Grand Opening!
“If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.” – Buddha
My name is Brittany Dawn Leach. I am the owner of Dawnlight Yoga and a 200-RYT Yoga and Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, as well as a Happiness Life Coach.
I never really felt like I had a calling most of my life. Sure I wanted to be a lawyer as a kid (mostly because I loved Jim Carrey in Liar Liar). Later I wanted to be a Rockette, a writer, a graphic artist. But, like Goldilocks checking out Mama and Papa Bear’s stuff, nothing felt just right. I didn’t realize that my calling was not in things I liked, but in my struggles.
When I was 13, I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety, often having depressive episodes and panic attacks every few weeks. In my early 20s, Attention Deficit Disorder was added to the list. A few years later, I went through a particularly difficult time and became so overwhelmed that my hair began to fall out. I ended up in an emergency room after an evening where I felt intoxicated without having a single drink and fainted on my living room floor. While several doctors failed to figure out the cause, one doctor identified it right away: stress. Stress was confusing my body into thinking I was dying.
It was around this time that a friend and coworker introduced me to yoga which helped me get through on of the toughest moments of my life (even if I didn’t really understand yoga and downward facing dog felt like torture).
A few months after my trip to the ER, I uprooted my life and moved to Waynesboro. I was still under a lot of stress though and soon developed shingles (which I didn’t think you could get at age 26!).
Stress, the natural process that is supposed to help us survive was making me sick, and I soon realized it was the road sign pointing towards my path.
While attending a conference for work, I learned about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and how trauma and stress impact our lifelong health. I became obsessed, studying and reading as much as I possibly could about trauma, the neurobiology and physiology of the stress response, our nervous system, and other related topics. And it all made me realize…I should have been a neurobiologist! But, since all the schooling required felt out of reach, I knew where my true path lead: Healing.
Everything I read or researched lead to the same destination, a big glowing sign that read yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. The science was undeniable, living in the present moment, expressing gratitude, regulating breathing, and quieting the mind were the most powerful tools and they came built in.
So I tried them.
I can’t claim that my life is now perfect or that I don’t get sad or angry or stressed, but now those moments feel like more of a pinch than a punch in the gut.
That is what I hope to share with my community. Dawnlight Yoga offers yoga classes that are not just physically healing but mentally healing as well. I believe that practicing our breath, body, and mind connection can help us live happier, healthier lives. That when we make space for ourselves to heal, we can give ourselves and those around us more grace and compassion. That a community that breathes together is stronger and more resilient. That each breath, like the first light of dawn, is a new beginning.
That is my path.
Dawnlight Yoga is here to help you on your yoga journey to physical and mental wellness. For more information about classes, events, workshops, and more, visit dawnlightyogastudio.com or follow the studio on Facebook and Instagram @dawnlightyoga.
