About
Emma Sartwell is a somatic therapist and educator based in Boulder, Colorado. She holds a Master of Divinity from Naropa University and trained in Somatic Experiencing. She teaches in the Wisdom Traditions department at Naropa for BA and MA students. Sartwell founded Somatic Spiritual Counseling, a collective of body- and mindfulness-based coaches and therapists. She has published and edited work on Buddhist philosophy, including the 2021 Shambhala Publications volume Cynicism and Magic: Intelligence and Intuition on the Buddhist Path. Her writing addresses somatic practice, spirituality, and Jewish wisdom traditions.
Teaching focus
Emma Sartwell's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Shambhala and Tibetan traditions. Several threads come up: compassion training that doesn't collapse into pity or burnout;. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Emma Sartwell works with whatever shows up in the room rather than reading from notes, which is part of why these talks land as conversational instead of scripted. Short pauses, longer sits, and questions that come back to direct experience are usual. Listed specialties on the source profile include trauma. The bigger move Emma Sartwell keeps making is back toward attention itself: what's happening, how it's being held, and what gets in the way. That keeps the teaching close to practice rather than drifting into commentary about practice. For talks, schedules, and longer essays, the affiliated organization's page is where the live material lives. Emma Sartwell's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on. Emma Sartwell's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on.
Background
Emma Sartwell teaches in the Shambhala and Tibetan traditions. The teaching home is Naropa University. From the teacher's own profile: Emma Sartwell works as a somatic therapist and teaches in the Wisdom Traditions department for both BA and MA students. She is a somatic therapist, who received her Master of Divinity degree from Naropa and then trained in Somatic Experiencing. She has been a Hebrew School teacher, meditation instructor, barista, and worn many other hats along the way. She is now the owner and founder of Somatic Spiritual Counseling, a collective of body- and mindfulness-based coaches and therapists. 2021 | Chögyam Trungpa. Cynicism and Magic: Intelligence and Intuition on the Buddhist Path. Edited by Emma Sartwell & Opening the Dharma team. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications. 2019 | Inner Ocean Center for Healing Blog - Rites of Passage: Interview with Mindi Counts - Anxiety + Attachment 2016 | The Wheel, Shambhala Publications’ Blog - Tias Little on the Subtle Body (interview) 2014 | shambhalatimes.org - Why Go on Retreat? (transcription) - Leveraging Compassion (transcription) - On Making Art 2010-2019 | YogaCityNYC - Does Shamanism Really Work? - Does Internet Stardom Make a Great Yoga Teacher? - Torah Yoga is Growing: For Jews and All Wisdom Seekers 2012 | Sartwell, Emma. “Bufferhood: An Autoethnography.” In The Chalk Circle: Intercultural Prizewinning Essays, edited by Tara Masih, 31-39. Deadwood, OR: Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing. In the Tibetan stream, Emma Sartwell's teaching draws on analytical reflection and stabilizing meditation, with attention to bodhicitta, the relationship with a teacher, and the slow integration of insight across daily life. Emma Sartwell's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Emma Sartwell's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Emma Sartwell's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Emma Sartwell's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Emma Sartwell's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography.
Lineage
Emma Sartwell teaches as a lay teacher in the Shambhala and Tibetan traditions. The institutional home, per the source listing, is Naropa University, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. Tibetan teaching authority depends on the named root teacher and the school (Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug). The source listing is where any specific authorization or empowerment information will be stated.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with Emma Sartwell, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. The container is shaped by Naropa University, so format details, fees, and access policies follow that organization's norms. Expect plenty of silence, less talking-at-you than you might think, and an emphasis on letting the practice do its work rather than chasing experiences. For exact dates, registration, and any sliding-scale or scholarship information, There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice. There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice.
