Our Instructors
Our Instructors
Meet our Dedicated yogis
Our yoga teachers embody what it means to live from love and through asana they put love into motion. Yoga teachers are like master gardeners; they nourish small seeds through collective practice and breath-work. They hold space for still introspection, and facilitate collective movements that enliven people and provides tools that help us understand what it means to Thrive! All of us at Thrive Yoga are committed to spreading the love through movement. We trust that if we can move and love one individual then they can become a beacon of love and light for those we cannot reach.
Adge Lindsey
Owner, Thrive Yoga Crested Butte
Adge Marz Lindsey has an ever-growing love for movement that tends to be contagious! At age 2, Adge started her dance studies in Philadelphia without knowing the huge impact it would have on her life! Through dance, she has traveled, performed, written, and directed shows created dance companies, and successfully led a movement school. She also found yoga, receiving her 1st certification over 19 years ago. Her 15+ years of teaching is supported by 350 hours of yoga certifications, physically integrated dance studies, yoga teacher training, and a Master’s degree in special education. Adge is simply on a mission to spread light and love around the world through movement!
Brittany Phelps
Brittany has an adventurous spirit and a love for the outdoors. An avid yogi, runner, and mountain biker, she combines both practices with her businesses, truly living her passions. Brittany took on Thrive Yoga Crested Butte in 2017, adding a second location in CB South the same year, and another studio in Fruita the following year. She teaches and mentors other yogis about how to thrive in their business through her Prana-Prenuers program and enjoys staying active in her local business community. Now with multiple studios, Brittany is focused on her overall Thrive Colorado collection of studios, with a new location opening soon.
Take time to make your soul happy
Stacey Donaldson
Prana Vinyasa, Yin
Beginning in 2010, Stacey’s yoga practice quickly became her greatest teacher in self-realization and self-discovery. She found the connection between the energetic subtle body, the mind and spirit captivating. Yoga continues to bring her back to the compassionate, courageous and wild human heart. It reminds her we are not separate, but in fact connected to each other and the natural landscape around us.
MARGARET LOPERFIDO
Prana Vinyasa
Margaret stepped into her first yoga class over 18 years ago and fell in love with the practice at once. She completed her 200 hour Prana Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in 2013. Margaret’s style of teaching incorporates vinyasa flow with attention to alignment. She strives to challenge each student mentally and physically, while incorporating a sense of levity and humor as a reminder to not take ourselves too seriously. Her hope is that each student will walk out of her class feeling a bit more connected to the earth, to each other and to their own quiet space within.
JULI COLUCCI
Prana Vinyasa
Juli has a diverse background in practicing and teaching movement modalities. She started teaching PiYo and has most recently been trained to teach Prana Vinyasa Yoga. Juli is currently pursuing her 500-Hour Yoga Certification, all while managing running her company, and her beautiful family. If you want a living example of strength and balance, you will want to come practice with Juli.
Carin Lockhart
Carin is a Colorado native that began her yogic journey over ten years ago. The beautiful, holistic pull of yoga drew her to complete her teacher training in 2011 and then to leave the corporate world to teach full time and pursue her advanced 500 certification in 2013. A believer that Yoga Nidra can basically save the world, Carin pursued and completed her Amrit Advanced Yoga Nidra certification in 2018. Carin’s passion is creating a space for other yogis to deepen their practice with classes that integrate yogic teachings, nurturing physical poses and lots of loving energy. www.yogoonthego.com
He who controls his breath controls his mind.
Chynna Collins
Vinyasa
Chynna is an Oklahoma native that has been competitive and professionally dancing since age 3. After being diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and told she could never dance again- and was pointed towards yoga – “it was love at first flight.” She spent 6 years practicing yoga extensively while teaching dance and fitness. She obtained her 200 hour RYT in Ashtanga from Rishikul Yogshala in Rishikesh, India. After traveling in India and soaking up as much knowledge as she could, she has made the permanent move to Crested Butte where she continues to share and develop her practice.
Kylee Spruill
Vinyasa
Kylee is a Colorado native who loves seeking thrill in the form of adventure travel. Despite international journeys the magic in the valley always calls her back.
