Leta Lindstrom

As a child, I was always asking questions. It seemed that people either couldn’t or woudn’t answer them.It made me look within. I always felt like I had a different perspective of the world. This made me keep my views to myself. As I got older, I started to read and discovered that there are many other people who share my views.

I have always felt a need to help people. In school I would befriend all the kids who were being bullied. This didn’t make me very popular, but it’s what I needed to do.

After I graduated from highschool I wanted to join the peace corps and help people all over the world. I married my highschool sweetheart instead.

I went to work for an Orthodontist. I loved it because I helped shy, insecure kids get beautiful smiles. By the end of treatment they couldn't stop smiling. It was rewarding. But I wanted to do more. I started helping at my gym. The gym was funded by a government grant. The objective was to keep youth busy and out of trouble after school. I helped train the girls for bodybuilding competitions. I enjoyed it so much that I started competing with them. And won! This began my love of fitness.

In 2008, when my kids were 5 and 7, we decided to sell everything we owned and move to China. We had an admiration of the culture and thought we could all learn the language. We also thought the kids would benefit from seeing how people live in other countries. This is where I first found yoga. I took a belly dance and a latin dance class too, but the yoga class stuck with me. Our two years in China made a huge impact in my life.

Back in America again in 2010, and back to work for an Orthodontist. But this time, we were also treating people with sleep apnea in the office. I loved it! I was helping improve the quality of lives and even saving lives. I’m still helping treat sleep apnea today. My son also works for a sleep apnea doctor in Texas.

One hobby of mine is art. In 2018 I started hosting paint parties. It is a lot of fun. Many people told me that it felt like therapy. I loved that idea so much that I even thought about trying to be an art therapist. But I was too busy at work.

I decided to get certified as a personal trainer and pound instructor. I thought I might be able to help my patients with more than just apnea.

Meanwhile, I joined the Sierra Vista Sunrise Rotary club. I love it because we do so much good through service in our community. I’m hoping to eventually help with disaster relief and vaccine administration through the Rotary International program.

I am happy to say that my daughter has developed a passion for fitness and nutrition as well. We both wanted to get certified to teach yoga. But we knew we wanted to teach it in a more spiritual way than the common western approach which emphasizes strictly fitness. So, I said, “We need to go to the source”. That is how we ended up in Rishikesh, India. We took a leap of faith, hopped on a 28 hour flight to Delhi, a 5 and a half hour taxi ride to Rishikesh and a treacherous little hike in the pouring rain down to a beautiful ashram at the base of the Himalayas and at the edge of the Ganges river. Wow! There are no words to describe the spiritual connection I felt there. I knew I was right where I needed to be.

I went through very rigorous and demanding holistic yoga teacher training. I had only a half day off per week where I got to meditate in a cave deep in the jungle, practice yoga on the beach of the Ganges, learn to cook some delicious food, walk through the busy streets petting cows and taking in all the smells and colors. Unforgettable.

There is so much more I want to learn. I never want to stop learning new things to expand my knowledge and my physical and spiritual health. I am excited to bring a little piece of India here to you. Any age or fitness level CAN do yoga. I would love to teach chair yoga as a way to help people improve coordination, strength, balance, flexibility and spirituality.