Meet Our Movement Team
Freed Bodyworks embraces the many ways that people's bodies are non-conforming: gender identity, body modification, weight, culture, sub-culture, race, employment, ability, illness, age, and more. Our bodyworkers, energy workers, counselors, and instructors understand the barriers of judgement that have kept many people out of health care & healing practices of all types. We practice radical inclusion - all are welcome in our space.
Emily B. Brown, LMT
What began as a journey to lift myself from injury, depression, and binge eating disorder, has become a personal mission to encourage people of all walks, shapes, sizes, and ability levels to feel comfortable and confident in the body they are in. I have worked for 10 years in the wellness industry and have personally practiced Yoga for 15 years. My teaching is greatly informed by what I have learned working with massage therapy clients and my personal mastery of human anatomy and physiology.
In 2010 I suffered a complete ACL rupture and MCL tear playing roller derby. That injury was physically and emotionally devastating for me. I came back to a very gentle and restorative yoga practice as a way to find balance and activity post injury. As I watched and felt my body and mind change through the practice of yoga, meditation and pranayama breathwork, I knew I needed to share the practice in a much larger way. In 2014 I decided to add to my skill set a 200hr yoga teacher training. During this training I immersed myself in the practice of all 8 limbs of Yoga philosophy.
Yoga has the ability to help all people make friends with their mind, body and spirit. You will find my classes to be adaptive, welcoming, playful, and anatomy-specific. Come prepared to laugh!
Special Interests: larger bodied people, yoga beginners, high stress individuals, athletes recovering from injury
Sifu (pronounced "See-foo) Terence Nicholson is a 20-year practitioner of Chinese Martial Arts, and 19th Generation Disciple of the Wudang Longmen (Dragon's Gate) lineage. He has competed for 10 years in Kung Fu tournaments and currently coaches up and coming martial artists and judges tournaments. Taiji, Qigong , Kung Fu and Self Defense are skills that Terence is most passionate about transmitting to students.
Special Interests: Elderly, people in recovery, high stress types
Sifu Terence Nicholson
Melanie Williams, RYT-200
Melanie Williams, RYT-200 and certified Yogahour® teacher, found yoga while experimenting with different ways to move and connect with her body. As a curvy, queer woman and sexual assault survivor, she often felt out of place in her own skin and unworthy of the space her body took up in the world.
The idea of studio classes was originally daunting, and when she arrived for her first class, she found a spot in the back. As she continued to attend classes, fortunately led by a knowledgable and inclusive teacher, she started to realize how incredible her body truly was, how it could suddenly hold a plank without crashing to the floor, how her hips could slowly but surely come closer and closer to the floor in hanumanasana (the splits!). The more she practiced and connected mind to body and body to breath, the more worthy she felt. She found space she wasn’t afraid to take up, and that space was wherever she rolled out her yoga mat, even at the front of the class. Melanie completed her teacher training at Capitol Hill Yoga in Washington, DC in 2016.
Melanie is described by students as a welcoming, intuitive, and adaptively challenging teacher. Peers and mentors describe her as highly knowledgable in her teaching, dedicated in her personal practice, and committed to her students. Her classes are usually quite active and often mix flow elements from her vinyasa background with the skillful and specific instructions that are integral to the alignment-based hatha style in which she was trained. You can expect to feel included, encouraged, and challenged in her classes.
Special Interests: LGBTQ yoga practice, larger bodies, vinyasa/breath-based practice & pranayama, queer prenatal yoga, movement-based chakra work
Tuesday Irby, RYT 200 and certified Yogahour® teacher, began her journey to becoming a yoga teacher through a humble home practice. Wanting to deepen her practice, she completed teacher training and began teaching. Tuesday's study of active asana, restorative yoga, and meditation allows her to offer students clear alignment instructions for physical safety, proper restorative support, and soothing guided visualizations. Tuesday's classes are designed to help students to relieve stress, to rest, and restore.
Special Interests: stress relief, restorative yoga, meditation to balance the chakras (the body's energy centers), beginner and gentle yoga
