Woman of The Month: Leslie Quimby
I am proud to announce Leslie as WOMAN OF THE MONTH ! Please enjoy learning more about Leslie, her passion for yoga and how she began her business.
MEET LESLIE QUIMBY:
Leslie, please introduce yourself and briefly tell us what influenced you to get into yoga and become a yoga teacher?
My name is Leslie. I'm a certified yoga instructor. I am certified in sound bowl healing, meditation, mindfulness, mental health, and working on other certifications to continue to bring more to my clients and students.
I became a yoga instructor to help others begin to heal and connect to themselves on a deeper level.
The journey to become a yoga instructor was, “ beautifully imperfect.” I had moments of self-doubt, mental breakdowns, illnesses, and everyday life. I learned so much about myself, and in turn, I have been able to find my purpose.
My purpose is to be a healer to those in and around my life. To be able to bring a sense of calm to others living in a world of constant movement.
Before we move on to more questions about you and your business, can you define what Yoga means to you?
The term yoga means union, a journey to yourself and needs.
This practice is much more than yoga poses and physical practice. It's using our breath, bringing awareness to our body, and how it makes you feel. Finding self-realization.
We are constantly living in a world where we are being told to go, go, go. Our mind, body, and soul need time to reset and recharge. Through a daily practice of any kind of yoga, we are able to make connections to our daily life and needs. We are able to slow down and determine what truly needs our time and what can wait.
Yoga of all forms can help reduce overall levels of stress.
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve practiced yoga, what poses or type of yoga you're doing. This practice is called non - judgment and accepting what is.
Yoga comes in many forms of breathing exercises, the physical practice (asana), meditation, mindfulness and grounding.
Tell us what fears you faced prior to starting your business and how did you overcome them?
It all began when I had to think about my business name. I started with a list of names and began to “X” out the ones I thought maybe others may have heard already or ones that didn’t align with what I wanted.
Being stumped by my business name led me to ask myself, “why am i doing this” and “my purpose.”
There are many personal reasons on why I became a yoga instructor.
This was an opportunity for me to learn more wisdom, find my focus, go through all the ups and downs of life, find stillness and clarity, show myself I could go to school and finish, overcome my fear of failing and know I can go through many storms and turn it into something beautiful.
Overall, to remind myself to not “give up, feel the waves as they come, and then move past it."
While my purpose is to help and be a healer. I knew this path would lead me to freeing myself, healing more, and connecting to myself truly.
“No more shame or feeling of, I can't do this. No one can take this moment from me.”
I began to understand the only one holding me back was me. I allowed the voices of others to tell me I wasn't good enough. Including myself!
From that moment forward, I told myself we can do this.
I would write myself notes of what needed to be done for class, tests, assignments, videos, etc. I would always end with, “You bad ass bitch” , “You can do anything” and “We got this.”
“We always had it but we allowed the light to fade, until we said no more. The light began to brighten”
How did you come up with the name Sapphire for your business?
My daughter is a huge part of my why. Sapphire is my daughter’s birthstone.
When I said, “Sapphire” to myself, I knew immediately it was the one.
Sapphires come in a variety of colors and are known as the wisdom stone. It is known they enhance creativity, stimulate concentration, promote purity and depth of thought. It’s been said sapphires are able to focus and calm the mind, remove unwanted thoughts, depression and mental tension.
I have always been into rocks, stones and gems since I was a little girl. My dad used to take my brother and I to a local jewelry store where he had custom jewelry made for my mom. The man who owned the shop always had a new stone for us when we came in and would tell us about it. It was truly magical and just writing this now makes me appreciate those moments even more as they were some of my best ones from childhood.
Interested in joining a yoga class with Leslie via Zoom? Then join us February 11th. It's Free ! Leave a comment or E-mail Leslie.
E-mail: sapphireyoga11@gmail.com
Instagram: @sapphireyoga
Facebook: Sapphire Yoga