Meet the teachers at Yoga for the Peaceful!
Monica Mesa
See more about Monica on her web page!
Monica teaches Prana Flow, Kids Yoga, Vinyasa Basics and private lessons!
Juliet Stillman
Juliet Stillman became inspired to be a serious yoga student under Monica Mesa's amazing teachings. Something about the fluid flows of vinyasa made her feel graceful and peaceful. In her class, 'Meditative Flow', she tries create a space that achieves these feelings for all. When Juliet isn't enjoying the beauty of Crested Butte or practicing yoga, she is playing with dogs at her business Oh Be Dogful Pet Ranch.
Juliet teaches Gentle Yoga and Meditative flow
Sarah Darval
Sarah has been practicing yoga since she was introduced to it on a school backpacking trip 12 years ago. She is grateful to her teacher Mary Beth Nehl who introduced her to the primary series and to Monica Mesa for encouraging her to deepen her practice and begin teaching. Sarah is passionate about vinyasa yoga for cultivating body, breath, and mind, and preparing the body for meditation. Sarah teaches “Yoga and Meditation” classes and “Prana Flow” classes at Yoga for the Peaceful. Along with teaching yoga, Sarah has a massage therapy business in town called Escape Bodywork Boutique and she teaches Buddhism classes at Western State College. She lives in town with her partner Mike and her dog Louis.Sarah is also a massage therapist specializing in relaxation massage, deep tissue work, and Ayurvedic Abhyanga massage. Her studies in Transformational Neuromuscular Therapy influence her style as she considers the whole person (mental, emotional, physical, and energetic) while facillitating change in the muscles. She owns Escape Bodywork and can be reached at (970) 765-8065 or online at www.crestedbuttemassage.com.
Linda Oleson
Linda was born and raised in Minnesota and will always be a Midwestern girl at heart. However, seeking warmer weather, she has spent her last 20 years in San Diego. It was there that she received her Bachelors in Criminal Justice Administration & Women Studies and a Masters in Social Work from the University of San Diego. It was also there that she met her husband Lee and brought two beautiful, healthy twin girls into this world. Feeling the effects of carrying and birthing twins led her to yoga to find healing for her body. Having children prompted her to seek a lighter and safer profession than her years as a Social Worker. She has her Registered Yoga Training, (RYT) through Indra Devi Method, Yoga Fit I, II, Children’s Yoga training and Qigong Fusion training. Linda is now currently studying Thai Massage, is very active in the Crested Butte Community School, and has an unquenching thirst for fitness and health that is contagious!
Linda teaches Chi Yoga Flow
Jessica Carroll
Jessica has been living in Crested Butte for two years and is originally from Taos, NM. She holds a B.A. in Dance and Movement Health from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. In 2008 she traveled to complete a yoga teacher training in Maharashtra, India. Jessica was first introduced to yoga in 2002. After an ankle injury, it became a way to heal her body, continue to move and begin to connect with her breath. Over the past 8 years she has explored many styles of yoga including Anusara, Bikram, Satyananda, Kundalini and Viniyoga. Jessica has always had a strong connection to dance and movement-based healing arts. She has studied many different forms of Dance, Tai Chi and Bodywork, which she believes are all integrally connected. Her teaching is greatly influenced by her interest in energy, breath, anatomy and bodywork. She currently works as a massage therapist and infant-toddler teacher. In her free time she loves to travel, snowboard, rock climb and spend time outside camping.Jessica teaches Yoga Dance and Yoga for EveryBODY
Brenda Flemming
Brenda Flemming has studied with many Senior Iyengar Teachers over the past 27 years and gives most respect and appreciation to all the knowledge infused from the Iyengar Family of Pune, Manuoso Manos of San Francisco, and Gabriella Guibilaro of Florence, Italy. Their brilliance and authenticity has profoundly touched her soul transmitting it through her teachings.Brenda shares the Philosophy, Science and Art of Patanjali Ancient Yoga through the Iyengar Tradition. She has also made a point of studying other traditions of yoga to allow for an increased understanding of working with students that come into class from other styles, relating to these students perspective as they enter into an Iyengar class.
