Meet The Team
Brooke Page-Thompson
Owner/Instructor
RYT 200
Hatha
Restorative
IAM® Yoga Nidra
Vinyasa
HOT (26 + 2)
Ayurveda Level 1
Retreats
Owner, Laughing Moon
Brooke is the owner and founder of Buka Yoga. She's been part of the corporate world for over 20 years, focusing on leadership development, people strategy and high potential programs.
In 2017 she embarked on her journey to yoga and entered One Yoga's 200 hr YTT program. This is now a lifelong journey of learning, connecting and inner growth that she loves sharing with others and learning from them. She loves teaching yoga and creating space for others. She is a mindfulness and meditation teacher for many corporate offsites.
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Brooke has trained with Jeremey Wolf, Beth Sanchez, Dr. Claudia Welch, Dr. Svoboda, Tiffany Cruikshank, Kathryn Budig, Dr. Kamini Desai, Hasu Marne and John Vosler, receiving her I AM Advanced Yoga Nidra certification through the Amrit Yoga Institute in 2020 and Level 1 Ayurveda certification through Dr. Welch in 2019.
She holds a BA in Elementary Education and an MA in Leadership.
Danny Chapparo
Ashva Yoga Owner
Instructor
ERYT 200
Hatha
Vinaysa
Restorative
Equestrian Yoga
Danny Chapparo was born and raised in Germany. Her love of Colorado and its great outdoors motivated her to move to Denver in 1995. Danny was introduced to Yoga and Pilates in 2001 and has since then been an avid yoga practitioner. Her training and personal experience includes many styles of yoga, including Anusara, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Hatha, Power Yoga, and Restorative Yoga.
Danny is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT-200) through Yoga Alliance. Her style is energetic and enthusiastic and reflects her experience in all of these types of yoga practices, with a strong emphasis on proper alignment. Her goal is to create a fun, yet safe environment and empower her students to relax, develop greater strength, and improve flexibility.
Danny holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, and Master of Business Administration. She is also the owner of Ashva Yoga, where she teaches Equestrian Yoga.
Amanda Conti
Instructor
ERYT 200
RYT 500
Hatha
Power
HOT
HOT & Flow
First Responder Yoga
A lifelong athlete and student of wellness and nutrition, Amanda moved to Colorado in 2007 with her husband and three young children. She began practicing yoga, in her basement, that same year when she couldn't make it to the gym and to release tension in her neck and shoulders caused by long-distance cycling. She immediately fell in love with the physicality of yoga, as well as the transformative healing nature of the practice. After practicing on her own for years, Amanda completed teacher training at Anjaneya School of Yoga in Boulder and received her RYT200. She returned to Boulder in 2019 to complete her RYT500.
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Amanda’s intuitive and playful style of teaching is influenced by fitness, Pilates and several yoga lineages including Hatha yoga, which focuses on breathing and alignment, and Ashtanga yoga, which offers a more vigorous, athletic style of practice. Amanda believes humor is an essential ingredient in yoga, and laughter is the best core exercise. She creates a fun, supportive and judgement-free environment where students can feel good while exploring new possibilities.
Amanda believes that with a diligent and dedicated yoga practice, anyone can cultivate a sense of stability, a clearer, more peaceful mind and a greater ability to deal with the unexpected curve balls life throws at us off the mat. She hopes her students will leave their practice feeling calm, strong, inspired, and most of all more connected to themselves.
Amanda is also a certified holistic health counselor through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
Susie Albano
Instructor
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ERYT 500
C-IAYT
Hatha
Yoga Therapy
Yoga Therapeutics
HOT yoga
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Susan is a graduate of the Spanda Yoga Movement Therapy class of 2020. Susan first started practicing Yoga in 1995. She utilized it to compliment her athletics of competitive swimming at Villanova University where she obtained a B.A. in Political Science. As an elite athlete in running as well, Susan instantly enjoyed the benefits to her mind, body, and breath. Susan holds certifications in Yin/Restorative (YogaLife Institute, 2015), Reiki Level II (YogaLife Institute, 2016), Trauma& Addiction (Transformation Yoga Project, 2017), Sound Healing (Chrissy Ehrhart, 2018), Awakening Your Inner Shaman (Libby Piper, 2018). In June 2019, she acquired her 500 hours of Yoga Instruction with Yoga Alliance. Susan has written several articles for Yoga Living Magazine (serving South Jersey, Philadelphia, & Suburbs)
Being in recovery for over 22 years, Susan specializes in Recovery from Addiction, Alcoholism, & PTSD. Previously a native of Philadelphia, PA, Susan is now currently growing her business, Lotus Flower Yoga, in Castle Rock, CO, where she lives with her husband and two children. For more information www.lotusflower-yoga.com
Mara Sikorski
Instructor
RYT 200
Vinaysa
All Levels
Yin
Mara Sikorski, originally from Florida, recently moved to Castle Rock from Charlotte, North Carolina to pursue a closeness to nature and enjoy new adventures! She has a background in Public Health and is dedicated to improving the health and quality of life for all through her professional and personal endeavors!
