Skip to content

Teachers

Leslie Stokman

I’m a seeker, an enthusiast, and an unashamed try-hard. Here in our community, I have the joy of sharing Yoga and movement as both a teacher and teacher-training assistant.My own practice began in 2006, when Yoga helped me to reinhabit my body and reconnect to my inner vitality as I languished in a post-traumatic slump. Because I get to teach a variety of class styles, you’ll find the content pretty variable, but all of my classes invite curious investigation into sensation and capacity through asana, breath, mobility, strength, and stillness. I aspire to offer students a space to witness, express and expand.My teaching career started in the school classroom, but jumped ship into the world of Yoga teaching in 2016 after certifying here at The Branches. Through my continuing education, I’m certificatied in the Tensegrity Repair Series (creator Gioia Irwin, trainer Trudy Austin), Functional Range Conditioning & Kinstretch (Andreo Spina et. al.), and TRE: Tension & Trauma Release Exercises (creator David Berceli, trainer Joan MacDonald). My own personal forays into Vipassana meditation, rock-climbing and strength conditioning also colour what I share.

I’m deeply influenced by my teachers-turned-friends-turned colleagues here, especially Leena Miller-Cressman and Emma Dines, and I’ll forever churn what I’ve learned from teachers Matthew Remski, Kathryn Bruni-Young (Mindful Strength), and Cecily Milne (Yoga Detour).