We are excited to be welcoming new teachers to the schedule this spring! Today, we’ll take a moment to introduce you more formally to Emily Reiniger, now teaching the 4pm Rajas Hour on Saturdays in Cambridge.
Emily started doing yoga first with a DVD borrowed from the public library and then as part of the training regimen for her high school track team. “I remember enjoying balancing on one foot and breathing ‘like a rabbit,'” she recalled with a laugh. Eventually in college, she got into a more regular practice with a free yoga club on campus. “I laid there in savasana at the end of my first class — convinced my body was MELTING — in a good way! — and thought I’m going to do more of this,” Emily said. In the years since, she’s experimented with a few different styles of yoga before finding her way to O2 Cambridge back in 2017. Finally, she was home.
Emily quickly found her footing in the O2 community, first as a member of the Cambridge studio desk staff and then joining the Teacher Training Class of 2018. “I didn’t really ‘decide’ to sign up for Teacher Training. Laying in the savasana five years ago, I knew that one day I would dedicate the time to a Teacher Training if for no other reason than to go deeper in my own practice,” she said. Taking that leap at O2 last fall, Emily fully embraced the challenge and chance to learn. “TT was a practice of self forgiveness and acceptance for me. Acceptance for where I am, who I am at each moment. Acceptance of my personal practice or my teaching. Acceptance of my actions, words, thoughts. Acceptance of the learning process, of making mistakes,” she explained. Now as a program graduate and full-on O2 teacher, she is working to bring these lessons learned (or still being learned) to her classes, hoping, of course, to provide the same glorious “melting” sensation for her students at the end of each practice.
In her non-yoga time, Emily works as a manager at Mass Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition’s Citizenship Program planning clinics around the state to help immigrants apply for citizenship for free. She is also an avid reader, loves palin’ around with her dog, and cooking vegetarian meals. “O2 is a second home to me. It is a space I feel safe and hope I can contribute to other community members feelings of comfort and safety. Thank you for welcoming me in to this community and on to the teaching staff. I feel truly grateful,” Emily said.
We are thrilled to have you on our teacher roster, Emily! Click here to see when you can practice with her this week.