Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Byrd.
Hi Emily, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I had my son 2 months shy of my 23rd birthday. I was living in Las Vegas, NC at the time and was bartending on the strip. The birth of my son itself was an experience of deep initiation – and from that moment, my life accelerated. I moved back home to NC when he was one year old and had to reset, restart completely; it felt. I knew I wanted to be of service in my profession, but I didn’t know what – food & bev was out – I was so done with that.
I started exploring other pathways, and then, through a journey of deep remembrance, I recalled that I had always dreamed of being a hairstylist. So, I went to the Aveda Institute in Chapel Hill and enrolled; it just felt right. I excelled in my career in the beauty industry. I opened my own salon suite by year 4 behind the chair and made my first 6 figures in that first year.
But I was burning myself out! I would give and give and give, and without knowing I needed boundaries, would continuously pour into others – whereas my son and I would get scraps of me. I was held in this identity that I had to work extra hard to earn, to create security, especially as a woman and single mom.
Yoga became my respite. My way to check out that ultimately became my deepest check-in. I started to pull back from behind the chair as I went down the path of becoming a yoga teacher. Teaching was my joy, yoga was life. I eventually outgrew standing behind the chair and helping people feel good about their external looks, and became radically dedicated to helping people to awaken their inner beauty, power, purpose, and truth.
I opened a yoga studio and naturally started to train teachers. Something I’ve always been posed with is “tell me how to do what you do. teach me how to do it like you!” I started training teachers, which led me into coaching and creating leaders on and off the mat. The deepest alignment of my purpose had finally been shown!
January 2019 – my dad died. I was immersed in a teacher training, developing new teachers while mentoring my current teachers, navigating middle school with my son, still seeing select salon clients in between teaching + training at the studio… I was stretched (literally) all the way to my edge.
I really wanted to coach people, deeply. I felt called to be the guide on the path of personal transformation and spiritual expansion – it was so natural for me, and I was so powerful and empowered in that space and the results I was witnessing my students and clients create – I wanted to go all in. I realized I couldn’t do this exceptionally if I kept allowing myself to be everything to everyone all of the time.
I sold the studio. I retired from the salon, sold out my book and suite + belongings that accompanied it. I went all in on my coaching business and endeavor of conscious impact.
That was March 2020. When the world… changed. I found myself coaching business owners, who were just like me, figuring out the pivot amongst much uncertainty and discomfort. I kept showing up, with a fire in my heart, knowing that we had to be more resilient than ever before. And we were.
I led my first retreat in 2017, the same year as I facilitated my first yoga teacher training certification. I started guiding embodiment breathwork journeys that created altered states of being and expansion of consciousness (think psychedelics, but just you – getting high on your own supply). That, alongside working in a 1-1 capacity with clients, lights me up. I love to merge the intersections of travel, adventure, growth, spiritual discovery and remembrance with purpose, feminine power, pleasure and play. And that’s exactly what each day is like for me.
In 2024, I sat in a ceremony with plant medicine, and received the download: “Shakti. Soma. This is the path of remembrance that you’re guiding.”
I renamed my school and body of work to ShaktiSOMA™ ~ the dedicated path of feminine practice, ritual and remembrance married to modern, scientifically backed, trauma-informed somatic transformation and facilitation.
ShaktiSOMA™ School of Spirituality & Somatics is my life’s work, all in one encompassed home.
I work with clients privately in high-touch transformational embodiment coaching containers; I guide retreats all over the world and facilitate yoga teacher and somatic facilitator certifications. It truly is my greatest honor and pleasure to do this work, to embody the power and frequency of Shakti and live life as a ritual devoted to healing arts.
Your body is the portal, embodiment is how we remember!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There were major times when I doubted myself. Transforming my relationship to money has been a huge unlock for me on this journey. The truth is, I couldn’t do it alone. At this point in my life + career, I’ve invested $150,000+ in mentorship, certification, coaching, training, travel, and experiences that expand me beyond measure. And I truly believe this is non-negotiable, but so many struggle with this.
The truth is, when we are creating a life by our own design, following our heart and living embodied by purpose, passion, and syncing to the natural rhythms in life – this is very much against the typical societal grain. And it can feel really scary to step out and do things differently. Your social circles change. Your daily habits and routines shift. Your parents ask you, “What are you doing now? What is that exactly?” (listen, I have a joke that if your parents don’t quite know all of what you do, then you’re doing something right! haha)
But learning how to trust yourself is a journey. And it’s a journey back home to remembrance. Of power. Or purpose. And that can be really challenging! But in those darkest of nights, deepest moments of sitting in the void of awakening, those moments are the transformation. It’s in those moments – should you choose to continue and not give up, that you will break into the next level, the other side, your freedom.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m the founder of ShaktiSOMA™, School of Spirituality & Somatics, an impact-based body of work dedicated to helping people come home to themselves through the wisdom of the body.
My work sits at the intersection of modern somatic science and ancient spiritual practice. I guide immersive experiences that weave together breathwork, movement, meditation, nervous system regulation, ritual, visualization, and transformational coaching – not as separate modalities, but as one integrated path back to wholeness.
Over the past 15 years, I’ve taught thousands of students, trained yoga teachers and facilitators, led transformational retreats around the world, and mentored women who are ready to embody their purpose and become powerful leaders in their own communities. Today, much of my work is devoted to developing the next generation of facilitators through the ShaktiSOMA Facilitator Certification, where I help others learn not only what to teach, but how to hold truly transformational space.
What I’m most proud of isn’t a specific program or milestone… it’s witnessing people remember who they are. Watching someone reconnect with their own wisdom, reclaim their voice, and begin living from a place of authenticity and embodied confidence is the greatest privilege of my work.
I believe what sets me apart is the way I hold space. People often tell me they’ve never felt so deeply seen, safe, and empowered to fully be themselves. My gift is creating experiences that don’t just inspire insight; they create embodiment. Transformation becomes something people don’t simply think about; it becomes something they can feel in every cell of their body and carry with them long after the experience ends.
At its heart, my work is about remembrance. I believe the answers we seek aren’t outside of us, they already live within us. My role is simply to help people remember.
How do you think about luck?
It’s easy to say someone’s journey is lucky or unlucky, but when I look back, I don’t think luck has been the defining force. I think courage has.
Some of the most meaningful opportunities in my life have come after saying yes before I felt completely ready – booking the flight, starting the business, teaching the class, making the investment, trusting the inner nudge even when there were no guarantees. From the outside, those moments may have looked like luck. From the inside, they were acts of faith.
Of course, I’ve also experienced seasons that felt like bad luck… unexpected challenges, heartbreak, uncertainty, and moments when everything I thought I had built seemed to be falling apart. But with enough distance, I’ve come to see that many of those experiences became the very catalysts that shaped my purpose and deepened my capacity to serve others.
Today, I don’t spend much time thinking about luck. I focus on creation and belief. I believe that when we consistently follow our values, stay open to growth, are radically committed to bringing our healing art and purpose to the forefront of all that we do, and have the courage to take aligned action, we create opportunities that might look like “luck” to someone else. We laugh at luck! Because we know it’s so much more than that.
I’m incredibly grateful for the people, mentors, and experiences that have found their way into my life. But I’m equally grateful for the challenges, because they taught me resilience, compassion, and the importance of trusting that sometimes what feels like a detour is actually leading you exactly where you’re meant to go.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://emilymbyrd.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/emilymbyrd_
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/emily.m.byrd1/
- Other: https://patreon.com/c/shaktisoma