Mara has been practicing yoga for several years for support her physical and mental/spiritual health and decided to pursue a teacher certification as the next step. She is passionate about using yoga as a tool to deeply learn and know inner Self, to bridge the gaps between mental and physical health, and to enhance spiritual well-being. Her practice is a supportive and creative vinyasa style, which allows space for each unique individual to take what they need in each moment.
In her spare time, Mara enjoys spending time with her husband, Matt, and two rescue dogs, Winnie and Maisy. She enjoys hiking, traveling, meeting new people, doing arts and crafts, and trying new things! She is looking forward to meeting tons of new friends through Buka and the Castle Rock community!
Nicholas Auger​
Founder Yogis Game
Instructor
ERYT 500
Hatha
Restorative
Mat Pilates
Kids Yoga
Meditation
Meet Nicholas Auger... a Houstonian who moved to Colorado in 2017. For his entire life, he has strived to help others. Through obtaining a Sculpture degree at the University of Houston, Nicholas unexpectedly discovered self-discipline and truth through studying Yogic philosophies.
Over a few years, he traveled to Guatemala (where he earned his 200 and 500 hours YA YTT Certifications), Nicaragua, Europe, and India to gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of Yoga, which has become a fundamental part of his and his message.
Since then, he has been sculpting bodies and minds through Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Kids Yoga, Pilates, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Personal Fitness Training, cycling, hiking, and other forms of meditation in action wherever he is with his community.
Over the past decade, Nicholas has been teaching a multitude of wellness-based classes. His goal is to spread the wellbeing seed by encouraging others to live with more body, mind, and environmental awareness, which even led him to run his own Yoga website to be a database for Yogic knowledge (www.YogiSense.com). His specialty includes a plethora of relaxation, stretching, breathing, and meditative disciplines. He is well versed in the art of healthy living and can accommodate all levels of fitness and ages.
One of his favorite quotes “It is all-pervading. And (s)he who beholds all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, (s)he never turns away from it [the Self].” - Isha Upanishad, Hymn 6
Chelsea Roche​
Instructor
RYT 200
Hatha
All Levels Flow
Women's Circles
Health & Wellness coaching
Chelsea has been practicing yoga for nearly 20 years, starting when her high school decided to offer yoga as an alternative to traditional gym class. Since then, yoga has been the only constant through getting a degree, moving states, working as a corporate software engineer, becoming a working mother, becoming a stay-at-home mother, and then becoming a stay-at-home mompreneur.
She decided to deepen her practice by pursuing a RYT 200 with Maitri Yoga in 2016. She learned then that yoga is so much more than a physical practice, and began to apply yogic philosophy to daily life. She now spends her time practicing yoga, playing with her two sons, hiking, and helping mothers ditch parental burnout.
Claire Eby​
Instructor
RYT-200
Hatha
Gentle
Restorative
Energy Medicine Yoga ®
In 2000, I took my first yoga class. With elevated cortisol levels, I couldn’t sleep, felt anxious and disconnected from myself. Yoga quickly calmed and relaxed me. You could say that yoga had me at Savasana! And Yoga has led me to so many different ways to heal and to Eden Energy Medicine—a non-invasive way to balance the energy body and restore vitality.
