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.
deb c.
Mobility & Foam Rolling
Deb is passionate about all kinds of movement. Exercise has always been a big part of her life. One of Deb’s goals is to not only age gracefully, but with an able body and mind to whatever degree possible. Movement and self-care is critical to wellbeing. She enjoys challenging, vigorous types of activity, and also calming stillness. Teaching aerobics, spinning and cross-country skiing has brought Deb many years of enjoyment and mobility. She is also thankful to have an ongoing Iyengar yoga practice to compliment her other passions: cycling & hiking. Deb looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm with you! Please join her for functional fitness & movement and let’s work together!
Laura G.
Prana Vinyasa
Laura Gordon’s healing journey began in 2010, when yoga brought her a profound sense of belonging—both on earth and within her own body. Her path led her to train with Shiva Rea in India and Costa Rica, where she completed a transformative 500-hour Prana Vinyasa program. This unique practice, deeply resonant with Laura, propelled her into her most soul-fulfilling connection with yoga.
Laura’s background is enriched by her 200-hour alignment-based Vinyasa and therapeutic yoga training with Amy Ippoliti, which brings an additional layer of mindful alignment and care to her teaching. Join Laura for an experience that will leave you feeling grounded, revitalized, and deeply connected.
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
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.
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.
Morgan h.
Morgan Herum began a disciplined yoga practice in 2008 and started teaching in 2014 after completing a 200-hour training in Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga. She expanded her knowledge by studying Bhakti Yoga at Raghunath Cappo’s Supersoul Academy 500-hour program in India and studying in Amy Matthew’s Embodied Anatomy and Kinesiology. Morgan integrates ancient yoga wisdom into her teachings and into her life by mindfully choosing a plant-based diet, minimalist consumerism, composting, and engaging in a life of service. Much of her time is devoted to improving the quality of life for horses by providing natural hoof care and holistic horse boarding.
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 and Luciana Ross 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.
Carol L.
Traditional Hatha Yoga & Mindful Yin Yoga
Carol 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.
Carol 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.
Lou Hayes
Lou Hayes began his journey into yoga in 1979 with the “Light on Yoga”, manual of Asanas. Fast forward to Basalt, Colorado, spring of 1997 and an ad in the local classifieds offering one week of free yoga classes. This introduction to Bikram Hot Yoga forever changed his life. Lou completed Bikram’s teacher training in 2001, advanced teacher training in Barcelona, Spain in 2008, while he owned and operated two studios: one in Aspen (2001-2005) and one in Paonia (2001-2016). Since then Lou has continued his practice privately and is looking forward to helping you …”Lock the knee, lock the knee, lock the knee.”