I was born and raised in Texas and moved to Montrose in 1991. I taught elementary school for 28 years and retired in 2023. I am married to a native Montrosian and a master craftsman. We have two children, a son-in-law, a grand puppy and two grandbabies. I enjoy walking, paddle boarding, yoga, music, learning, teaching, hiking, reading, studying, and maintaining our home. However, all these things are much more meaningful when done with family and friends.
Somatically, sports and exercise of all kinds, carried me through most of my life, followed by yoga in 2016. I had very little understanding of what yoga was other than poses and posture (asana). After practicing the third limb of yoga for a few years, sensing and experiencing more, I began to study the eightfold path, called ashtanga, of Pantajali’s Yoga Sutra. This pathway was very similar to the Christian upbringing I had, and I very much related to the eight limbs. In 2020 as my father was dying and amidst the Covid shutdown, I studied for my 200-hr YTT with Living Soul Institute out of Parker, CO. This was a very sweet time for me as I experienced communion in a very different way than I had previously. The calm in the midst of all that uncertainty really grew my faith and taught me more of what faith is. I have come to a personal understanding of the healing aspects of yoga, breath, mindfulness and meditation.
Since that time, I have completed my 300-hr YTT training, offering private trauma sensitive yoga and teaching for Comeback Yoga, a non-profit that provides free yoga for the military community. I find joy in serving others through the practice of yoga. I have found that the moral and ethical conduct and self-discipline of yoga moves me to deeper and more meaningful healing. I hope to encourage that in each participant. It is an honor to practice with each of you.
Born and raised in Mendocino, California, Andrea has spent the last 22 years in Crested Butte. A new resident of Montrose, she is excited to add something new and empowering to Yoga House. Andrea is a Schwinn certified cycle instructor and ACE certified group trainer. As an instructor in Crested Butte for the last 8 years she has taught a cross section of strength, HIIT, and cycle classes at varying levels, ages and goals. As a Yogi herself, contributing to the class offerings and joining an awesome group of instructors is much anticipated!
I come to serve you with over 25 years experience working in somatic healing, therapeutic bodywork, breathwork and coaching. Over the years, I have used these modalities to heal myself and many others.
I fully believe in the work I do and I know how to challenge you to shift the mindset that has you feeling like you are not enough.
Beyond my training and work experience, I have a lived experience that drives me to do this work. I’ve witnessed too many loved ones give into the dis-ease of being human and check out of life and I didn’t want that to be my story. I made the decision to be radically responsible and do the deep inner work to heal. I found freedom.
I ultimately want to serve others and guide them toward their own freedom as they discover they are their own healers.
In her late teens, Brittany discovered that the practice of vinyasa yoga opened a portal to healing from disordered eating, and to being truly comfortable in her own body.
She completed her initial yoga instructor training several years later, and has since shared her love of the practice with numerous students in Texas and Colorado over the last decade.
Brittany views yoga as a daily opportunity to look deeper into oneself, and appreciates the nuances within each posture. Her classes are grounding and challenging; a mix of foundational sequencing and playful movements.
Each time she teaches, Brittany aims to guide her students toward a deeper awareness that begins with intentional yoga postures, steady breath, and a focused gaze.
I have been practicing yoga since 2002 and in 2013, I took my 200 hr teacher training from Full Circle Yoga in Longmont, Colorado. I love to move my body and connect to my breath and mind through movement. Yoga brings balance to my life with the other outdoor activities that I love to participate in. My classes seek to balance all of the activities and stresses that we have in our daily lives. I am excited to be part of the Yoga House community in Montrose!
Sara Antonía Schifino is a Transpersonal Life Coach, NLP Practitioner and Yoga Instructor.
Her love of yoga began in a college class in 1995. With a background in gymnastics and
dance, she was initially fascinated by the way yoga invites a deeper relationship with the
body and the breath. After spending much of her 20s and 30s walking various spiritual
paths, she credits yoga with bringing her back home to herself. Since then, her love and
practice of yoga has expanded to include all 8 Limbs. Sara Antonía completed her 200-hr
teacher training in 2008 and has taught in AZ, WA and CO since then. Initially trained in
Hatha Yoga, she now teaches Vinyasa and Flow classes that are informed by roots in
Iyengar. She is inspired by how asana provides a medium for expression,
self-understanding, and finding a balance between strength and softness. She believes that
how we show up on our mats really is so revealing about how we show up with ourselves, in
relationships, and with the world. That cultivating a practice of “staying with” and getting
curious when we are uncomfortable draws forth the warrior within. Sara Antonía offers
private lessons as well as public classes. When she’s not working with clients or doing
yoga, you’ll find her exploring wild places – both within and without.
I first discovered yoga in college and became serious about my practice after I attended a weeklong yoga
retreat in Ischia, Italy. Upon returning home, I felt a deep desire to teach. I became certified in 2020
right here at the Yoga House! I’ve spent the last few years developing a wellness program/teaching for
River Valley Family Health Center. By day I’m the Chief Medical Officer and by night yoga instructor. Not
only do I love yoga for the strength and flexibility it offers, but the focus and breath work that quiets the
citta vritti (monkey mind). My passion is learning about eastern medicine and practices. I have
completed Reiki Level 1 and Level 2 and ear acupuncture certification. I love gardening and camping. I
teach Vinyasa and Yin Yoga.
I am enlightened each time I teach yoga as it stills the mind and body inspiring all to freely relax without judgment or criticism
and to completely restore balance within themselves and release what no longer serves us in a positive way.
