Instructors
Our Dedicated Teaching Staff
Our yoga teachers embody what it means to live from love and through asana they put love into motion. Yoga teachers are like master gardeners; they nourish small seeds through collective practice and breath-work. They hold space for still introspection, and facilitate collective movements that enliven people and provide tools that help us understand what it means to thrive! All of us at Paonia Yoga & Movement Center are committed to spreading the love through movement. We trust that if we can move and love one individual then they can become a beacon of love and light for those we cannot reach.
Chloe C.
Vinyasa Flow, Hot Yoga and Yin
Chloe fell in love with movement growing up training in ballet, contemporary and modern dance. She has been practicing yoga seriously for the last twelve years while living in New York, Montreal, Colorado and working a career in documentary film. Chloe completed her 200-hour teacher training this summer with Modo Yoga in Montreal — a school that combines the precision of therapeutic yoga with the foundations of traditional practice — and has been teaching with her studio in Quebec since then. Chloe believes in yoga’s ability to create connection, peace and compassion in our ever more chaotic world and is excited to teach and build community here.
chanel b.
Heated Morning Flow, Kundalini
Chanel has planted seeds of wisdom in yoga communities spanning southern California and southwestern Colorado. She has collaborated with other powerful teachers to produce teacher training programs and other yoga curriculums in studios and schools across the western slope. Chanel acquired the Yoga House in Montrose in 2019 where she supported a thriving yoga community through the challenges of the pandemic. Chanel is committed to creating a nurturing environment in every class so the studio feels like a yoga home to all. Come in for Chanel’s class to experience a transformative journey of wisdom through movement and storytelling!
Take time to make your soul happy
El R.
El Roads, CPYT has a passion for blooming things–a palm frond unfurling, a book fanning open, flowers and fruits maturing — that sensational expression and forgoing of bounds. As a power yoga teacher, El has spent the past 12 years exploring the effort and ease of blooming things through breath and movement. She leads a balanced practice that encourages stillness, develops strength, and invites grace to the mat.
Her formal training and teaching journey began at Omaha Power Yoga with teacher Jeff Beaudoin, and continued with Rudy Mettia and Bryan Kest of Santa Monica Power Yoga. El has also trained in Yin, Hatha, Anusara, and Prenatal Yoga with teachers Carole Westerman, Christina Sell, and Gina Caputo.
Off the mat, El keeps busy as a cat mom, novice gardener, classical musician, and corporate trainer.
Megan D.
Megan is constantly inspired and grounded by the natural world around her, blessed to call the Western Slope home. Spending the majority of her life in Colorado, she landed in Paonia in March of 2023, after spending many years in the Four Corners region. She recently completed her 200-hour RYT certification with School Yoga Institute and teaches Hatha and Vinyasa classes that build upon the powerful foundation of breath. Megan came to yoga as an important milestone in her healing journey, finding great solace in the connections between breath and movement. In other parts of life, Megan is a community activist and program facilitator, and can be found gardening, trail running, spending beloved time with her two dogs and partner, and generally exploring the wonders of the North Fork Valley.
Here and now is where yoga begins
ASHLEY S.
Ashley has great interest in the therapeutic benefits of yoga, which she continues to foster with on-going classes, workshops, and mentorships. She has been teaching since 2006, and practicing yoga regularly since the 90’s. Ashley is a 500-RYT certified teacher in the Iyengar style, and she has completed extensive training with Francisco Kaiut in the therapeutic method. She studied personally with the founder of the original hot yoga. Ashley also provides energy work sessions for clients at the studio or your own location. She continues to teach classes and workshops in Paonia and at various studios across the Western Slope of Colorado.
SOPHIE T.
Sophie was introduced to yoga by her parents who came home one night while she was in elementary school proclaiming “Look! We can do headstands!” Since then, her yoga practice has evolved with her through the ups and downs of life.
She has been fortunate beyond measure to have grown up with the teachings and loving mentorship of Jen Breen and Misty Dawn as well as the animating work of Bayo Akomolafe, Sophie Strand, Karen Barad, and Toni Spencer. These days, she teaches a slow vinyasa flow with a balanced sprinkle of pranayama and guided meditation.
Anandi L.
Traditional Hatha Yoga & Mindful Yin Yoga
Anandi has been a dedicated yoga practitioner since 2005 and has taught for over a decade. E-RYT 500 (Experienced-Registered Yoga Teacher 500) and YAI 200 (Yoga Alliance International 200) certified, she has deep roots in Traditional Hatha Yoga with Swami Vidyananda, Iyengar Yoga with Usha Devi, and other great masters in India. During her many visits to India, she also studied Classical Indian Raga Music in Varanasi, exploring its healing sounds through Esraj.
Anandi offers various styles of yoga and sound meditation, with a focus on Traditional Hatha Yoga & Mindful Yin Yoga for physical and mental wellness.
Chrissy Y.
