Kristin Leal

Kristin’s first glimpse of yoga came when, as a young girl, she unearthed a book on yoga asana deeply buried in her nana’s basement. After promptly “mastering” all of the contortions, she quickly moved on to another book on baton twirling. She returned to yoga many years later (1993) as a way of recovering from injuries sustained during her professional dance career (sadly, the baton twirling career never really took off).

Kristin is a 500+ ERYT having completed numerous teacher trainings with Adrienne Burke (a senior Jivamukti teacher), Rodney Yee, and Betsey Downing Ph.D. In 1995, she graduated from the Swedish Institute for massage therapy and became a licensed massage therapist and Reiki practitioner. She has been honored to lead many workshops and teacher trainings around the city, and in 2005, Kristin created the Kaya Yoga teacher training and an advanced anatomy series to share her passion for the miracle of the human body and the liberating potential of movement.

She is a co-author of the book “The Yoga Fan” which has been reviewed as being “an indispensable guide for the serious yoga student”. Kristin is currently working toward becoming a Doctor of Naturopathy and writing her second book, applying the ancient yoga philosophies to modern day relationships.

Kristin’s classes are a challenging mix of strong anatomical alignment and powerful vinyasa flow all while maintaining a sense of humor and a connection to the Divine. Her classes have been described as intelligent, juicy and ecstatic by her beloved students at New York Yoga. She wishes to thank her teachers, students, and her own mat for their daily inspiration.