My (shared) practice
My yoga shared practice is deeply informed by my background as a contemporary dancer and choreographer, as well as by artistic research rooted in breath work, rhythm and repetition. It is primarily intended for practitioners with experience in movement who use the body as a vehicle for connection, awareness and transcendence—whatever that may mean for each individual. The class follows the structure of a traditional Hatha Yoga practice, including Mantra, Kriyā (purifications), Āsana (physical postures), Yoga Nidrā (relaxation), Prāṇāyāma (breath work) and Meditation, always in dialogue with the realities of the present moment.
Each class carries specific focuses and intentions—alignment, particular body areas, energetic pathways or qualities of breath. I often incorporate imagery and knowledge from other disciplines such as somatic embodiment and astrology in order to deepen the understanding of each posture. For me, the āsana is not only a shape but also a state: a container of intensity, breath, movement, stillness, internal locks, tempo and attention.
This is not only a physical practice, although it is fully embodied. It is also a way of bringing yoga into daily life, trusting that repetition creates the conditions for revelation and that technique exists to organise energy, perception and presence. Influenced by principles of Advaita Tantra, the practice recognises the body not as an obstacle but as a sacred instrument of consciousness, where the material and the spiritual are not separate, where awareness can be cultivated through sensation, relation and lived experience. The body becomes a microcosmic vehicle of alignment with the macrocosmos: we enter the body more fully in order to experience what exceeds it.


Certified Yoga Teacher – 200H (Yoga Alliance International) by Casa da Alma, Porto - 2020-2021 (1 year)
Extensive Education at Casa Ganapati, Porto - 2022 - 2024 (2 years)
Trainee in Katonah Yoga ®
The development of Cristina Planas Leitão’s practice arises from her previous experience as a performer and from a long-term engagement with embodied, philosophical and contemplative studies. Her research includes Hatha Yoga, Advaita Vedanta and later Advaita Tantra, studied with teachers such as Harmony Hannigan, Miguel Homem, Ana Sereno, Tomaz Zorzo, Cláudia Villadelprat, Simão Monteiro and Jorge Saraiva. She has also studied Katonah Yoga with Dages Juvelier Keates and with Katonah Yoga teachers internationally, integrating its symbolic, architectural and energetic approaches into her wider practice. Her interest in symbolic systems and embodiment further extends to astrology, having studied Astrology and Embodiment with Renée Sills and, since 2018, Vedic Astrology with Rita Diamond Casais. These diverse fields of knowledge inform a contemporary practice where movement, perception, ritual and critical inquiry intersect.