i am Erika
Change your mind, Change your life
My Mission + The Practice
I’m Erika, also known as Sukhmani. As a Kundalini Yoga, Meditation, and Breathwork instructor, I guide athletes to access deeper focus, breakthrough endurance, and profound recovery.
My journey brings together clinical training in mind-body healing from Columbia University with the discipline and resilience of competitive long-distance swimming. This balance of science and lived practice has shaped a grounded, results-driven approach that resonates with athletes seeking more than surface-level techniques.
Breathwork transformed me — it revealed a fearlessness and resilience I never imagined possible. Now, I share these tools so others can move beyond limits, steady their minds under pressure, and step fully into their potential.
With clarity, presence, and respect for the demands of athletic performance, I invite you to explore a practice that strengthens not only the body, but the inner landscape where true endurance begins.
My approach uses breathwork, cognitive training + reframing, and dynamic movement to unlock an athlete’s inner potential. This inner potential is a mindset of “victory” called the athletes mindset. With my guidance and in this mindset, creative goal formation (realizing goals known and unknown to the conscious self), multi-faceted achievement, and connection (transforming your relationship with your Self and others) are both identified and envisioned.
The science behind my practice is one that uses specialized sequences of movement called kriyas to create lasting, neurologically observable change in the mind/body relationship. Together, I will guide you in using breath and movement to overcome old (small!) ways of thinking and reacting, creative blocks, and channel a connection with your intuitive Self.
I’m devoted to teaching transformative workshops and classes that act as catalysts for increased creativity, health, and healing. A long-time competitive and endurance swimmer, I mainly work with athletes looking to improve resilience and mental focus.
My Story
My healing journey began when I was living in Boston and struggling to be more present in my body after experiencing the stress of an imbalanced lifestyle, cyclical dieting, and emotional disconnection from trauma that had blocked my growth and success. I began by exploring different types of yoga. One of my first yoga classes was a Bikram yoga class where I discovered “focused attention” meditation (using a meditative anchor to keep your mind from wandering), a practice where students are required to maintain eye contact with themselves in a wall of mirrors in front of them as they hold a posture. It was the act of looking at myself without judgment that opened a door, but I knew I still needed something more, something beyond the body.
It was when I moved to New York City in 2012 and took my first Kundalini Yoga class that a momentum of change began to sweep through my life. After a single class I could feel relief on both an emotional and mental level. I began researching the science behind kundalini, basing my master’s thesis on the neurological effects of this powerful practice on the brain and emotional patterning. Perhaps most profound was the capacity to regulate my emotions and assimilate past emotional experiences, using them as guide posts rather than obstacles. I began to experience a greater capacity to create deeper relationships with my Self and others. In sum, my life began.
In addition to yogic training, my clinical work includes research and therapeutic work at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical/NYSPI, and teaching at various clinics + studios throughout the U.S. Most recently, I partnered with the University of Arizona to study the effects of a 12-week yoga and meditation practice for repairing neural connectivity.
Kriya for Renewal and Recovery