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Tina Leigh, a Portland author, health coach, entrepreneur and yogi, died Wednesday. She was 38.
Leigh passed away after surgery to remove breast implants she'd gotten at age 21. She'd recently decided to have them removed because she experienced negative side effects.
"I will lie vulnerably on the surgeon's table to honor the natural frame I was born with," she wrote in her penultimate blog post, on April 10. "I will be going under the knife this time because I love my body. Not because I don't."
"Off to dream of a seamless surgery, swift recovery, comfort, and peace of mind!" reads the caption on her last Instagram photo, a picture of her hands in a prayer, pressed to her forehead. "Time to return to the natural state of me."
The Beaverton High graduate was known for her wellness company, Haute Health, and for crafting recipes for Kure Juice Bar. She also wrote four books, including the Balanced Raw cookbook, and constantly inspired an international following with her health-based blog posts and body-positive messages.
Friends remember Leigh as a natural leader, graceful and inspiring.
"Seeing her was glimpsing the empowered woman you could be in your 30s," said Lydia Buesseler, who graduated from yoga teacher training with Leigh.
After Beaverton High, Leigh attended Dixie State University in Utah and stayed stayed there, founding a pre-made meal company called Urban Cuisine in 1999 with her brother Garth, before moving to San Diego in 2002.
When she returned to Portland in 2010, Leigh dove wholeheartedly into her career as a wellness entrepreneur. She graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, collaborated with Root Whole Body and Kure, and launched her own consulting business to help others maintain a healthy life.
With her charisma and dedication to self-acceptance, Leigh inspired a following.
"She was a natural leader and mentor," says Skylor Powell, founder of Sprout Health in Portland, "so graceful and articulate."
Willamette Week