We are honored this month to introduce you to not only our Featured Human, but our new Weekend Manager! Meet Emily Higgins, dedicated yogini, loving mother, and kick-ass human. You might recognize her from our weekend support team where she serves as Weekend Manager, but she’s so much more than that to us here at Modo and we couldn’t be more thrilled to share a bit of her journey with you!

We feel like you’ve been a part of us forever, but it’s only been since March 2018! What brought you here?

After moving to the neighborhood, I was searching for a new home studio and, with the help of a gift from a friend, I signed up for the Intro Month.

You have a strong practice that began before you ever crossed our threshold. What do you remember about the first time you tried yoga? 

Although I was initially introduced to yoga during my teen years through a friend’s mom, I wouldn’t say I really tried yoga until years later when the same friend invited me to a Bikram class. I thought I was going to die and that some of the poses must be impossible, but I was also hooked and looked forward to returning to my mat. I also couldn’t drink enough water, and the water couldn’t be cold enough.

How has your practice influenced your life beyond the asana?

Yoga has helped me learn that I deserve to be taken care of and to notice what I need to do to take care of myself: staying hydrated, eating healthily, carving out time for myself. It has helped me learn how to be patient with myself and others, and how to give myself grace knowing that it is always a practice and it’s okay that I’m not always patient.

Could you share some words of wisdom that you have gained from your practice whether here at Modo or elsewhere?

I have received an endless stream of wisdom from each of the wonderful teachers at Modo that makes it difficult to know where to start and how not to include all that I can recall. There are countless times it seemed like the inspiration the teacher provided during class was being directed specifically to me and what I was going through that day. The one I most often share with others is that it’s like they tell you on the airplane that you need to put your oxygen mask on first before you help anyone else. If you don’t take care of yourself you can’t take care of anyone else.  Other gems I enjoy hearing and need to hear are “You can”, “Simple isn’t always easy”, and “You are whole, complete, and perfect just as you are”. I could go on forever, but I won’t 😉

The sutras teach us that yoga makes the impossible possible. Would you share an experience from your life that you feel yoga helped support?

From a very young age I felt out of place, like I needed to be someone else in order to fit in. From the first time I walked into Modo I felt welcomed and accepted, and like I had finally come home. I never thought I would experience inclusion in a community where I could completely be myself and not feel rejected.

Upheld in the Modo Live to Learn Pillar, Svadyaya is the yoga practice of self-study. We flex our curiosity to learn about ourselves and learn about our world. Do you have a favorite book that you think everyone should read?

I really enjoyed The Yamas & Niyamas by Deborah Adele. The book dedicates a chapter to each part of the first two limbs of yoga (Svadyaya being the fourth piece of the Niyamas), and the end of each chapter provides a list of questions/exercises to guide reflection for the next four weeks – so it took me 10 months to complete the book. This book crossed my path while I was preparing for a 200-hour Vinyasa and Yin yoga teacher training I took in Thailand in February 2019, and it worked out to where I was reading and reflecting on the chapter about Svadyaya during my training *perfect*