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My goal as a teacher is to create a supportive environment where students can experiment with different ways to heal and restore themselves. In my classes, it’s not uncommon to see strange props, like stainless steel spoons or Poi Balls… but I know it’s important for people to get exposed to new things so they can take better care of themselves. We all have the ability to clear mental chaos, ground into earth energy, manage pain in our body, strengthen our physical balance to avoid falls and restore emotional balance when life goes sideways. Energy Medicine Yoga is where I find the easiest techniques to do all of these things (and more).
I’ve practiced many types of yoga from Korean yoga to Kundalini. But my favorites are gentle Hatha yoga, Restorative yoga, Yoga Nidra and of course Energy Medicine Yoga. I completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training at Samadhi Yoga in Denver, CO. Then I completed the teacher fundamentals training for Energy Medicine Yoga during the pandemic. Currently I’m in year 2 of Eden Energy Medicine Fundamentals training which will set me up for doing 1:1 energy work.
Jeanette Schmidt
Instructor
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RYT 500
Vinyasa Flow
Flow
HOT (26 + 2)
Warrior Sculpt
Hot Flow
Jeanette is a wife of over 20 years, a mom to 2 beautiful (almost grown!) children and 3 fun fur babies. She assists her husband with his real estate business and creates beautiful gift baskets for his clients. Her passions include live music and travel and she spends much of her free time outside breathing the fresh air, hiking, biking, camping and running.
Before finding yoga, Jeanette spent 10 years as a 911 dispatcher. After undergoing a major surgery in 2016, she found herself in chronic pain and struggling to cope with the emotional toll it was taking. She eventually left her career in early 2017 due to her pain and was left wondering what was next. She had practiced yoga on and off for years but finally found a regular and consistent practice starting in January, 2018 and it changed her life.
She began teacher training soon after and earned her 200 hour certification in May of that year. The profound impact yoga has had on Jeanette’s life and her ability to not just cope but thrive in spite of her pain has fueled her passion for sharing the practice with others.
Since then she has completed 50 hours of Trauma Informed Yoga Therapy training and recently began the journey of working towards her 300 hour certification. She loves that yoga really has no peak or plateau but that instead there is always more to learn and the potential for personal growth is infinite! Jeanette loves to practice and teach vinyasa and incorporates her love of music to create her own unique style in each class! She also loves to teach hot yoga (Bikram inspired sequence) as well as gentle and is always looking for new ways of sharing yoga with her students.
Laurie Lacomb
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RYT 200
Vinyasa Flow
Natalie Tenney
Instructor
RYT 200
Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher Level 1
Yin Yoga
Gentle Yoga
Hatha Flow
Meditation
Natalie was born and raised in Colorado and has lived in Castle Rock for 22 years. She is the mother of 6 children and has homeschooled for the last 8 years. She loves animals, traveling, hiking and being outdoors in the sunshine.
Natalie recently completed her YTT at Kindred Spirits in Costa Rica after rediscovering her love for yoga after life took a series of unexpected, difficult turns. Yoga has been a place of healing and she is passionate about sharing that healing with others.
Natalie especially loves slow and relaxing forms of yoga, in addition to meditation and breath work. She also loves learning and teaching about the mind, body, spirit connection that is facilitated by the practice of yoga.
Lauren Kosman
Instructor
RYT-200
All Levels Flow
Hatha 2
Vinyasa
Power Yoga
HOT (26 + 2)
Lauren is a CO native and enjoys all the outdoor activities and adventures CO has to offer. She found yoga when an injury forced her to slow down from her active CO lifestyle and she immediately fell in love with the practice. Yoga transformed not only her physical heath, but her overall wellness, happiness and general outlook on life. She became a registered yoga teacher in 2018 and has been teaching and continuing to learn and grow her practice here in Castle Rock ever since.
Lauren loves to guide a strong, dynamic and playful class with mindful stretching and strengthening. Her classes focus on breath and body awareness and control, functional movement for joint stability, mobility and injury prevention and mental focus and clarity. She tries to keep her classes fun and engaging with creative sequencing, energetic playlists and introducing new and fun postures and transitions to work towards. Her ultimate goal is for every student to have that “ah-ha!” moment when the breath, body, mind and soul are all linked and you get to experience the true magic of yoga.
Yvette Costa
Instructor
RYT 200
Yoga Therapy 500
Hatha
Yin
Meditation
Yoga Nidra
Yvette began her yoga career out of curiosity…her interest in exploring this thing called yoga led her to start practicing yoga in 1999. She was hooked, and took her practice further and began teaching in 2008.
