Leah Gillman
Leah Gillman discovered a love for movement and the potential of the human body while executing highly inspired free-form investigations as a child.
Her formal training began at age eleven, when she launched her studies in modern dance and choreography. She graduated from high school from N.C. School of the Arts and received her BFA in Modern Dance with a Concentration in Choreography from SUNY Purchase.
After college, Leah lived in New York City where she directed her dance company, The Gillman Troop, while working days as a bike messenger.
Leah first began taking yoga classes in 1994. In 1996 she turned her energies entirely to competitive cycling and her yoga practice.
She began teaching Flow Yoga classes when she moved to the Bay Area in 1999, was certified at It’s Yoga in 2000 and then completed a Teacher Training with David Swenson focusing on hands-on adjustments. Leah currently practices yoga with Mark Horner at his studio the Hatha Yoga Shala East Bay
In 2001 Leah was certified by the Acupressure Institute and has been seeing massage clients privately ever since. In 2005, she was certified to teach Ashiatsu by Edward Spencer and now teaches that form at the Acupressure Institute. Leah developed her own variation of Ashiatsu called, Barefoot Bodywork and teaches that form in workshops and classes held at the Barefoot Movement HQ.
Leah has taught yoga classes at various yoga studios, fitness centers, at an elementary school, out of her home-studio, and in work place settings. She has been certifying yoga instructors through the Flow Yoga Teacher Training program since 2008 and opened the Barefoot Movement HQ in January, 2010.
Leah lives with her partner and White Crane Silat trainer, Peter Ajemian, Director of Soja Martial Arts and daughters, Naomi and Olivia, in Berkeley, CA.