About Us Teachers

Santosha Yoga is a locally owned and operated studio where all are welcome to experience the benefits and transformational potential of yoga. Our purpose is to provide a beautiful space and supportive environment for all to physically, mentally, and spiritually feel better. Staffed by experienced, enthusiastic, and kind-hearted instructors - Santosha Yoga offers classes in the Iyengar Yoga tradition. The common thread of our teachers is a commitment to improving their knowledge, expertise, and instructional effectiveness. Our teachers are either Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers (CIYT) or working towards their Iyengar Yoga certification.

Santosha simply means contentment - contentment in the present moment! Santosha allows one to experience the fullness and potential of life.

Teachers

Michelle is the founder of Santosha Yoga and a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher (CIYT). She began practicing yoga in 1997 and started teaching in the Denver area in 2002. Michelle is very grateful for the opportunity to study the yoga sutras, yogic philosophy, meditation, and astrology for over fourteen years with her guru, Goswami Kriyananda. Her primary yoga instructors include Craig Kurtz, Leslie Bradley, and many senior Iyengar Yoga teachers. Michelle's compassionate and balanced teaching style incorporates principles of alignment, focused awareness, and mindfulness.

Rick a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher (CIYT) started practicing yoga on his own in 1984 when he bought a used copy of Richard Hittleman's Yoga 28 Day Exercise Plan in order to relieve chronic back pain. In 1988 he began taking Hatha Yoga classes as a way to bring balance back to his body from years of serious athletic training and outdoor pursuits. Since 2001, Rick has dedicated himself to the study and practice of yoga.

Lisa has been studying and teaching in the tradition of Iyengar Yoga since 2001 and is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher (CIYT) . She has had the good fortune to study with the founder of Iyengar Yoga, Yogacharya Sri B.K.S. Iyengar, as well as with many of his senior teachers; including Patricia Walden, Manouso Manos, John Schumacher and Mary Dunn. Yoga is Lisa's passion. Iyengar Yoga is used therapeutically and Lisa applied the knowledge directly to herself to heal from a difficult injury. Creating a supportive environment in her classes, students are able to deepen and strengthen their yoga practice, as she assists students to find comfort and confidence; addressing the needs of each individual.

Robin took her first yoga class in 2000 and was immediately hooked. She started teaching in 2004 and is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher (CIYT) and also holds a certification at the 500 hour level through Yoga Union in New York City. In 2007, she was an inaugural teacher at Yoga Union Center for Back care and Scoliosis in Manhattan, is certified as a Yoga for Scoliosis Trainer by Elise Browning Miller, and continues yoga therapy studies with the Svastha Yoga Therapy Program. In 2011, she returned to her native Colorado and looks forward to continue sharing yoga with the Denver community. More info at www.robinthorpe.com.

Darren is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher (CIYT) and has been practicing yoga for 10 years. He deeply appreciates the opportunities he has had to study with many knowledgeable teachers in the Iyengar Yoga tradition both locally and in the larger yoga community. He is especially drawn to the practice of yoga because of its use of the body to work with the mind. He is excited at the prospect of sharing this practice with others.

Sawyer is a certified Intermediate Junior II Iyengar Yoga teacher (CIYT) with 40 plus years of experience. She has made four trips to India to study with the Iyengars, and here in the U.S. has studied with May Dunn, Dean and Rebecca Lerner, Manouso Manos, George Purvis, Gloria Goldberg, the Chanchanis, and Devki Desai. She is dedicated to the Iyengar system and to helping others reap the benefits of this most auspicious yoga method. She finds great joy in the practice of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion and in mantra yoga, chanting and singing with others.

Greta began practicing yoga in 2008. She received her Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200) certification in 2009. In 2010 she received a 16hr Belly Bliss and a 20hr Yoga Alliance prenatal yoga certifications. Not long after, she discovered Iyengar Yoga and has been practicing and studying the method ever since. She is now a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher (CIYT) and in 2015 had the great opportunity of attending a 10 day intensive with Geeta Iyengar in India.

Tiffany has been practicing yoga regularly since 2002 and became a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) in 2016, completing the Hatha Yoga certification course through the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Chicago. She has studied in the Ashtanga and Iyengar methods as well, and is certified in group fitness instruction and personal training. Tiffinay is passionate about health and believes that wellness and joy are the birthrights of every human soul. She loves sharing the freedom and transformation that arises from practicing yoga. Tiffany strives to make her classes accessible to and beneficial for every body, especially ones that have limitations due to injury, illness, or fear.

Charlotte went to a hatha yoga class to regain mobility after a knee injury and discovered a beautiful world of inner and outer flexibility and strength. She graduated the Temple of Kriya Yoga first in 2010 with her 200-hour hatha yoga teaching certification, then in 2014 with a teaching certification in meditation. She also teaches prenatal yoga. Charlotte holds an MS in both biomedical visualization and human nutrition, and loves to teach seminars that blend yoga with anatomy, physiology, and diet. Moreover, yoga brings balance to her practices of qi gong, tai chi, and arnis as well as her professional practice as a dietitian focused on integrative and functional medicine. As she weaves compassion, science, and playfulness into her classes, Charlotte feels truly blessed to be able to share the benefits of asana with others.

Amanda just moved to Wheat Ridge from the Bay Area, California. She was first introduced to yoga in 2006 while recovering from knee surgery. Amanda travelled to India for her first 200 hour training in 2012. Since then, she's been to nearly 20 countries studying, practicing, retreating, and teaching. In 2015, she also completed the SmartFLOW training with renowned teacher, Annie Carpenter, who she continues to study with. Amanda's classes focus on fundamental poses, foundational alignment, and feelin' good! Here is what one of her California students had to say: "In class, Amanda embodies a unique blend of intensity and calmness, of discipline and relaxed playfulness--a sort of walking embodiment of sthira sukha."

Amy is a Registered Yoga Teacher through the Yoga Alliance (RYT-200).She began dipping her toes into yoga in 2012 while she was healing a running injury. She became a dedicated Iyengar Yoga practitioner the moment she experienced her first Iyengar Yoga class. This method has empowered and strengthened her to carry on despite chronic challenges with scoliosis and degenerative disc disease. Iyengar Yoga has become a source of healing in body, mind and spirit for Amy. She is passionate about her daily practice as well as sharing this vast method with others. She is currently a 2nd year Iyengar Yoga teacher trainee and actively works with her mentor, Craig Kurtz, at the Iyengar Yoga Center Denver. She has been blessed to have learned from Leslie Bradley, Lisa Beckwith-Wolf, Dana Hanazeski, Angie Woyar, Garth Mclean, Carrie Owerko and Rebecca Lerner.