Practicing yoga for almost 10 years, she decided to deepen her practice with completing her teacher training while she was most recently visiting Guam. Following her certification then exploring the realm of teaching for almost a year she felt ignited to continue.
Now back living in Gunnison her passion remains to share her practice with locals and tourists. When she’s not guiding white water she’s on the mat ready to guide herself and others back home; to self.
Juliet Stillman
Slow Flow
Juliet Stillman started practicing yoga in the 1990s. In 2007, she started teaching a slow flow class on Sunday mornings, which she continues to teach today. In 2011 she earned her 200-hour yoga teacher training certificate through Inner Power Yoga. Juliet embodies a daily practice of deep gratitude for her many blessings, which include her loved ones, pets and life in this mountain town.
Jen Laggis
Iyengar
Jen is a Certified Iyengar yoga instructor. She has been a student of Iyengar yoga for nearly 20 years and has been teaching regularly since 1999. She is passionate about the subject of yoga and enjoys the process of self study through the yoga asanas. Jen’s main inspiration is drawn from Senior Iyengar teacher Nancy Stechert of Hotchkiss, CO.
Energy cannot be destroyed, only changed.
Theresa Schaul
Vinyasa & Therapeutic
A native of Chicago, Theresa spent ten years practicing at London’s leading studio. There she completed her 500 hour teacher training diploma accredited by the British Wheel of Yoga and Yoga Alliance in 2016. Her love of yoga is rooted in its transformative qualities and ability to create awareness for conscious living. She continually experiences profound effects on the mind, body and spirit from yoga practice. Theresa’s classes concentrate on breath and alignment, incorporating philosophy, anatomy, meditation, pranayama, mantra and restorative elements where appropriate. She brings a positive, playful energy and lightness to the practice.
GUY CIULLA, L. AC.
Nicole Swaggerty
Align & Flow, Align & Restore
Nicole teaches a well-rounded, thoughtfully sequenced, and often themed yoga class with an emphasis on alignment and form. She aspires to teach effectively and with purpose.
Nicole found yoga 20 years ago, yoga “landed” for her when she met her first teacher and practiced in a small, intimate setting: her living room! Along the way, she has been deeply inspired by many teachers, including: B.K.S. Iyengar, Rodney Yee, Nicki Doane, Maty Ezraty, Judith Hanson Lasater, and Amy Ippoliti.
In 2017, she received her 200-hour certification from YogaWorks and is currently completing a 300-hour training with Amy Ippoliti.
lizzy Schmitter
Vinyasa, Power Vinyasa
Lizzy has been a student of yoga for over 10 years. She embarked on her first teacher training journey in 2017 with the goal of deepening her practice. However, she found her voice and also a sense of joy in sharing her love of the practice with others. Since then, she completed her 300 hour advanced teacher training and has taught in Denver, Boulder, and Baja. Gentle movement and smart alignment are the building blocks of her class and she creates thoughtful themes and sequences set to some killer jams. Her hope is to create an inclusive environment where each student can get to know themselves better and take the practice into their world off the mat.
Yoga is the dance of every soul with the music of every breath that creates inner serenity & harmony
Ella Donovan
Strength & Flow for Teens
Ella is a recent graduate of Ball State University with a BFA in dance and a lover of movement in all its manifestations. She is currently completing her 200 hour yoga teaching certification. Her movement practice is rooted in a deep connection to and awareness of self, community, and world. For her, yoga offers a space to drop into breath and body, acknowledging and respecting the body’s power and knowledge. Her classes are vinyasa style flow with an emphasis on strength, balance, and mobility. She is incredibly excited to be back in Crested Butte moving with the community.
Jessica Noll
Jessica is a 200 hour registered yoga teacher, and 95 hour certified children’s yoga teacher from Phoenix, Arizona. She is trained in making yoga and mindfulness inclusive and accessible to individuals of diverse abilities and backgrounds. She started practicing yoga in 2016 in order to help with shoulder pain after a car accident, but instead found it transformed her whole life by creating a space to access peace and better understand her body. Jessica believes yoga is much more than the physical practice, and therefore her classes focus on breath awareness and connection of the mind, body and soul.