She is a Registered Yoga Teacher (200 hour) with Yoga Alliance and holds 500 hour Yoga Therapy Certifications from Loyola Marymount University and Yoga Life Institute. Her teaching style has been influenced by Desiree Rumbaugh (alignment), Shiva Rea (flow), Paul Grilley (anatomy) and Bob Butera (yoga lifestyle).
Yvette’s classes bring awareness to alignment while encouraging a deeper focus on movement. She strives to help her students develop a deeper awareness of their bodies, regardless of age or condition. She also addresses how the choices they make and their reactions to stressful situations show up in their bodies. Through the study and application of yoga postures and philosophy, Yvette hopes that students will shift from an ‘external’ focus to a more ‘internal’ one that embodies mindfulness and compassion for self and others. Her goal is for students to leave feeling focused, peaceful and relaxed.
Jenny Alberston
Instructor
RYT-500
Flow
Vinyasa
Yin
Yoga Nidra
HOT
HOT & Flow
Growing up in Nebraska, Jenny has always enjoyed an active lifestyle. She is an adventurous, outdoorsy wife and mom of 4, with a love for hiking, running and snowboarding. She discovered yoga in 2010 and would attend classes here and there, but it wasn’t until she was injured, training for her first marathon, that she discovered yin yoga. She was told by her doctors and physical trainers to put her running on hold and work on stretching and strengthening. Jenny was invited to a yin yoga class during this time and was immediately hooked. She attended class as much as she could, and over time, her injury healed and she was able to complete her race, injury free. This was when she realized she wanted to share her love for the practice and its ability to heal with everyone she knew. As a seasoned elementary and middle school educator, Jenny has a gift for teaching and undertaking yoga teacher training seemed like the perfect way to share this passion of hers.
She relocated to Colorado in 2018, completed her 200-hour training in 2020 and has since been teaching online and in-studio. In the meantime, she has received additional training in yin yoga and yoga nidra has completed her 500 hour YTT.
Jenny loves to practice all styles of yoga, and especially loves to teach flow, vinyasa and yin yoga. Her approach to teaching yoga is based on functionalism, not perfectionism. She teaches her classes with the understanding that no two students’ bones are exactly alike, so their yoga postures must be adapted to their unique structure in order to be truly effective. Ultimately, she wants to teach her students to teach themselves. The more she can become her own best teacher, the more she can help her students become their own best teacher.
Sara Knetmann
Instructor
ERYT- 200
Vinyasa
Hatha
Restorative
A lifelong athlete, Sara connected deeply with her yoga practice after committing to body's call to better self care. After two years of dedicated practice, and three years of teaching middle school, she took a leap of faith and completed her 200hr YTT through Kindness Yoga in 2015. She was a practitioner and teacher at Kindness and YogaPod SouthGlenn from 2015- 2020 before moving with her family to Castle Rock! She is currently an Athletics Direction for middle school students at St. Mary's Academy and enjoys teaching yoga and meditation to her students as well as her fellow faculty and staff. Favorite hobbies include bouldering, skiing, and karaoke. Her classes welcome all levels and focus on rekindling self-awareness through the powerful connection between asana and breath. Sara believes that yoga presents practitioners the opportunity to observe the body and soul, on and off of the mat, to create a more mindful and compassionate relationship with others.
Courtney Birkbeck
Studio Manager
Instructor
RYT-200
Vinyasa
Power
Hatha
Restorative
Gentle Hatha
Courtney is a born and raised Colorado native. She discovered her love for yoga in her teen years, gravitating towards Vinyasa and Power flows. She has been a yoga enthusiast for 8 years now, practicing daily. This love for her practice lead her to complete a 200 HR Yoga Teacher Training program on December 11, 2021 at ONE Yoga Denver. She now has a passion for teaching yoga as she has been limitlessly inspired by her teachers and mentors for years. She hopes to continue to lead with her heart through her teaching as she has done so in her own practice.
When she’s not practicing or teaching yoga, she is found enjoying quality time with her husband and daughter at their home in Castle Rock. Courtney’s other passions include singing, painting, hiking, cooking, reading and writing.
