The Founder

With over 16 years experience of teaching and practicing various styles, I can tell you that most active yoga practices are performance based practices. A performance based approach demands that the yoga practitioner ‘fit in’ to a certain way of doing things in order to be considered successful in that style. Although this approach can feel powerful as we contort and push ourselves beyond our limits, it is ironically disempowering as it disconnects us from tuning into what we truly need. For many years this was how I taught and practiced. Eventually, through things like injury, lack of interest in yoga and a curious mind I began to seek another way to approach my practice. One of the most challenging shifts for me during this time of transitioning from a performance based practice to one of autonomy and empowerment was letting go of the limiting set of beliefs I carried about what defines a yoga practice. I have come to realise that at the end of the day, a yoga practice is defined by YOU! This empowered approach has led me to want to help people reclaim ownership of their yoga practice and I cannot wait to see you step into your power!

- Jenelle Leat

My Yoga Story

My personal yoga journey started in 2006 when I tried my very first Bikram Yoga (hot hatha yoga) class. In hindsight - as an ex ballet dancer - I can see that I was mainly drawn to the performative aspect of this particular style of yoga, among other things that I felt it offered me at the time. I spent many hours practicing and sweating and crying (lots of tears in my first few years of practicing) before I was presented with the idea of becoming a Bikram Yoga teacher.

I was encouraged to become a teacher due (in part) to the dedication I showed, but mainly due to my physical abilities. I was deemed as being 'good' at yoga just because I was hypermobile and could perform the poses in a way that was glorified. Can you see how this contributes to the general public's idea that a yoga practice is only for people who are already flexible?

I attended Teacher Training in 2007 and after 9 gruelling weeks in what is commonly referred to as the 'torture chamber' (despite being in the gorgeous island of Hawaii) I was back at my home studio, teaching as many classes as I could.

During this time, I also got involved in the sport of competitive yoga. The world of competitive yoga actually doesn't defer too far from what is commonly done in India where skilled yogi's would show off entertaining feats of breath and mind control through public displays. The difference however, is that those of us in the competitive yoga world, weren't lying on a bed of nails with the weight of an elephant on top of us. Instead, we were judged purely on our 5 yoga poses performed in a 3 minute time frame.

From 2007 to 2012, I competed in 3 national competitions between Canada and Australia and 2 international ones in the United States after qualifying. My placement internationally was in the top 10 for two consecutive years while competing against other women from 53 various countries. I was an incredibly proud yogi and dedicated many hours to pushing my physical facility to its limits, however I was losing a love for my yoga practice and gaining many injuries along the way. I started to think to myself, is this really yoga? Through my exploration of competitive yoga (both within myself and coaching others) I began to question the practice that I was teaching and whether or not it was in alignment with health and wellness.

A young woman doing a flexible advanced yoga pose

During competition, LA 2012

Post competition, Australia 2011

A young woman doing an advanced yoga arm balancing pose

Training for competition

In 2014 I fell pregnant with my first child and this really catapulted me into the notion of practicing for therapy, rather than always trying to achieve new depths. In 2016 I took my vinyasa teacher training course in Brisbane and my interest was piqued even further to expand my offerings. I stumbled across YogaSynergy with Simon Borg Olivier and Bianca Machliss. Taking Simon's Anatomy and Physiology course was a HUGE turning point for me where I felt simultaneously excited at the prospect of incorporating this new knowledge AND disheartened at what I had been teaching for so many years. I thoroughly reflected on the damage I had done to both my body and spirit and other people's too! However, I could only move forward and humbly admit that much of what I believed in the past, wasn't actually in alignment with all of the positive health claims that a yoga practice preaches to offer. I was fired up to change what I offered and was lucky enough to teach at a space that was open and accepting of my passions.

I observed that many yoga practitioners (much like myself) were under the impression that unless they fit their body just like so into the correct alignment of each pose (think square peg into round hole) that they weren't getting the full benefits of a yoga practice. This approach perpetuated a 'no pain, no gain' mentality for many people (not to mention a plethora of injuries too!) as they were unknowingly stuck in a cycle of performing and conforming within their yoga practice.

In many yoga styles and various forms of physical activity, this is often the mentality that one has. I saw this mentality play out in combination with the perception that a certain level of flexibility is a prerequisite to practicing yoga, and started to see there was a lack of accessibility and sustainability within many popularised yoga styles. This took me even deeper into my quest as I continued seeking a new way to approach yoga.

After a few years of exploring a more sustainable method of teaching and practicing I decided that the only way to fully express and implement these concepts I was passionate about was to go out on my own, and essentially teach a style that was centred around sustainability, curiosity, harmony and empowerment. So, I opened up my own yoga centre which I operated from 2018 to 2023 and birthed the UnDoing Yoga Method during that time.

This method has connected to my body and my practice in such a harmonious and considerate way. I have become much stronger and far less prone to injury and built up my confidence and inner wisdom both on and off the mat.

Every time I practice or teach I have the opportunity to continuously refine what I find is the most empowered and sustainable way to approach a yoga practice that aligns with personal intentions and needs. This has been such a gift for me, and I look forward to exploring the practice of yoga with you and seeing you step fully into your power!