staff

Darren Rhodes

(he/him) 
​Studio Director and Instructor
My mom began practicing yoga while she was pregnant with me. Throughout my childhood, she practiced and taught yoga in our living room. My father, an avid meditator and scholar, has consistently shared his spiritual experiences and insights with me. My parents continue to support, guide, and inspire me on my yogic journey, as do my many teachers. More at: darrenrhodesyoga.com

View Darren's National & International Teaching Schedule & Bio

Alexandra Roush

(she/her)
​Admin and Instructor
I want to say I love yoga, and it is so much fun, but—mmm—I do not always want to practice. I am in a long- term relationship with yoga asana and meditation. Building awareness of what my body is doing in space and where my mind goes have been gifts that keep on giving. When I am off my mat I take long walks in the desert with my two lovely dog monsters, Blueberry and Odin. I love ramen, pizza, and burritos. I love sound and silence. I love porch sitting. I love sleeping, and something I cherish most these days is sitting with my Grams. I want to thank all my TEACHERS. I will always remain a student, and it is an honor to share this practice. I hope the classes I offer can meet you where you are at. 

Annie Smith

(she/her)
​Instructor
I started practicing yoga when I was 17. The resort that I worked at offered free fitness classes to employees so I started attending classes whenever I could.Even though my first class was difficult, challenging and awkward, I made it through and I felt amazing! I was sore in muscles I didn't know I even had. From that class I knew that I wanted to teach. It is one of my primary goals as a teacher for my students to leave feeling that yoga is accessible to them. Period. Anyone can do yoga! I hope to challenge my students to work hard, deepen their practice and know that they will come through it stronger, more flexible, empowered and calm. I am a reader. I love to read! I have been an avid reader since I was a child and it is still one of my favorite things to do.
​More at: annie.yoga

Ashley Gee

(she/her)
​​Instructor
When I began my yoga journey, I had just begun exploring the questions, "who am I?" and "what am I doing here?". Without expecting it to, the practice has taught me how to ease my anxieties, listen to my body, and to ultimately take better care of myself. My aim is to create a supportive and safe environment where you can freely explore yourself, take what you need, and leave the rest. I am grateful for the teachers who both challenged and inspired me on my path. Aside from teaching yoga, I am also a Licensed Acupuncturist, currently practicing in the Tucson area. More at ashleygeewellness.com

Barb Pautler

(she/her)
​​Instructor
My yoga practice began in my early 20's with a yoga video. I practiced for many years with that video before seeking out other ways to expand my practice. The first studio I practiced in was a yoga/spinning studio in east Tucson, which later would become YogaOasis east. After the studio left, I joined a gym. Many teachers from YogaOasis taught there, and I began practicing daily. One day I was asked to a sub class, and knew as soon as the class ended I would teach yoga to anyone who wanted to try. My classes focus on detailed instructions and alignment while being lighthearted, playful and challenging. I strive to create a safe space to be yourself, listen to your body and maybe try something new. My goal is for you to leave my classes feeling renewed and ready to face whatever comes next.

Bre Downing

(she/her)
​​Instructor
My mom convinced me to go to my first yoga class when I was a freshman in high school. Yoga has been a way for me to connect with myself both mentally and physically. It has helped me be more confident in my own skin and do things I may have otherwise been afraid of. Yoga is a way for me to reset my body and mind while getting an awesome workout. That is what I hope to offer my students. My classes are sweaty and fun, with a rockin' playlist to go along with it. I know I have accomplished my goal when students leave my class feeling a little better than when they first came in. My most influential teachers have been Darren Rhodes, Christina Sell, Rachel King, Sam Rice, Lara Blommer and lastly, my mom and dad. They all continue to inspire me everyday.
A fun fact: I have a big orange cat named Mr. Kitters who is my pride and joy.

Brigette Finley

(she/her)
​​Instructor
As a householder with a young family, I truly get how challenging it can be to fit yoga into daily life. And yet, I can’t imagine my life without it. Yoga isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity to fully experience (and let’s face it, survive) motherhood. After two decades of practice, yoga has proved adaptable to all phases of my life. In 2007,  I co-founded Southtown Yoga in my hometown of St. Louis, MO. Currently, I am the Director of yogahour®, Founder of Prenatal yogahour and teach trainings nationwide. I hold my E-RYT® 500 with Yoga Alliance.

Bronwin Rhodes

(she/her)
Admin
My yoga practice is a dear friend, who has infused power into my body, both physically and on levels most subtle. As a dedicated member of the YogaOasis (YO) team, I assist our studio in everything from the down-and-dirty details, to helping bring YO's highest vision, step by step, into action. A few influential yoga teachers in my life are: Darren Rhodes, Rachel King, Krishna Das, Sianna Sherman, Wah!, Benjy & Heather Wertheimer, and many more. Highlights of working at YO: Listening to stories of hope; physical health and inner strength being restored to students by their own desire for, and commitment to, themselves and their yoga practice.

