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.

Teachers

Michelle, is the founder of Santosha Yoga and a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher (CIYT).  Michelle’s yoga journey began in 1997 and ever since then she has devoted her life to the study and practice of yoga.  After receiving her first Yoga teaching certification with Kim Schwartz in 2002, Michelle rented space in Denver and started teaching yoga. Michelle is very grateful for the opportunity to study the yoga sutras, yogic philosophy, meditation, and astrology for sixteen years with her guru, Goswami Kriyananda. Maintaining a daily mediation practice since 1998, Michelle is also a certified meditation teacher thru the Temple of Kriya Yoga, Chicago. Starting in 2011, Michelle has exclusively devoted herself to the study of Iyengar Yoga. Her primary Iyengar Yoga instructors are Craig Kurtz and Leslie Bradley. Additional studies include workshops with many senior Iyengar Yoga teachers and attendance at the 2016 Iyengar National Conference with Abhijata Sridhar, B.K.S. Iyengar’s granddaughter. 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 from a book in 1984 in order to relieve chronic back pain. In 1988, he began taking Hatha Yoga classes to bring
balance back to his body from years of intense athletic training (former Division I and semi-professional soccer player) and serious outdoor pursuits. In order to help heal from back surgery Rick started taking classes at the Iyengar Yoga Center of Denver in 2001. Since then, Rick has dedicated himself to the practice of yoga resulting in earning a Hatha Yoga Teaching Certification in 2011 under the guidance of Kim Schwartz and the Iyengar Introductory I & II combined certification in 2017. Rick is especially grateful for the guidance from his mentors (Leslie Bradley & Craig Kurtz) and the opportunity to study with more than twenty Iyengar Yoga teachers over the years.

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, 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) at the Junior I level 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) at the Junior I level and has been practicing yoga for over 15 years. His deep appreciation for the opportunity to study locally, nationally, and internationally (three trips to India) with many knowledgeable teachers in the Iyengar tradition informs his precise and active teaching style. Darren is especially partial to the practice of Iyengar Yoga because of the importance of how the body works with the mind. Darren is a dedicated student of yoga, and he is working towards the next level of Iyengar certification. He is always excited at the prospect of sharing this transformative practice with others.

Sawyer is a certified Intermediate Iyengar Yoga teacher 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, 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.

Amy is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher (CIYT). 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 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.

Djuna started practicing yoga with Laura Allard-Antelmi in 2011. During one of her first classes, Laura shared a teaching inspired by B.K.S. Iyengar, “Yoga is like the ocean. Keep showing up and stepping into the waves and it will change you in unexpected ways.” This practice of showing up for the unexpected is a cornerstone of Djuna’s commitment to her practice. She has been fortunate to practice with many wise teachers, among them, Dean Lerner, Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, who have embodied the love and insight that Ashtanga Yoga offers. Djuna also found a sitting practice at Upaya Zen Center, with Joan Halifax and others, that has inspired the connection between practice on the mat and service in the world. As a teacher, Djuna hopes that she can offer others the opportunity to “show up” for practice and discover the change that yoga has to offer them.

 

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

 

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