Hello + Welcome!
My name is Sandra Leigh.
Join me in Vancouver, BC
FALL 2026 wellness + yoga

:: BLOG UPDATE :: OFF THE MAT :: 2026

Since 2021, I’ve been keeping busy with Business Media flexible learning courses through the Radio Arts + Entertainment program at BCIT. As a more mature student, this has been both fun and challenging, but mostly, it’s kept me busy and out of trouble. 😉

In June 2026, I graduated from the BCIT Music Business School!

I’m pleased to be reaching more people through music, radio and recording arts, including new instructional video production, coming soon, so please click the subscribe buttons + stay tuned. Thanks so much for visiting!

You’re invited to listen to my music project here >>> @givepeaceachant mantra music <<<

Email me sandraleigh108 @ gmail . com for more info.

:: BLOGGING ABOUT :: I’m sharing some of my own story of why yoga + wellness practices became so important and even cornerstone in my own health recovery program + how I took my learned experiences forward ::

I grew up in Calgary when TV programming included a CTV exercise program called ‘Kareen’s Yoga’, hosted by ever-fabulous Kareen Zebroff. I remember following along in the living room with my mom, and us both wearing one piece nylon bodysuits paired with thick, itchy leotards, just like the ones, D and E, seen below.

We also had the Ed Allen Show, we went to Jazzercise and later, I followed the 20 Minute Workout like it was a religious experience. I became a Spa Lady – and if that doesn’t make you laugh, I’m not sure what would.

It’s true, I grew up in a challenging environment. Maybe that’s why I took to physical expressions like exercising. I was also drawn drama, acting + theatre. We had a high school band and would practice in my friend Ruthie’s basement! I loved music, singing and I did well in ART.

Sadly, as a teen, I also had a health crisis, when I developed a serious inflammatory health condition and for a long time I definitely could NOT exercise at all – because I was really, very ill. I spent most of my 18th year, in and out of Foothills Hospital. I had emergency surgery thrice, and was in hospital for a few months, pumped full of medicines that eventually worked, thankfully. At the time, the doctors had few answers regarding the cause or outcomes of the condition, so I just got on with living, although life would never be quite the same.

I moved and was working in Vancouver for almost a year, but by summer, more health complications returned. By now, I was in my early 20’s, living on my own downtown. I only tell this story because as a young woman, I went through mostly all of this alone in Vancouver. Looking back, I know I was living on the edge, but it wasn’t until I survived a near death experience in Edmonton, (of all places!) – I came back stronger and hopefully, wiser, definitely deeper.

In my recovery, I was all in for healing and enjoying a healthy life. I got into cycling, running and I returned to the gym. I also registered for yoga, not expecting any kind of life changing experience. Instead, I met an exceptional yoga teacher, Lilian Bianchi, who now lives in Duncan, BC .

Originally from Brazil, Lilian had been practicing yoga and meditation since she was 14. When I attended her classes, I couldn’t explain it but I felt calm, for perhaps the first time ever.

A few years later, at 30 yrs. old, I visited Yasodhara Ashram, near Kootenay Bay, BC, where I participated in a 10 day workshop – ‘The Hidden Language of Hatha Yoga’ as taught by Swami Sivananda Radha, the original pioneer of the ‘Divine Light Invocation.‘

I ended up liking it and returning, this time staying on for the ashram work program for about a year, taking part in their karma yoga program. In 1997, completed a yoga development certification course (YDC) and a Hatha Yoga Teacher’s Certificate.

I learned how to meditate and began exploring Sanskrit mantras and researching religions, simply out of curiosity. It was like another world at the ashram with divinity taking mostly feminine form. It all worked out, and most everything set to maintain a quiet but stern self-sufficiency – thanks to a stellar group of mostly older women. Everything at the ashram had a purpose, and everything got eaten, even meats, although I was already a long time vegetarian. A lot of focus was spent on writing, dreaming, healing, working and of course, yoga.

