Daily Inspiration: Meet Emily Cummings

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Cummings.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My life has been a little bit of a roller coaster leading me up to where I am now. For a while, it seemed like the pieces were never going to connect but now all of the detours and twists and turns seem to all make sense. When I was a child, I trained vigorously to be a professional dancer. My life revolved around dance- auditions, rehearsals, performances – dance was the sole purpose and love of my life. When I stepped away from dance for personal reasons, I felt somewhat lost in the world. I tried my hand at a number of different things – first attending college and receiving my Political Science degree. I ended up interning at a small digital ad agency throughout college, which ignited a whole new aspect of my creative journey. When I moved back to Los Angeles after college, I continued to pursue a career in advertising and wound up working for Chiat Day – a full-service ad agency known primarily at that time for their large-scale TV commercial productions. Through my time at Chiat, I began to dive deep into my passion for photography and branding and went back to school to put together my Art Direction portfolio. During that time, I helped to develop and manage several brands – including a clothing company that I developed and executed the creative vision for from the ground up.

I eventually left my job at Chiat after five years because I realized it was time for me to walk my own path, to be my own boss. I traveled down to Mexico, and while I was there, I completed my first yoga teacher training – a dream that had been on the back burner for quite some time. I realized quickly through my training that teaching was what I was meant to be doing. I came back to LA and started teaching at several studios around the city. Over the course of the past few years, all of the pieces of the puzzle have started to fall into place. Teaching yoga, and now Pilates as well, allows me to embody my passionate love of movement, music and the same feelings of connection and excitement that the thrill of dancing and performing once gave me. I’ve been able to develop my brand – Body Language – an online class platform and community, using the skills I acquired through my years in advertising. From the moment I began working as a Creative Director for the clothing brand start-up, I knew that one day I would create my own brand and now that day is finally here. Today my life’s focus is all about impactful teaching both in person and online, as well as the development of my brand BODY – a line of bodysuits I designed and produced here in LA and am getting ready to launch soon.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has certainly not always been a smooth road, but I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. The challenges I’ve encountered are the lessons that have made me the person I am now, strong enough and capable of executing and sustaining my vision and my goals. Some of the biggest challenges have been teaching myself to surrender and have patience with the process. When I first started teaching, I had so much momentum and so many ideas that I was excited about creating, but I had to accept the trials and the difficulties that come with being new to something. It takes time to truly find your authentic voice as a teacher, as well as to build community with people you really vibe with. Another one of my biggest challenges was not giving up on myself when I felt like a failure or like things were never going to come together. There were definitely some rough patches over the years when I had no idea how I was going to take the next step forward. The best advice I could give someone who is feeling similarly would be to just keep on keeping on. Keep showing up every day even when it’s hard and you can’t see the way forward – and don’t be afraid to rely on the people that love you and the community around you that wants to support you.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I currently teach yoga and Pilates at Boheme Yoga DTLA. After a couple of years of teaching, I decided that I wanted to create my own branded class. My style of teaching is very non-traditional and heavily influenced by my background as a dancer and my love for rhythmic music and movement. The idea for Body Language was originally born from my 75 minute hot yoga class that I teach on Saturday afternoons at Boheme. I wanted to convey the uniqueness of the class and let people know that they were going to be taken on a journey exploring the body and movement in a whole new way. From there, the idea continued to grow, and now Body Language exists as an online class platform that currently has over 50 hours of classes and tutorials, with new classes added weekly. It also features a growing community forum, as well as access to my entire Chakra Series of ebooks, guided meditations, and tutorials, which are a great introduction to understanding how we relate to each of our energy centers and how we can apply this knowledge and understanding not just to our physical yoga practice, but to our lives off of our mats as well. From there, the idea for BODY was born, a companion clothing brand of bodysuits and activewear. I am currently working to release my first production run, which will be available online and at Boheme Yoga soon. I’m really proud of all that I’ve created on this path so far. It’s really an incredible feeling to see your ideas come to life. I think what sets me apart from others is my attitude. I refuse to give up – taking every setback as an opportunity to learn and grow stronger. I bring my entire heart and soul to everything that I do, and I think people find that inspiring.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can support me by coming to my yoga classes at Boheme Yoga LA or reaching out to me directly if they are interested in private Pilates sessions (emily@astateofemily.com). If you prefer to practice from home, you can also check out my online class community (bodylanguagestudents.com) where it’s only 15$ a month to gain access to my entire class library. You can also check out my bodysuits at (shopbody.la) and connect with me on Instagram @astateofemily if you’d like to collaborate!

Pricing:

• Body Language online class membership – $15/month

Contact Info:

• Email: emily@astateofemily.com
• Website: https://www.astateofemily.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astateofemily/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/astateofemilyyoga

Image Credits:
Wesha Kundu Julio Bajdaun Marissa DeLaTorre Connor Coughenour