Hi I’m Janet, I’m the owner of Leith Yoga, which I opened in October 2015.

Since 2014 I’ve worked with hundreds of beginner and advanced students, sharing yoga practices and tools of self inquiry in group classes, workshops, yoga teacher trainings and 1-2-1 sessions.

I talk a lot about connecting to ease in yoga practice and life, because I believe that our bodies are wise and beautiful and can guide our actions effortlessly and I want us to resist the culture of external expertise, struggle and perfectionism.

I work with wise and socially conscious changemakers, who are committed to evolving personally so they can make a difference socially.

I’m not the expert, I’m definitely not the expert of you. I’m a Yoga Co-Creator.

I believe our bodies are wise and beautiful and that when we feel strong, centred and connected we are more capable of enacting the changes we want in the world.

I believe you are the expert of you and deserve to be honoured. All of you.

I believe the point of self-care practices are to support us to evolve personally so we can make a difference socially.

I’m here to share yoga, breathwork, bodywork and tools of self-enquiry that help you connect to your body wisdom and strength.

I love what I do, both as a Yoga Co-Creator and a small business owner, and it’s been an interesting journey to get here.

There was a leap of faith

I left my job as a restaurant manager and flew to the US to study with Ana Forrest in May 2014. I remembered a conversation at 25 that went like this, I was struggling through my degree and searching for directions and reasons to continue, a mentor said to me: “what would you have done if you could have done anything you wanted?” I answered, “I would’ve been a yoga teacher, but I’m too old.”

Absurd right? Years later I thought so too. So I used all my savings to train as a yoga teacher at 33, moved in with my parents for a year (so grateful that I could do this, AND it only had to last 1 year!) and set up my own business. 

Now I know that the life experience I had gained before my yoga teacher training takes equal importance in my methodology and how I show up for students as the thousands of hours of teaching, education and self practice.

I’m a lifelong learner, always pursuing some flavour of further education

I have an MA in Linguistics, 100’s of hours of Yoga training, CPD and assisting my mentor Forrest Yoga teachers, Certificates in Yoga Bodywork, Thai Massage, Counselling Skills, English Language Teaching to Adults and Feminist Copywriting.

The golden thread that connects all of my education is in my unerring dedication to crystal clear communication, spoken and written. The foundation of my teaching practice is to listen to your needs and speak to them from my heart to yours with no extraneous bullshit.

I spent 18 years working in restaurants, it started as a part time gig and I just couldn’t leave it because I LOVE hospitality and working in a service capacity – it is in my bones.

Happily I can bring this passion into everything I do now without the arduous hours of shift work; growing a local studio business, teaching workshops and classes, hosting retreats, nurturing a teaching team.

You will always feel welcome and held when we work together, it is my absolute priority, in person and in our online spaces.

I‘m a seeker

I’ve been on a healing path since my teens, looking for ways to feel better about myself, my family and assuage deep and painful shame. At 18, I took my first yoga class, started training in TaeKwonDo and spent 3 months in recovery.  I have seen therapists on and off since then, have sat in healing circles, singing and talking and working with plant medicines. Everything has helped, but the slow and steady trickle of a regular yoga practice was what really helped me change my destructive behaviours and relationship patterns.

I know how powerful a regular yoga practice can be, to guide us to make more wholesome choices. I didn’t need to stop any of my harmful behaviours to practise yoga, I balanced both very well for a long time. And then yoga won. And life got better.

My super power is choosing my teachers

I believe this is a super power and one of life’s choices I am most grateful for. In books, in person and online, I have worked with and admired from afar, many wisdom keepers. They have shaped my thinking, helped me heal, and continue to support and inspire me. Some I work closely with and love me like I love them, many do not know I exist.

Christine McInnes My sister, who has loved me unconditionally since I came along when she was 9 years old. Her dedication to her own artistry and healing and our endless conversation has inspired me and kept me afloat my whole life.

Ana Forrest and all the incredible Forrest Yoga teachers I have worked with and practised alongside. Thank you Ana for the practice you developed and your dedication to sharing it with the world, teaching us to be fearless in our commitment to our healing.

Sandra Robinson, Jambo Truong, Cat Allen, Heidi Sormasz, Sita Menon, Brian Campbell; you have all showed me how to integrate this practice by making it your own and giving me permission to do the same.

Ellen Heed has been a pivotal inspiration and education in how to look after myself within the four gateways of radiant health, I am informed by her work daily in the choices I make for myself and my family.

Scott Rennie for seeing me very clearly, and giving a shit about whether I did my yoga or not.

Denise Borland who showed me how to take up space with my voice, to track my fear and sing from my toes.

Matthew Remski who appeared by the gift of algorithm on my Facebook, a truth speaking beacon who’s research into abuse in spiritual communities and the crossover between yoga and neoliberalism is a guiding light in my thinking and behaviours as I navigate working within the yoga ‘industry’.

Kelly Diels, who’s calling out of the Female Lifestyle Empowerment Brand brought clarity where there was muddy puddle of frustration, judgement and disdain. Under her tutelage I am getting clear about why I do what I do, and how to do it without leveraging privilege.

Writers, artists and thinkers who have formed me: Mike McInnes, Theresa McInnes, Robin Leonard, Beata Michalska, Oliver Sacks, Robin Dunbar, Irving Yalom, Tara Brach, Carl Rogers, George Lakoff, Gertrude Stein, Anthony Burgess, Ernest Hemingway, Susan Sontag, Maya Angelou, Mary Karr, Joan Didion, Irvine Welsh, Louis Bourgeois, Vincent Medici and many many more.