Elena Brower

Elena Brower is a yoga and meditation teacher, author, and podcast host whose work centers on the cultivation of attention as a spiritual and creative practice. A graduate of Cornell University in 1992, she spent nearly a decade designing textiles and apparel before shifting to teaching yoga and meditation full-time. She has taught asana since 1999 and began formal study and practice of Zen Buddhism in 2020, and is currently a candidate for Buddhist chaplaincy.

Her approach draws from the intersections of yoga philosophy, Zen Buddhism, and mindfulness, with an emphasis on what she calls spiritual intelligence—the capacity to meet uncertainty with awareness and care. Unlike many teachers who remain anchored in a single lineage, Brower has woven together influences from classical yoga, contemporary meditation science, and the ceremonial rigors of Zen practice. Her teaching appears on platforms including Glo and On The Inside, and she offers courses on meditation, attention, perceptive parenting, and women's wellness, including programming specific to menopause.

Brower is the author of five books. Art of Attention and Practice You established her voice in the yoga and mindfulness publishing world, followed by Being You and Softening Time. Her fifth book, Hold Nothing, was published in late 2025 by Shambhala Publications and became a bestseller. She also hosts the Practice You Podcast, where she speaks with teachers, artists, and thinkers about creative process, spiritual life, and the mechanics of awareness.

Her career arc has been shaped by an unusual blend of creative and contemplative disciplines. After Cornell, she built a career in textile and apparel design throughout the 1990s, an aesthetic training that still informs her visual work today. She continues to create original art and has contributed spoken word poetry to Above & Beyond's Flow State albums, a rare crossover between the yoga world and electronic music. She also offers essential oil consultations through doTERRA, integrating plant-based wellness into her broader teaching on embodiment and care.

Brower's influence extends beyond her own platforms. She has trained thousands of students in yoga and meditation, and her books have been translated into multiple languages. Her teaching on attention and presence has been featured in wellness and mindfulness communities internationally, and she has built a sustained following through her combination of rigor, accessibility, and creative curiosity. She supports organizations including Girls on Fire Leaders, On The Inside, and Free Food Kitchen, grounding her practice in service and social engagement.

She continues to teach regular yoga and meditation classes online, lead retreats, and develop new offerings in spiritual intelligence and women's health. Her work on perceptive parenting has opened a channel for families seeking mindfulness-based guidance, and her current chaplaincy training signals a deepening commitment to pastoral care and Zen practice. She is a mother, and that experience has informed much of her later teaching and writing.

For those discovering her now, Elena Brower offers a model of sustained practice that refuses to separate creativity, contemplation, and everyday care—a teacher whose work is as much about seeing clearly as it is about living responsibly with what you see.