Christine Reitmayr

(she/her)
​​Instructor
A yoga practitioner for 15 years, I moved to Tucson in 2011 and learned what a treasure a yoga community can be. I had always flirted with the idea of a teacher training, and in a flash of insight in 2013, realized there would never be a “right” time to do it. I jumped in anyway. Learning from Darren Rhodes, Brigette Finley, and all the other exceptional YO teachers has been a gift and a pleasure, and I am so proud to be part of the team. I strive to offer challenging, balanced classes that encourage students to explore their potential and increase their self-awareness. I want each student to get what he or she needs out of the practice, whether it is a calming of the mind or a really great workout. Apart from teaching yoga, I am a freelance writer, editor, and mama to three. 

Colleen Iuliucci

(she/her)
​​Instructor
I began practicing yoga in 2008 as a way to reconnect with my body. I'm passionate about the impact that movement and a well-balanced practice can have on all angles of my life. Every time I step onto my mat or into a YogaOasis studio, I feel as though I've come home to myself and it is a privilege to share this practice and community with my students. Heavily influenced by Darren Rhodes, Sam Rice and Brigette Finley, my classes aim to use conscious alignment and breath to create a space for students to connect with themselves. 

Emilio Carranza

(he/him)
​​Instructor
I’ve always been fascinated by the ability of the body to do unnatural things. With a background of running and some dance, I decided to take my first yoga class in Mexico when I was 19, after class the teacher told me “you’re a yogi by nature!”; that’s when I decided to follow my nature and make yoga my lifestyle. With the love and encouragement of my YogaOasis family I jumped into 2 teacher trainings back to back and here I am now sharing my passion and knowledge to help others understand the countless benefits of this practice! 

Grace Sultan

(she/her)
​​Instructor
In 2013 I started taking classes with Nancy Gutierrez and Bruce Bowditch. I immediately fell in love with yoga! I took the 200 RYT training at YogaOasis in 2014 in order to advance my practice and learn the poses from the ground up. I didn't realize my passion for teaching until the end of the training and am very grateful to be a part of the YogaOasis staff. Studying under Darren Rhodes, Sam Rice, and Brigitte Finley has been life changing in the best way and I'm currently enrolled in their 300 hour training to be 500 RYT certified in 2016. I also love music (seriously geek out on music history and trivia), art, traveling, cooking, and spending time with my family. I aim to provide a warm, welcoming, fun environment in my classes along with a cool playlist. 

Hanna Naegle

(she/her)
​​Instructor
I took my first yoga class with my mom in 2007 when I was 18. She's been my practice and teacher training companion ever since! Before college, I was never very active. So yoga served as an introduction to movement (now I'm hooked!) and was the first step to a healthy and positive relationship to my body. I have been teaching since 2009 and I am RYT-500 and yogahour certified. My background is in vinyasa and Anusara, and I get nerdy excited over alignment. My aim as a student and teacher of yoga is to practice and teach in a way that is both safe and challenging, strong and open, informative and fun!

ImaniAdjua Johnson

(she/her)
​​Instructor
My yoga practice came during a time when I was already beginning to live a "yogic" life without even realizing it. Not only had I transformed physically, but I was doing so mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Then one day, seemingly out of the blue, I woke up and wanted to practice. I attended a hot yoga class and loved it! I even found myself tearing up during a heart-opening asana. That experience was so powerful that I wanted to share it with as many people as I could. This led me to begin teaching and acquire my 200 hour certification. I have since become an All Bodies Rise recognized teacher and created a style that fuses dance, yoga, and some fitness elements. I desire for others to know that a yoga practice is accessible to ANY body, and that yoga is more than getting on a mat, it's a lifestyle!

Jeffrey Sorrentino

(he/him)
​​Instructor
My introduction to yoga was in 1998 when I was training and competing in Mixed Martial Arts. As a competitive fighter, yoga was simply a tool to strengthen my martial arts. After graduating from the UofA as a Software Engineer and Mathematician, I continued training and teaching martial arts but also began to explore other forms of physical, mental & spiritual growth. I maintained a very sporadic yoga practice until an injury limited my upper-body mobility for almost a year. I began to develop a regular yoga practice to support both my physical and metal health. In this time, I found what an enormous benefit and change yoga had offered to my daily life. My passion for teaching, along with my love and strongly held beliefs in the physical and mental transformational benefits that yoga has to offer is the driving force for my teaching and practice of yoga today.

