Yoga Tree celebrates the body, mind and spirit through the eight limbs of yoga. Asana classes are taught in Iyengar and other tradition

Massage and Reiki are available at the studio.

Proprieters Nancy Stechert and Valerie Stone opened Yoga Tree in September 2006.

Nancy Crum Stechert began practicing yoga in 1976 in San Francisco. She holds a Senior Intermediate level certificate in the Iyengar
method. She made her first trip to India to study with the Iyengars
in 1983, and continued to go almost every year until 1990. Since
then she has gone every three years. She founded the Colorado School
of Yoga in 1987 and the International Yoga Center of Tokyo in 1993.
She has taught in the Iyengar centers in San Francisco and New York
and served as an assessor for the the Iyengar certification process
for several years. She has served as president of IMIYA, a regional
Iyengar association, and was Treasurer of the national Iyengar
Association in its beginning. For the last five years she has
conducted teacher-training classes in Denver and Grand Junction.

Valerie Stone has been practicing yoga since 1988. She lives and works on an organic farm on the Western Slope of Colorado with her husband and two children. She completed her teacher training with Nancy Stechert and her style is primarily Iyengar. She has been registered as a teacher with the Yoga Alliance since 2005.

Cindy Ziegler has been practicing yoga for over 20 years, has been one of Nancy's students for the past four years and completed her teacher training at the Yoga Tree in 2007.  She is also a massage therapist, offering therapeutic and Thai massage in Paonia and at the Yoga Tree.

Phyllis Swackhamer began practicing yoga in the late 70’s. From 1984-1993 she was a full-time resident staff at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA. She became a certified Kripalu Yoga instructor in 1986, began teaching classes as the center, then led week-long yoga programs and co-led Kripalu Yoga teacher training courses. She moved to Paonia in 1997 with her husband, Steve Lyons. During her time here she has taught yoga at Bill Heddel’s Recreation Center, the Redlands Mesa Grange, and at the
Blue Sage Center in Paonia where she currently teaches.

Cathy Todoverto has practiced yoga for more than 30 years and has been involved in the self-growth field for more than 20 years. She is a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy practitioner and yoga teacher. Her depth of experience with a wide range of personal and life issues allows her to create and hold a sacred space of unconditional acceptance and support for others’ personal growth processes. Her drive toward higher levels of self-awareness and mindfulness have brought her to be passionate about serving others on their own evolutionary path. In one-on-one sessions with her, clients feel a deep sense of nurturance and safety; and in her classes she provides a unique exploration of the inner experience of yoga.