Leila started practicing yoga in 1999 when she joined a triathlon team to train for an Ironman. As she received the physical conditioning she was looking for, she also found in yoga a new sense of inner stillness that she could rely on during grueling distance running, swimming and cycling events. Long after the triathlon period of her life was over, Leila’s yoga obsession endured and she studied to be a teacher in 2001. She trained with Larry Shultz of It’s Yoga and, after she completed her vinyasa certification there, she went on to be certified by David Swenson, one of the earliest American practitioners of Ashtanga Yoga. She also completed an internship with Castro Yoga (now Yoga Garden). Her understanding of and appreciation for yoga deepened during the years she worked as the Internet Editor for Yoga Journal Magazine. Following her yoga teacher training, Leila taught for many years at various Bay Area studios including Castro Yoga and More Mojo, but her heart has always been at Bernal Yoga.
Check for Leila’s current teaching class schedule and workshop offerings.
In addition to her yoga practice, Leila is also a life-long dancer in various styles, and she teaches dance and zumba in the Bay Area. She hopes to bring the joyful energy of the dance studio into the deep stillness and grounded energy of the yoga studio. Her beliefs about yoga and dance are similar, especially in one important way: she believes everyone can dance and everyone can do yoga. Whether it’s modifying a more intense vinyasa class for a student seeking calm, or finding the challenge in a slower class for a student seeking intensity, there is a door into this practice for every student. She would love to open that door for you.