Jen Rauh

bio coming soon

Jeniffer Zimmerman

(she/her)
​​Instructor
My yoga is a practice of self love and my personal revolution. I do not care about perfect poses or expensive yoga pants. I want you to come to my class just the way you are, in whatever way you feel the most comfortable, so that you can feel alive and beautiful in your one and only amazing body. I aim to explore movement and breath in an environment that honors your own body's wisdom. I hope that by challanging the culture of body-shame, we can create a future in which all bodies are free from oppression. I am masters level mental health therapist, a 200RYT, and the founder of All Bodies Rise Yoga. I am grateful for my sons, who have been my biggest life teachers, and Yoga Oasis for being my place of refuge. 

Jenn (Choi) Bemis

(she/her)
​​Instructor
As a recent transplant to Tucson, YO has been a sweet sanctuary where I've been able to meet myself in a familiar place amidst a new, unfamiliar city, so I'm thrilled, grateful, and honored to be given an opportunity to teach at YO and to be a part of this amazing community. I truly believe that the practice of yoga is a gracious opportunity to cultivate awareness—in our bodies as well as in our hearts and minds—so that we can manifest such practices of mindfulness, compassion, patience, humility, and Love off of our mats, in our daily lives. I have studied with various teachers in different schools of yoga including Anusara, Vinyasa, other Hatha forms, and yoga therapeutics. I am fascinated by the human body, its anatomy and biomechanics, so my classes are laden with precise alignment cues interwoven within creative, mindful, fun, intentional sequences. Please come practice with me!

Jess Luse

bio coming soon

Johnna Warren

(she/her)
​​Instructor
My first class was at YogaOasis with Rachel King, who became my primary influence for teaching, as she held space for me to find my breath. For me, The practice of yoga became finding the balance of effort and breath and then somehow existing in the sweetness between the two.  After studying primarily with Stephani Lindsey for the next few years, I found the strength hidden in my practice. By bringing the two together, I have found a sense of wholeness that I work to carry with me off my mat. In my classes I aim to offer a focus on strength and sweat while utilizing breath as a way of fueling the practice and finding softness in the poses. I believe laughter is the best medicine and I never miss an opportunity to utilize it in class... as well as a guaranteed full 5 minutes of sweet savasana!

Kanoe Gantz

(she/her)
​​Instructor
Yoga is awesome! I am passionate about this practice because of its ability to transform. It has changed the way I view the world, calmed my nerves, and made me stronger physically and mentally. Each time you roll out your mat, I hope you too will experience yoga’s transformative power. In my classes, you will stretch and sweat while I challenge you with a smile. When not on my mat, you can find me spending time with my family, obsessing over food, planning my next adventure, and probably being ridiculous. Fun fact: My first job was at a noodle factory where all my co-workers were senior citizens. It was the best job ever! It is also where I learned to crack an egg with one hand, a skill that has come in quite handy with my passion for cooking.

Kelsi Harris

(she/her)
​​Instructor
I stumbled into yoga after years of being a long distance runner. Almost immediately this practice lit a fire deep within me that I didn’t know could even exist. I continued my journey through an RYT 200 teacher training in 2015 which I truly thought was the worst decision I could’ve made at the time. This was one of the most difficult things I had to carry myself through, but unbeknownst to me, it was exactly what I needed. The power of this practice proves time and time again it’s ability to teach and transform. 

Keri Bishop

(she/her)
​​Instructor
I love yoga! I came from a dance background and have always been fascinated by movement. My first yogahour class was back in 2010 with Annie Smith and I have been hooked ever since. I am curious by nature and love learning and have found that my yoga practice always keeps me learning new things about poses, alignment, and ultimately myself. I am a bright, excited, and outgoing person and try to translate that into my yoga classes. In addition to all the physical and mental benefits I have experienced through yoga, I love the community it creates! Outside of the studio you can find me at all the new places to eat around Tucson (recommendations always welcome) or planning my next travel adventure…and all the delicious places to eat there too. 

Kim Witter

(she/her)
​​Instructor
My relationship with yoga was not love at first down dog.  I couldn’t touch my toes or balance on one foot so I was confident that yoga was NOT for me, but for some reason I kept showing up.  Slowly my flexibility increased and my balance wasn’t non-existent anymore.  The subtle changes encouraged me even more.  I realized I had fallen in love with yoga. I want to share that love with others and what yoga can do, not just for their body but how they feel about their body and what it capable of.  YogaOasis has become a second home where I feel supported and loved and my hope is that everyone that leaves a class with me feels that same love and support.

Lara Blommer

(she/her)
​​Admin and Instructor
I found yoga in 2003 while searching for ways to manage depression and almost instantly found just what I needed in both the practice and the community of YogaOasis. I feel honored to have begun teaching in 2006 and helping Rachel King manage the studios in 2009. My practice reminds me of the truth of goodness and light inside and around me, and my time at YO allows me to share this same light with others. I continue to be inspired by my teachers who are too numerous to mention and include each student I've ever had the privilege of meeting. . .but especially Darren Rhodes and Christina Sell, who gave me the courage to share my practice and my journey with others through teaching. My classes are lighthearted while offering challenge and the opportunity to honor limitations when necessary. Also, they often end with some medicinal dark chocolate.

