First, Karen, my dear sweet friend and devoted student of ten years (has it really been that long???), let me say congratulations on the new book and platform.  I’m thrilled to be here discussing yoga for your new Honor Your Health series.

My name is Kristen Conley Leighton and I am a passionate yoga practitioner, dreamer, and storyteller.

I’ve been practicing yoga since 1994 and teaching it since 2005.

I’m the founder of Windsong Yoga which strives to bring old school yoga to diverse populations using modern language, a little bit of grace, and a whole lot of humor.

I can’t really remember making a conscious decision to teach yoga.

It seems like one of those happy accidents.  I had questions—big questions—especially after my first true yoga teacher put The Bhagavad Gita in my hands. Several long conversations later, she encouraged me to sign up for a teacher training.  Even thouhg I had no desire to teach, she assured me that I’d get answers to many of my questions.  It seemed an odd place for me to be; after all, I was essentially kicked out of my very first yoga class (politely asked not to bring my anxious, hard-charging ass back).  I’d spent ten years wandering in and out of different yoga classes, devouring the book, Light on Yoga, and practicing with Rodney Yee on VHS tapes (remember those?) when I timidly entered my first teacher training with Stephanie Keach in Asheville, North Carolina.

Upon completion of my training, I spent six months assisting the teacher who’d put The Bhagavad Gita in my hands before she convinced me I was ready to go out on my own.  I wasn’t. Of course, we never think we are. One of my first students came to me with a partially frozen shoulder that her chiropractic had suggested yoga would heal.  And that’s how I began studying therapeutics, first, through Anusara Yoga and then with Doug Keller.  She worked diligently both in class and on her own using the techniques I was learning and in turn teaching her.  It took six months, but one day she raised her arm over her head and the whole class stopped and applauded.

That was when I realized she had healed herself by her sheer determination.

In addition, I recognized that it had been the same with me.

Regardless of the reason, I took up the practice. I was a better, more focused, less anxious person than when I had started.  Yoga didn’t save me.  I had to save myself, but the practice has certainly aided in my transformation.  You’ll never hear me preach that yoga can save you or fix you. After twenty-four years of practice, I can say it has given me the courage to live my life exactly as I wish, clear vision to see and respect others exactly as they are (even when they don’t behave exactly as I’d like them to), and a calm demeanor in times of uncertainty.  I’m also a better listener.  This is not my natural default.  I’m bossy, judgmental, and generally a big old troublemaker.  Each day is a practice.  It’s not easy, and I have a choice to practice or not.  I choose it.  It doesn’t float down in a white gown powered by angel wings, kiss me on the forehead, and gently guide me to my mat or my meditation cushion.  I have to do it all on my own.

Arlo Guthrie said: “You can’t have a light without a dark to stick it in.”

I’m forever honoring those dark moments and loving and forgiving myself for all the bad shit I still do.  And then I breathe.  I strive to give my students a safe space to do the same.

If you’re new to yoga or have been practicing for some time here’s a great exercise you can do daily that doesn’t require a mat, special clothing, or a lot of time:  Stop (where ever you are), feel your feet on the ground, your bottom in a chair, your body lying down….take three full breaths, inhaling and exhaling through the nose.  As you inhale hear the sound “ham” and as you exhale “sa”.  Now return to your regularly scheduled activity.  You can do this as many times in the day as you want.

Thanks, Karen.  Best of luck with your new book.  I can’t wait to read it.

Read the other Holistic Practitioner Interviews here: The Holistic Practitioner Interviews

Be part of the community! Join the HONOR YOUR HEALTH Facebook group here: HONOR YOUR HEALTH

Do you want to be part of this interview series? Email me at karen@karencreamer.com!