Caroline McClean
Kundalini
Caroline teaches Meditation, Contemplative Photography, and Kundalini Yoga! Caroline sees these practices as her SEVA – service to others Her contemplative journey first began in 1995 with sitting meditation and working with the mind. Meditation, qigong and yoga are life sustaining, maintaining and enlightening.
Caroline says, “our life journeys are wild, stormy, delightful and fast! These practices can give us the courage, strength, endurance, health and wellness to face multiple heart wrenching challenges and losses.” She is inspired by her teachers; Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche, Pema Chodron, Lama Tsultrim Allione, Suzuki Roshi, Mingtong Gu, Damaris Jarboux, John Daido Loori, Minor White, and Sukhraj Kaur Gipple.
Ashley Jackson
Ashley is a Certified Rolfer, Advanced Certified Yoga Teacher and Pilates Instructor serving Crested Butte and Gunnison, CO. She graduated from the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration in Boulder, CO in 2015 and has over 1500 hours of training in yogic studies. Ashley obtained her BFA degree from Western Colorado University in 2007. My goal as a Rolfer™ is to help you find a greater degree of ease and freedom in your body. I strive to find the right balance in life and in my body, and Rolfing® has been an integral part of my ability to stay strong, healthy, flexible, manage stress, and feel connected. She believes in the power of movement to alleviate tension, channel energy and ignite awareness and is dedicated to unite community through intentional practices and a whole lotta love. She is a student first and teacher second and aims to continue her studies yearly to evolve her offerings. When she’s not teaching or rolfing, she is traveling, playing in the mountains or searching for a tantalizing meal with her husband and pup.
Like a tree, you have to find your roots and then you can bend in the wind
Autumn Shanti Brown
Vinyasa
Charlotte Brielle
Pre-Natal, Reiki, Thai Massage
Leia Morrison
Chair/Restorative Yoga, Integrated Vinyasa Flow, Yoga For Cancer Survivors, and Senior Yoga
Leia Morrison is a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher and teacher trainer with over 500+ hours of training and 21 years of yoga teaching experience. Her specialties are Chair/Restorative Yoga, Corporate Retreats, Integrated Vinyasa Flow, Yoga For Cancer Survivors, and Senior Yoga. Voted Yoga Teacher of the Year in the Gunnison “Best of” awards annually from 2013 – 2020. Leia has been in the Gunnison Valley for a few decades so she knows the value of countering all of the yang sports with yin practices!
Kylee Spruill
Vinyasa
Kylee is a Colorado native who loves seeking thrill in the form of adventure travel. Despite international journeys the magic in the valley always calls her back.
Practicing yoga for almost 10 years, she decided to deepen her practice with completing her teacher training while she was most recently visiting Guam. Following her certification then exploring the realm of teaching for almost a year she felt ignited to continue.
Now back living in Gunnison her passion remains to share her practice with locals and tourists. When she’s not guiding white water she’s on the mat ready to guide herself and others back home; to self.
CHRIS MAYFIELD
Hatha Vinyasa
Chris grew up in Gunnison and graduated from Western State in 2016. Sense then, he has had traveled too Thailand, The West Coast, and undisclosed parts of Utah. He loves riding his mountain bike and playing the guitar.
Now Chris works as a plumber here in the Valley. Last year, weeks before the world went into quarantine, he completed the 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training at VITAL in Southern California.
Having landed back home, Chris intends to share his passion for Surya Namaskar and serve the community in the process of healing and strengthening ourselves.
Jessica Noll
Align & Flow, Vinyasa, Kids
Jessica is a 200 hour registered yoga teacher, and 95 hour certified children’s yoga teacher from Phoenix, Arizona. She is trained in making yoga and mindfulness inclusive and accessible to individuals of diverse abilities and backgrounds. She started practicing yoga in 2016 in order to help with shoulder pain after a car accident, but instead found it transformed her whole life by creating a space to access peace and better understand her body. Jessica believes yoga is much more than the physical practice, and therefore her classes focus on breath awareness and connection of the mind, body and soul.