Yoga is an authentic and real way to connect with ourselves.
Yoga allows you to look inward, cultivating compassion for yourself and others while rediscovering the whole you.
I retired after teaching 35 years for the Montrose County School District. I started taking Zumba classes and enjoyed it because I never thought of it as exercise. It was just fun to do! When the instructor quit I decided to get licensed to teach Zumba! I’ve been teaching Zumba, Zumba Gold, Zumba Toning, and Zumba Kids since 2016. I’m also licensed to teach Aqua Zumba, Zumba Step, and Zumba Gold Toning. In addition, I got certified to teach Pound Fitness. It was like Zumba with drumsticks and rock and roll music!
My yoga practice began when friends said that it would balance out the Zumba in life. In the beginning it wasn’t my favorite, I was stiff and not very flexible. It took awhile before I began to enjoy yoga as I learned to get into the asanas. Finally, I really began to see and feel the benefits of yoga. Then I began to “LOVE” yoga! Once again my instructors were moving on so, I got certified in Les Mills Body Flow and began teaching Body Flow in 2018!
Then 2020 hit and the gyms closed. Yoga House braved the pandemic and held a yoga teacher training. I completed my 200 hour teacher training, got certified and became a member of Yoga Alliance.
My classes are usually geared toward my clients whom most may have injuries, joint replacement surgeries, or are just beginning yoga. I tend to go at a gentle rate. We begin with settling in with meditation and breathing, warm up and stretch all parts of our body and then move into our flow with sun salutations and standing strength poses. We add balance and flexibility movements. Then we make our way back to the ground for hip openers, twists, core work, or hamstring stretches. We end class with a relaxation/meditation savasana.
I’ve come to love Zumba and Yoga equally in life. They both balance me and bring joy to my life. Which proves that at any age in life, being active and finding balance and fun in anything you choose to do is the secret to a long and healthy life.
I vaguely remember taking a yoga class here and there in my teenage years, however, nothing really stuck with me until the Fall of 2013. At the time, I was simply searching for a way to start moving my body again. I don’t specifically remember a single class that I connected to and suddenly everything changing; rather, a slow and steady transformation grew with each class. As I started to use muscles I didn’t know I had and gained a sense of body awareness I didn’t know I was missing, something deeper began to shift. I began to learn the power of my breath and how to tap into a sense of inner peace and stillness that had been within me all along. It wasn’t the physical strength and flexibility I gained that surprised me and kept bringing me back to my mat, but rather a deeper sense of self and a new-found ability to work through psychological pain through movement and breath. By the Summer of 2016, yoga had had such a profound positive impact on my life that I couldn’t wait to share its powerful gifts with others, prompting me to enroll in Core Power’s Power Yoga teacher training.
I began teaching yoga for the first time at Yoga House in October of 2018. I currently focus on teaching power yoga style classes that are heated to about 90 degrees. My classes start nice and slow to warm up the body and then build to faster paced vinyasa style flows where we match our movements to our breath. I love adding pulsing movements, slow, repetitive transitions and focused core work to get those muscles burning. The last half of my classes typically focus on a blend of balance and deeper stretches with the occasional arm balance or inversion worked in. We always end in a sweet savasana with essential oil infused, cool towels. I love creating music playlists for my classes that are easy to get lost in while you flow and provide hands-on adjustments (with consent) to aid students in softening into poses we are holding for more than a breath or two. Modifications are always offered and I encourage every student to listen to and honor their body’s needs. Come as you are and let’s flow together.
500 E-RYT Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance and has studied under the auspices of Beryl Bender Birch, Rod Stryker, Rodney Yee, Colleen Saidman and Anusara Yoga.
Board Certified Tai Chi Instructor for Health and Exercise including Arthritis, Fall Prevention, Low Back Pain and Energy 1 & 2 under the auspices of Dr. Paul Lam, Dr. Bob McBrien and Master Trainer Bill Picket
Master Reiki Practitioner in both Usui and Karuna Reiki under the auspices of Annapolis Reiki led by Pat Clarke and Linda Roebuck, (William Rand lineage)
Urban Zen Integrative Yoga Therapist (UZIT) under the auspices of Rodney Yee, Colleen Saidman and Founder Donna Karan
Zazen Meditation under the auspices of Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison and Sensei Robert Chodo Campbell of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care
Certified in Silver Sneakers Yoga & Silver Sneakers Splash
My philosophy is and has always been to get up and get going! Whether it is taking a leisurely stroll or attending a Yoga class, it’s always best to move! And that movement includes moving physical energy through healing arts modalities. Yoga attracted me many years ago when I took my first class and discovered that I could actually connect my mind with my body. It opened me up to a link that had been missing. After years of teaching cardio fitness in aerobics, cycling and weight work, this personal journey had me hooked! I had this incredible desire to get everyone else to experience it as well. This led to Meditation, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Reiki, and Integrative Therapy which uses all of the modalities I love including the use of Essential Oils, Restorative Yoga and Mindful Movements – all of which bring similar energy work to the equation.
I find I sleep better, feel physically fit, have a much calmer outlook and can deal with disruptions with an even keel. It is wonderful to see that so many people have connected to Yoga and meditation all over the world.
I’ve been in the fitness/mind-body industry for almost 40 years and find I am always seeking new things to learn and new ways to teach. I am constantly inspired to inspire others. Balance is key as well as living in the moment.
Ichi-go ichi-e
One moment, one chance…..
