Meet Erin,
Hi, I’m Erin!
I am the owner of SoulSpeak Yoga, a community-based local yoga studio, based in Ottawa, ON. Since the opening of our first home (Welly West) in 2019, we have survived a pandemic, launched an online studio, taken students to Costa Rica to become teachers, opened a second SoulSpeak location (Old Ottawa South), and are now starting the year with two new 200hr YTT programs in both Ottawa and abroad. If you don’t see me in a studio teaching or at SoulSpeak Trainings, you’ll find me travelling the world with Salty Retreats, my second business, bringing yoga, fitness, adventure, and fun to groups of incredible people.
A little bit about my journey — I received my yoga teacher training in the summer of 2016, where I went on to complete 500+ hours of training. My teaching journey began in parks, gyms, and pretty much anywhere I could lay down a yoga mat where people would listen. I then received my first “real” teaching job at a beautiful studio in Ottawa, Elevate Yoga. I taught in a few other studios before taking the leap to open SoulSpeak. The rest is history and 5 years later I feel blessed to be a part of the incredible community we’ve built over the years.
I strive to make yoga a practice for everyone, and while I know that is said by almost every person who opens a studio, I will do just about anything to think outside of the box and turn that dream into a reality.
I hope that when people see SoulSpeak or practice in our studio they feel that difference. While growing up with a yoga teacher mother, and a father who brought me to India at a young age, you would think I felt right at home when it came to classes in studios - quite the opposite. Just like many, I felt out of place and not at home in the majority of the studios I practiced at in the 14+ years I’ve been doing yoga. When I opened SoulSpeak I said no to the floor to ceiling mirrors, the florescent lights, the cliche photos of petite women, to the mentality of competition, to the one style fits all, and to the simple belief that yoga can’t be different. We play loud music in dark rooms, we make family with every student who walks through the door, we let students practice in whatever way they please, and most importantly, we have fun doing it.
I hope that with this new chapter of teacher trainings, SoulSpeak will continue to grow from and for the people who make it great. From the teachers who put their heart and soul into practice, from the students who meet their best friends in class, and from the people who work towards making our world just a bit more accessible everyday.
I look forward to meeting each and every student in this training who aspires to bring yoga into their life and the lives of others. Whether it’s to deepen your practice, to become a teacher, or to embark on a once in a lifetime journey, I will be here to support you with open arms.