I went back to Vancouver, mostly to return to my old job, waiting on tables in various West End restaurants. I loved the ashram experience of chanting so much, so saved my tips and bought my first harmonium for practicing at home. I also took up hand drumming.

My first job teaching yoga was at the YMCA. My big dream was to go to India.

Meanwhile, Lilian introduced me to her dear friend and teacher, Sandra Sammartino who took me under her wing after my ashram experience. She guided me to complete a modular teacher certificate course at her Kairos Studio in White Rock, BC. I was intrigued by Sandra’s various ways she approached yoga as therapy. She was also the original pioneer and heart behind BC’s ‘Yoga Outreach’ programs.

After some time, Sandra offered us Yoga Outreach placements. My teaching experiences included placements for home bound trauma survivors, women who, due to no fault of their own ended up with debilitating health issues. It helped me to help them.

Again, when I taught adult women at a drug and alcohol treatment facility in South Vancouver, it was helping me to help others. So many of the women were survivors of some kind of generational trauma.

I was also sponsored an after school program called “The Avengers”, where I taught yoga and breath work for children and youth with special needs.

Through Yoga Outreach, I taught men’s yoga to young offenders who were being held at the Willingdon Youth Corrections Centre in Burnaby.

Looking back, I’m sure these incarcerated young men were bottling up the effects of unprocessed childhood trauma. They responded so well to yoga and deep relaxation. These were the same lads who were not responding to corporal punishment. Times sure have changed but I often wonder what have we really learned?

Through Yoga Outreach, I also led a women’s yoga program at St. Paul’s Eating Disorder Clinic. Although we didn’t call it “trauma-informed” or “somatic” movement at the time. I developed an energy based practice to help ED patients restore delicate nervous systems and navigate their frail bodies, mostly through breath alone. Our session was held in a quiet room with super soft and comfy chairs for yoga. I remember a noticeable inability for these ED patients to fully close their eyes, due to their extreme thinness, their eyes rolling as they took tiny little sips of breath. I believe they responded well and it seemed to be a positive experience, if only to try a new activity. Sadly, the St. Paul’s ED clinic program funding was cut and the ED yoga + wellness program was discontinued in the 00’s.

In 1999, I met a yoga group from the UK and I became interested in their unique, energy based style of yoga, called Dru Yoga. I completed a 3 year Dru Yoga Teacher Training course. I was also fortunate to travel and take further trainings in the UK, studying in North Wales, London, Scotland, The Netherlands, and India. I later earned a Dru Sound Healing & Mantra Certificate and a Dru Meditation Teacher’s certificate. More recently, I was certified as a Dru Breath Coach. Dru Yoga is popular in the UK, Europe, Australia and parts of India, and specializes in sound and mantra. Dru Yoga is incorporated into all of my classes. It’s an energy based yoga, and most every body can do it.

In 2001, after an entire summer in North Wales, UK, I took a job at Banyen Books, a local independent “metaphysical” bookstore where I eventually became a part-time floor manager. It was an excellent job and I loved working there.

In the early 2000’s, yoga (as an industry) began to really expand, too. In the bookstore we’d get a new yoga book, yoga video, or DVD arriving on a near daily basis. The section for yoga books eventually outgrew itself, from one small shelf of the classics, to into an entire room, dedicated to both traditional and western influenced yoga media. Banyen then moved locations to even bigger, permanent premises. We saw the yoga section expand, yet again. I worked part-time at the bookstore and then, I’d teach a few weekly yoga classes.

I watched the yoga industry (books, studios, and all) continued to grow. We saw the bookshelves buckle under full capacity for so many years.
Now in 2026, yoga is still flourishing but it’s a hard task to find funding for outreach wellness programming, even though we know the most vulnerable populations have had mostly positive outcomes with yoga + wellness programs in the past.

Thanks for reading along, so far.

I’ve also had a life long passion for music and singing. You might be familiar with the music from our community class but did you know that I produced that music myself? You can listen to more here.

That’s Part 2 of my story, coming soon.

We’re grateful to live and work on the unceded, ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil Waututh Nations.