Leslie St. John 

Yoga and writing are my two greatest passions. At 22, after many years of struggling with an eating disorder, yoga returned me to a loving relationship with my body; what was once my antagonist is now my ally. As a kid, I taped poems to the back of my father’s office door; as a teenager, I poured confessional poems into lock-and-key diaries; and as an adult, I studied literature in graduate school; writing has been my primary method of inner knowing and outward expression. In my thirties, I prayed to synthesize seemingly disparate aspects of my life—yogi/teacher/writer—and imagined a practice both spiritually fulfilling and deeply creative; thus, Prose & Poses emerged.

I help you connect to your muse, so you can get "unstuck."


I know about being stuck. After an injury that caused me to lose my eye at seventeen, I lived with a sense of diminishment. I told myself limiting stories about who I am, how I can show up in the world, and whether or not I was worthy to receive love. Through yoga, talk & somatic therapies, and writing, I’ve rescripted those beliefs. Most notably the story of my prosthetic eye. Rather than evidence of brokeness, I now live with art in my body. This wound and subsequent healing have become a source of depth and beauty I seek to share with you, my fellow traveler.


Through movement and writing, I help you unshackle creativity, feel your body as an ally, and cultivate self-intimacy.

I offer workshops and retreats along the Central Coast, including my favorite wine country oasis, Sagrada Wellness, and boutique hotel, Vagabond’s Inn House. Because traveling allows us to access new vistas inside ourselves, I also teach retreats internationally in Mexico and Switzerland. I received my MFA from Purdue University, where I served as poetry editor for the Sycamore Review. I am author of Beauty Like a Rope, a chapbook by Word Palace Press and Art of Letting Go, a freelensed photo-poem collaboration with Annie Hock. You can find my poetry and creative nonfiction in Teach.Yoga, Apersus Quartery, Cimarron Review, Crab Orchard Review, Florida Review, Indiana Review, Oxford American, Pinch, Rebelle Society, and Verse Daily. A 500hr RYT, I am richly blessed to have studied with Tias Little, Noah Maze, and Rochelle Schieck. I teach Writing, Romanticism, and Poetry at Cal Poly, where I facilitated the publication of Unveiling Self: A Collection of Student Memoirs. You can find me writing at a coffee shop, hunting antiques, or hiking with my husband and our dogs in San Luis Obispo.  

 
 

Leslie St. John combines her passions of writing and yoga in her practice, Prose and Poses, which she hopes will help people cultivate self-intimacy. Music: https://www.bensound.com

 
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