Leah was born in Oregon, spent her childhood playing in snowy Montana and her teenage years dancing in sunny North Carolina. College and her 20’s was spent in New York where she shifted from her early love of modern dance to the world of cycling and yoga. She moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999 where she began her studies, and then career, as a yoga teacher and bodyworker and became a mom! Summer backpacking trips became an integral part of life and in 2020, her nest empty, she moved her primary residence up to beautiful Sierra City, CA for the mountainous hiking, biking, lake swimming and a quieter life (think: Northern Exposure with a hint of Deadwood).
Oakland is still ‘home’ every two weeks for some days of Barefoot Shiatsu sessions and outdoor yoga classes.
In Sierra City Leah is available to her yoga students via zoom. In town, Barefoot Shiatsu sessions take place at the Old Sierra City Hotel on Main Street. She’s enjoying her role as the new manager for rentals of the Sierra City Community Hall, the home for her (and your?) upcoming retreats.
Barefoot Shiatsu
Leah has over 20 years experience as a massage practitioner. She trained extensively with her primary teacher and mentor, Edward Spencer, at the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, CA where Leah eventually taught as well.
Leah specializes in Barefoot Shiatsu in which the client rests, fully clothed, on a mat on the floor while the practitioner uses primarily her feet to massage the client. Barefoot Shiatsu is appropriate and beneficial for all body types and can accommodate a wide range of preferences from deep to light pressure.
Yoga
Leah has been practicing yoga for nearly 30 years and leading yoga classes for more than 20. She opened Barefoot Movement, a yoga and bodywork studio in Oakland in 2010. Leah is a dedicated student and fan of Devorah Sacks. She also studied extensively with Mark Horner who greatly enriched her experiences in both yoga and backpacking. Her yoga classes often include methods and techniques from her dance, martial arts and bodywork training. She’s interested in engaging her students on an efficient path to more balance, ability and ease in their life.
Leah Gillman 