Features / Wellbeing
‘The queer body is political. It’s poked, prodded and policed’
“I wanted to create yoga and hypnotherapy space where it’s safe and inclusive. Where you don’t have to worry about being queer,” says Emma Edwards, founder of Bristol Shine.
A professionally trained hypnotherapist and yoga teacher, Emma supports people – especially those in the LGBTQ+ community – to feel empowered, build resilience and solve problems.
Having qualified in solution-focused hypnotherapy (helping people find the resources within themselves to tackle problems) 2011. She qualified in yoga in the same year, after being an enthusiast for two decades.
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Emma also runs diversity training at the Clinical Hypnosis School, teaching others on how to be inclusive in their practise.
“Through my training, I saw how heteronormative the field was,” Emma explains. “These services need to be accessible for more people, especially the queer community.”
Emma is an openly queer woman running an LGBTQ+ practise. Photo by Kate Kirkby
Emma runs an openly LGBTQ+-friendly practise and is part of the community herself. She wants more people in the community to access holistic services and to feel able and safe to do so.
“Microagressions are an every day thing for queer people. It really upsets me that queer people might not be able to access services.
“Yoga and wellbeing practises focus a lot on the body and the queer body is very political. It is poked, prodded and policed. Yoga has the potential to help and support in a holistic way but it could also compound a lot more trauma.”
Emma highlights how gendered and heteronormative holistic services can be – from women’s yoga and womb circles to using trans people’s dead name and ignoring gender dysphoria.
“It’s about little things, like asking which name someone would prefer I use, and about being open to learning,” she says.
Emma hopes that more people in the LGBTQ+ community feel they can access holistic services. Photo from the Alma Vale Centre
Emma works from her home in Montpelier and at Yogasara in Picton Street, and is passionate about wellbeing within the LGBTQ+ community.
“A lot of the ways people come into the queer community is through drugs, clubbing and hook-ups. It definitely has it’s space, but I want there to be more stuff for queer people. I want there to be more activities that are focused on wellbeing and making relationships that aren’t just about drinking and going out.
“It’s important for me to be visibly queer in my hypnotherapy and yoga practice so that people can find their queer tribe in another way.”
Emma’s queer yoga classes start soon and runs a range of classes and events. Find out more at www.bristolshine.co.uk
Main photo by Kate Kirkby
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