she was taking care of it felt like an enormous gift. For those twenty minutes, someone else was paying attention to the clock, and I could just be present.

And I realized afterward that I'd never really experienced that kind of support in a yoga class (or really anywhere) before.

When I talked to Erin about her teaching, I realized that this kind of attentiveness isn't accidental. It's part of how she thinks about private practice: paying attention to what a person actually needs rather than simply delivering a predetermined class.

"Yoga is not about proving. It's not about accomplishing."

Erin started teaching yoga more than a decade ago, initially focusing primarily on vinyasa.

"It was a good foundation," she told me. "And I'm grateful to have that training and grateful to offer classes."

But as her own practice evolved, so did her teaching.

A yoga-for-athletes training at Kripalu introduced Erin to a different way of thinking about the role yoga can play in an active person's life. Rather than adding another demanding physical activity, yoga could become a place for rest, recovery, and nurturing the body.

That idea eventually changed the way she thought about yoga more broadly.

"Yoga is not about proving. It's not about accomplishing," Erin explained. "It's about being present for and connecting with."

That philosophy is a thread running through all of her teaching.

In a culture that often tells us to push harder, do more, and measure our progress, Erin sees value in something very different: showing up and asking what your body actually needs that day.

"Most times our body doesn't need more heated stress," she said. "Our body oftentimes just needs to like be still and rest and relax."

Sometimes that means movement.

Sometimes it means strength.

And sometimes the most valuable thing you can do is stop trying to accomplish anything at all.

Finding her way to yin

Today, Erin teaches a range of practices, including vinyasa, restorative yoga, yin, meditation, and mindfulness. She also works with clients specifically around mindfulness goals, incorporating breath and body awareness into that work.

But of all the modalities she teaches, there is one that has a special place in her heart.

"If I were to put all my eggs in one basket," Erin told me, "it would say yin on it."

So naturally, I had to ask her why.

For Erin, yin offers a unique combination: you can be relaxed and settled while still experiencing something unfamiliar.

In a yin practice, you may take a shape to an edge where your body experiences a little discomfort. But rather than immediately trying to get away from that feeling, you learn to stay with it.

"You learn to be okay with discomfort," Erin said. "You learn to relax into it, befriend it. You learn to make discoveries in it."

That idea extends far beyond flexibility.

The practice isn't about forcing yourself deeper into a pose. It's about learning what happens when something feels uncomfortable and you don't immediately try to escape it.

Erin believes those lessons can serve us off the mat, too. Learning to stay present with discomfort, rather than automatically fearing or resisting it, can change the way we approach uncomfortable moments in everyday life.

"Usually they don't know that they need it."

One of the things I found most interesting in talking with Erin was her perspective on who benefits from private yoga.

You don't necessarily have to show up knowing exactly what kind of practice you need. In fact, she often finds that people don't. When I asked her why someone might come to her specifically for yin, she said:

"Usually they don't know that they need it and I suggest it and they try it and they're like, where has this been all my life?"

Once people experience it, she said, they often begin to understand the gift of the practice. She particularly likes yin for people who struggle with sleep and for anyone who needs a practice that helps them settle and slow down.

And that's one of the advantages of working privately with a teacher.

You don't have to be an expert in yoga.

You don't have to know which modality is right for you.

You don't even have to know exactly what you need.

You just have to show up.

A good teacher can help you figure out the rest.

A personalized practice can help you trust yourself

There's another part of Erin's teaching philosophy that really stood out to me: the goal of private practice isn't to make you dependent on your teacher. It's to help you develop a stronger relationship with yourself.

During our conversation, Erin talked about the confidence that can come from learning how to recognize what you need and care for yourself accordingly.

"You've got everything you need. You just have to trust yourself and be compassionate with yourself and be confident in your ability to self-nurture."

I love this idea because it changes the role of the teacher. The teacher isn't there to tell you exactly what your practice should look like forever. They're there to help you pay attention. To help you experiment. To help you understand your body and your mind a little better. And, ultimately, to help you become more confident in listening to yourself.

Why Erin was the perfect first teacher for Practice Togetherly

Looking back, it feels fitting that Erin was the first yoga teacher to join Practice Togetherly.

She embodies so much of what I hoped the platform could make possible when I started it: wellness that adapts to the person, rather than asking the person to adapt to the class.

Erin can teach a challenging vinyasa practice. She can guide someone through restorative yoga or yin. She can incorporate meditation and mindfulness. She can work with active people looking for recovery rather than another workout.

But more than any particular modality, what she brings to a session is attention.

She pays attention to where you are.

She pays attention to what you need.

And, as I experienced firsthand, sometimes she even pays attention to the things you shouldn't have to think about yourself (like the clock).

Because support isn't dramatic, it's simply knowing that someone else has it handled. And when you feel that support, you can finally let your shoulders drop, take a breath, and be where you are.

That's Erin.

And I'm incredibly grateful she's part of Practice Togetherly.

Meet Erin

Erin offers personalized vinyasa, yin, restorative yoga, meditation, and mindfulness sessions in the DC and Northern Virginia area.

Whether you're looking to build a more consistent practice, recover from other physical activities, manage stress, sleep better, explore mindfulness, or simply carve out some time to slow down, Erin can create a practice around what youneed.

Ready to find a practice that meets you where you are?