Emily grew up in Westport, Connecticut, driven by a curiosity about what makes life meaningful and how people thrive. That pursuit led her to earn a Master’s in Industrial Psychology by 23, and eventually to Los Angeles, where she managed the careers of artists and musicians while working alongside a prominent entrepreneur, all while exploring balance through yoga and wellness.

Back in New York City — a place that had always felt like home — she discovered Vedic Meditation, a practice that seemed both natural and deeply familiar. Experiencing a meaningful shift in her life revealed something important: wellbeing could arise from within, without effort or strain. What began as a personal ritual soon became a calling. She entered a long-term mentorship with Thom Knoles, the world’s pre-eminent Vedic Meditation master, and in 2018 journeyed with him to the Himalayas. There, her training followed the same tradition through which Thom was instructed by his teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi — the great sage who brought meditation to the West in the 1960s and guided cultural icons such as the Beatles.

Since then, Emily has taught students around the world. In her first four years of teaching, she lived nomadically, traveling through seven countries to bring Vedic Meditation to communities without a local teacher. Being immersed in new cultures expanded her perspective, and sharing a practice she found so valuable made her work feel deeply purposeful. She later co-founded a nonprofit bringing meditation into conflict zones, including two months of teaching in the Middle East during wartime — strengthening her belief that inner peace is the basis for collective peace.

She now lives in Hudson, New York, and is dedicated to sharing Vedic Meditation in a way that is practical, approachable, and genuinely life-enhancing.

Thom Knoles is the first Westerner to be inducted as Mahamandaleshwar in the Shankaracharya tradition and is known in India by the honorific Shri 1008 Mahamandaleshwar Maharishi Vyasanand Giri Maharaj. He has taught nearly 50,000 people to meditate and has mentored Fortune 500 leaders, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, heads of state, and influential changemakers around the world.

In the Himalayan foothills of Northern India, Thom trained Emily to teach in the same lineage through which he was taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. She continues to study under him and has assisted on his retreats in India and Sedona, New York teaching tours, and his Initiator Training in the Himalayas.