Leslie Kaminoff is a yoga educator and internationally recognized specialist with over four decades’ experience in the fields of yoga, breath anatomy and bodywork. He is the co-author of best selling book, "Yoga Anatomy," co-founder of The Breathing Project, as well as creator of yogaanatomy.net and popular online publication e-Sutras, which see participation from around the globe.

Episode Contains Sensitive Content (please listen to intro or read below)

Leslie is a great conversationalist and he and Kathryn discourse across a variety of subjects mostly as they relate to yoga, anatomy and the body. Leslie shares information about the roots of "Yoga Anatomy," and the challenges of writing a book about such complex subject matter as it relates to movement, stillness, energy, breath, science and philosophy. He also lets us in on some of his personal history through life, yoga and bodywork. Leslie's depth of knowledge is completely self-taught by way of life and interest, landing on personal philosophies and fields of interest that carry with the assumption that we never stop learning. The pair also dive into pain science, tissue damage, somatics, Yoga Alliance and more.

As with many open conversations that lean into topics like "yoga injuries" and the Westernization of yoga culture, it is often difficult to avoid that wandering into sensitive and shadowed territory. As pain science reaches over to somatics and real world applications, cult mentality and power dynamics are also touched upon. We planned for this interview to be centred around anatomy, yoga, and Leslie's storied experience with both, however, this also opened up some unexpected dialogue that Kathryn found herself unprepared for in the moment. This being at a loss for words was a first for Kathryn since these interviews and this podcast began and so, true to the authenticity we hope our interviews carry and to the ethos of Mindful Strength, we leave all of this for you to hear, inviting you to move with us in our learnings, challenging moments, and our evolution.