Chrissy is a Sovereign Being whose life path is one of serving and teaching others, and living life as a “way-shower” and sacred lifestyle shifter. Chrissy is a life-long yogini who fell in love with the connective energetic flow of yoga in her first studio class in Mazatlan Mexico, at the age of 12. After an abundance of dedication to her own practice, she became a certified 200hr teacher at House of AUM yoga studio in 2017. Before Chrissy found yoga she was also dedicated to the martial arts where she was introduced to the concept of Chi, or as we call it in yoga–asana with pranayama and intention! She is honored by all she crosses paths with in this human experience, in whatever now moment we find one another, and she looks forward to meeting you on your mat.
Vincenzo F.
Vincenzo is a nature lover, herbalist, and functional fitness trainer dedicated to helping others reconnect with their strength and vitality through intentional movement and breath. A longtime advocate of holistic health, he blends calisthenics, mobility, and mindful conditioning to create a grounded, empowering experience for every student.
After overcoming Lyme disease at 15 and recovering from an ACL tear, Vincenzo developed a deep appreciation for the body’s resilience and the power of training with purpose. His approach integrates movement, breathwork, and natural living to build strength that lasts — on and off the mat.
He also runs Sacred Mountain Fitness & Botanicals, his own practice focused on holistic fitness, herbal wellness, and functional health rooted in nature. Vincenzo is honored to join the studio community and share his passion for mindful, functional movement with this inspiring new space and team!
Hannah E.
Hatha Yoga, Slow Flow, and Acro Yoga
Hannah has been practicing yoga for the past 15 years and teaching since 2014. In 2011, she traveled to India to deepen her understanding of Ayurvedic medicine and yoga. She received her 200 hour teacher training at Samadhi studio in Denver, trained in the Hatha style. Over the years, Hannah has continued to deepen her knowledge of the human body, completing her doctorate in naturopathic medicine and studying Shiatsu bodywork. She integrates the knowledge of all her studies into her yoga practice. Her goal when teaching yoga is to help her students rebalance and reset their nervous system. She loves a good restorative, yin, or slow flow vinyasa class!
Deb C.
Hatha Yoga, Therapeutic Yoga, Functional Fitness, Foam Rolling
Laura N.
Graham M.
Graham dreamt of being an exercise instructor ever since he found exercise to be such a potent medicine for overcoming depression. He was in school studying about exercise, diet and the body while applying what he learned to himself. His most primary and powerful medicines have always been muscle training and nutrition.
Graham was reborn in 2008, the year of the snake; that is when he came out of a three month coma, brought on by a rare tropical disease. Doctors gave up on him and opted to pull the plug because they thought his brain damage was so severe that he would never come out of the coma or make a recovery. He came out of the coma about two weeks later. With focus and vision, he brought himself to independence and to his current harnessing of self worth. The past year has been very transformational for Graham as he has learned to trust in himself and not rely on old patterns. He wants to inspire clients with his raw life experience.
Laura lunblad
Slow Flow, Vinyasa, Yin
Laura became interested in yoga back in 1987 as a way to calm her college nerves.She checked out a Hatha Yoga book from the library and studied the postures in her tiny bedroom. Life got in the way, and it wasn’t until 2000 when she wandered into a yoga studio for the first time, and found a practice and community that changed her life. She found that synchronizing breath with movement provided a profound medicine for her physical and mental well being. She completed a teacher training program in 2020, and she’s a 200-hour certified Vinyasa based teacher. As a lifelong student, Laura’s studies continue with an emphasis on meditation and yin yoga. Laura looks forward to meeting you in class and excited to share the power of this ancient practice!
Claire Zane Murphy
ClaireZane walked out of her first yoga class feeling humbled, breath expanding her lungs nearly twice their normal capacity, and noticing a strange yet familiar calm in her entire state of being. Inspired by the practice, ClaireZane has since completed teacher trainings with San Francisco’s Yoga Tree studios and went on to complete leadership trainings making her an ambassador for Off the Mat and Into the World, an organization building community around bridging the tools of yoga on and off the mat. ClaireZane also practices and teaches Acro Yoga, a combination of partner yoga, acrobatics, and Thai massage.
Samantha Thompson
Vinyasa Flow, Beginner’s Yoga
Samantha’s fitness journey started in 2019, she has enjoyed many forms of exercise over the years, including bootcamps, yoga, CrossFit, and powerlifting. Samantha strongly believes in the connection of mind, body and spirit; when we get stronger in one area, we improve and get stronger in the other areas of our well-being. Yoga, for her, is a great way to incorporate all of these into one practice.
Since moving to Paonia in 2021, Samantha’s passion for health and wellness has continued to evolve. She has obtained certifications as a Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach and Yoga Instructor. She looks forward to continuing to learn as well as teach and coach others along their personal journeys.
levitie Dryke
Levitie believes we live our best lives when we stay in flow and consciously connect with Life. For her that means daily intentional spiritual practice, deep personal work, inner listening, intuitive living, and conscious relationship to self, each other and our world. Join her to spark the fire of transformation with joy and levity.