Ryan Leier on 5 simple truths about life, yoga and youth.

Yoga teacher Ryan Leier has been described as not so much a person but an experience. His Ashtanga- and Iyengar-informed teaching is imbued with a playful big-heartedness that just isn’t satisfied until every single student is having more fun than they ever thought possible in a yoga class.

Growing up in an athletic family in Saskatoon, Canada, Leier—who started out as a hockey player—fell in love with basketball at age 11. Few of his fans would guess that by the time he found yoga, Leier had been a point guard for nearly 15 years in a career that saw him drafted to a semi-professional basketball team in Iceland.

Ryan is a global lululemon ambassador and founder of One Yoga & Vinyasa Yoga for Youth.

Ryan is teaching 4 workshops at BLOOM and we just caught up with him to ask a few questions. The answers are simple and profound. 

Yoga is … 

Connection and awareness.

Where did your desire to teach and connect with youth begin? 

I've always loved kids and was studying to be a teacher in university.  Coaching kids in summer basketball camps was a great joy earlier in life.

What advice do you wish you could go back and tell your teenage self? 

Don't try to fit in. Be yourself. Develop healthy habits.

What as a society can we do right now, where we are, with what we have, to start bettering our world? 

Be kind, be truthful and real.

What do you hope people feel and experience while in your classes? 

Freedom and focus.