Instagram - @courtneytheyogi
Tara Hook
Instructor
RYT 200
Gentle
Vinyasa
Yoga Nidra
Trauma Informed Yoga
Kids Yoga
“The training of the teacher is something far more than learning ideas. It includes the training of character. It is a preparation of the spirit.” (Maria Montessori). I began my journey with yoga three years ago, as I was seeking to understand more about the social emotional aspects of child development. I wanted to take a holistic approach to teaching social emotional learning and well-being in the elementary classroom. I was also in need of learning yoga for my own well-being. In my search for professional development opportunities in social emotional wellbeing and yoga, I came across Breathe-4-Change.
Through their training, I became a certified Social Emotional Learning Facilitator (SEL*F), and Yoga Instructor (RYT-200). Since then, I have implemented yoga and mindfulness in my classroom in various ways, as well as providing an after school program. I find myself continually amazed at the way mindfulness in the classroom makes a big difference in social emotional well being, academics, and self-regulation. If we can guide our children to be present in the moment, and find peace amongst the messiness of it, we are building a foundation for them, giving them the gift of self-confidence, self-regulation, and self-awareness as they journey through life.
In my own life-journey, has recently been one of healing and deep inner transformation.
Bringing myself back to the present moment, and finding peace amongst the messiness of a soul transformation has created confidence, and a new level of awareness in my own life. The process of transformation has guided me to extend myself in new ways for more growth. I desire to share tools for transformation with others. I enjoy all forms of yoga, particularly vinyasa, yoga nidra, flow, restorative, and gentle.
Mona Hinman-Briscoe
Instructor
RYT-200
Yoga Nidra
Vinyasa
HOT Yoga
HOT & Flow
All Levels Flow
Mona has been a devoted yogi for 10 years and has attended
classes, events and workshops in the thousands! She is a 200-hour
RYT certified Yoga Alliance instructor. She is also certified in
Yoga Nidra, Trauma Informed Yoga, SUP Yoga and is currently
pursuing her 500-hour. Mona hopes to provide relief and healing
through the practice of yoga.
Off her mat, Mona is an avid skier, snowboarder, surfer, paddle
boarder, runner, hiker, backpacker, outdoor enthusiast, reader,
thrill-seeker, and animal-lover. She is a 7th generation Colorado
native (her family’s origins trace back to the Blackfoot
Indians), wife and mom to three AMAZING children! Mona is a
former roller derby athlete who travelled worldwide with a
championship team competing in the sport. You may also recognize
Mona from the CBS reality TV show, “The Amazing Race - Season
22,” where her and Beth, a lifetime dear friend and roller derby
teammate, traveled the world experiencing countless thrills and
chills. In fact, Mona and Beth made it to the final 3, ultimately
not taking home the $1,000,000 prize, but rather something far
more valuable, the life changing experience of seeing the world.
Jacky M
Instructor
HOT Yoga
Jaclyn first discovered Hot yoga Bikram series in 2009, and has been hooked ever since. In 2018 she decided to study and become a Hot yoga teacher, after the birth of her daughter. She had taken a break in practice during her pregnancy however knowing what she knows now, she wishes she had never stopped. Lots of new mommy body aches totally could of been avoided. Her classes are upbeat and set to motivating music that will keep you moving and ready to start your day! No matter where you are on your yoga journey one must start somewhere. When you find one you love it becomes your practice! “I love the immediacy of how my mind and body feel after this 26 posture series.” In her spare time she loves being in the garden, beegaurdianing, dancing to live music with her family, and growing her organic Microgreens business.
Jess Neilsen
Instructor
RYT 200
Gentle
Flow
Yin
Restorative
Meditation
Jessica completed 285 hours of teacher training with Inner Connections Yoga in 2018 to deepen her understanding of the roots of yoga. She discovered that the physical benefits of yoga only scratch the surface, and continues to study the many avenues of yoga on a regular basis. Today she teaches many different styles of yoga classes, asking her students to be present in the moment, connect their intention to each action, and to listen to their bodies and trust themselves enough to modify & find their "awesome-asana". Jessica hopes that each student can leave her classes feeling connected, rejuvenated, and grateful to themselves for honoring their bodies & taking time for themselves.
Future teacher!
We can't wait to meet you!
Future teacher
We can't wait to meet you!