Brenda has taught Iyengar Yoga at Western State College of Colorado going into her eightenth year offering college students this most important subject to be incorporated into their lives. She encourages students to tap into the capabilities of building up their nervous system and emotional health, open-mindedness through strengthening the spine and mind. Her classes set the stage for the yoga lifestyle of cultivated humanness Eco-minded consciousness, super hero, spiritual supported yoga family community, and vibrant sattvic living food nutrition is all part of the interaction with stepping into a class with Brenda. She will inspire you to a new level of humanness.
Brenda also teaches public classes in Gunnison, Colorado at 320 N. Main Street and in Salida, Colorado. She is available for privates, workshops and will gladly travel to warm climates in the the winter months to fill in and sub for teachers.
Brenda can be contacted at 719-207-2010. Learn more about Brenda at gunnisonschoolofyoga.com
Christie Hicks
Christie started practicing yoga using VHS tapes behind closed doors over 13 years ago. Unable to touch her toes and with injured shoulders from years of competitive swimming, she watched in awe and silently committed to opening her body. What she didn't realize was the way the deep breathing and moving through the poses would also open her heart. When she moved out to West LA in 2001, she found the teachers from those worn-out tapes and became a devoted, live student. Her first teacher training was with Max Strom, Shiva Rea and Saul David Raye in 2004 and she still draws inspiration from these three diverse teachers. Christie's practice has taken her beyond asana and into Sanskrit, meditation and Jyotisha studies with her teacher Katyayani Poole. Before relocating this fall, she also worked in environmental education, taught high school science, and still guides seasonally on rivers in Alaska, Idaho and Utah.
Christie was thrilled to move to Crested Butte and find a Prana Flow yoga class- and recognized Monica from Shiva's teacher training in Venice! Christie currently manages the Yoga for the Peaceful Studio and teaches Prana Flow and Yoga for Athletes.
Oriana Reed
Oriana grew up dancing on the island Marthas Vineyard. She took her first yoga class at the age of eighteen and after ten years of practice decided it was time to become a teacher. In 2007 Oriana received her 200-hour yoga teacher certification from Kripalu Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The Kripalu yoga teacher training conforms to the national standards of Yoga Alliance and provides teachers with the technical skills needed to teach yoga safely and skillfully. Oriana believes if you are breathing you can do yoga and her classes are open to all body types and ages. Oriana recently moved to Crested Butte from Maui. She enjoys being a mother to her two year old daughter, Tallulah, spending time outdoors, and learning to kiteboard. Oriana holds a BA from the University of Vermont in Psychology and Art.Kellyn Kirch
I grew up in Vermont and moved to the beautiful sunshine infused Colorado state in the spring of 2008. Always being an active type and aware of the importance of stretching, I finally stepped out of my own stretching cocoon and entered timidly into the Gunnison Sanctuary. I was there taken under the wings of Susan Searle and Leia Morrison where I became an overnight yoga addict. The physical, mental, and spiritual journey that unfolds is undeniable! This practice has taught me so much and has produced ways in which to move through my life with more grace and ease. Encouraged greatly by Monica, Susan and Leia the next natural movement was to take the Inner Power Yoga teacher training offered by R.R. Shakti here in Crested Butte. Not expecting to teach, only wanting to deepen my personal practice, I soon grew with excitement wanting to share this beautiful journey of breath and vast inner universes. Voila! Dreams become realities as I am now honored and absolutely grateful to be guiding classes in the heart of CB at Yoga for the Peaceful and at the Gunnison Sanctuary! When not thinking about vast inner spaces and yoga you can find me playing with dogs at Oh Be Dogful pet ranch, serving meals at 9380 and doing whatever I can to play in the snow and sunshine!