Laura Shriver

bio coming soon

Lori Huggins

(she/her)
​​Instructor
I began teaching yoga in 2009, but I have been a teacher for a very long time. I began my teaching career as an art teacher. I teach because of a firm belief that anyone can reap the benefits of yoga. They just need a  teacher that makes yoga accessible to them, where they are and where they come from. My classes are fun and playful with a focus on alignment. Focusing on alignment transforms our poses and, more importantly, our understanding of ourselves and our body. I believe yoga is a gift that anyone should feel able to accept, regardless of ability, flexibility, age, or size. My classes offer you a safe place to start or expand your practice. I am from Alabama (and still have an accent that I will never lose!) and I absolutely love SEC football! WAR EAGLE!

Marcia Tullous

(she/her)
Instructor 
My introduction to yoga happened in the fall of 1999 in Flagstaff, Arizona. But I did not begin attending classes regularly and consistently until the year 2000. When I look back at that time, I realize that it was curiosity that led me to my first yoga class with Ulla Lundgren, and it’s curiosity and the feeling of peace I get from my practice that continues to call me back to my mat. In 2003, again following my curiosity, I signed up for my first immersion and teacher training with Christy Burnette and that was a life-changing experience for me. I began teaching in 2004 and have been teaching ever since. Over the years, I’ve had the honor and pleasure of studying with great teachers such as Desiree Rumbaugh, Christina Sell, Darren Rhodes, and Judith Hanson Lasater, and I am eternally grateful for all of my teachers. In my classes, I aim to create a warm and welcoming environment. I am a firm believer in the healing benefits of yoga and in the power we have to heal ourselves by giving to ourselves what we need most, whether that’s healthier food, more rest, or a good dose of laughter. I am RYT and Relax and Renew certified.

Michael Biuso

(he/him)
Instructor 
I began practicing yoga in the first days of 2007, seeking a method that would complement my meditation practice and help me feel grounded in my body. In 2010, recognizing the benefits of asana, I began teaching yoga to survivors of domestic abuse in hopes that it would serve them in the same way it had served me. Since then I have integrated my training into my profession as a mental health therapist. My classes are designed to encourage and empower students. For more information, please visit my website: urmeimu.com

MiLo

(he/him)
Art Director and Instructor
I have been working for YogaOasis for more than a decade carrying much of the graphic design and photography projects. Through Tirtha Studios, I helped produce yoga products such as the poster, From Tadasana to Savasana, and Darren Rhodes' Yoga Resource book. Come check out my YogaHour class at yo downtown on Saturdays, at 10:30 a.m. Also, check out my work online:
youtube: yogaoasis108 | store: shopatyo.com

Nancy Gutierrez

(she/her)
Instructor
​I started practicing yoga in 2000 after the birth of my first daughter. From the very first class, I knew that I had found a practice that would challenge me and help me grow for the rest of life. After practicing for several years, I decided to become a yoga teacher, and I am so grateful to all of my teachers, especially Darren Rhodes and Christina Sell. I love to teach fun and challenging classes that ask students to go beyond what they may have thought possible. I currently teach yoga full time at Tucson High Magnet School and I teach Basics at YogaOasis.  I co created Yoga 4 Youth with Lori Huggins, and we teach kids 4-12 at YO.  I am married to a wonderful husband, Andy. We have two active and beautiful daughters, Megan and Macie. I love living in Tucson, running, reading and eating Mexican food!  

PJ Casey

(he/him)
​Instructor
I began teaching yoga in 1999. Inspired by my interest in meditation and stillness, I try to cultivate an environment of contemplation in my classes: periods of fullness of action, periods of quiet emptiness.

Rachel King

(she/her)
Admin and Instructor
I have managed YogaOasis since 2000, and have been teaching yoga since 2007. In the past 20 years I have studied primarily with Darren Rhodes, Elizabeth Little, Mira Shani, and Christina Sell. In this time, I have come to deeply appreciate the power of practice. For me, yoga can be quite a phenomenal tool for deepening self awareness, understanding, and love. In my Yogahour classes, I aim to share the potency and challenge of this practice in a playful, yet steady and safe environment. 

Robert Paul

(he/him)
Instructor 
​My first yoga experience was in 2011 on a dining room floor with a handy phone app that I downloaded for free. Two weeks later my friend took me to my first YogaHour and it was like coming home for me. Although I could not do a majority of the poses that the instructor was giving, I felt the connection with my mind and body. Moderation was one of the first lessons I learned on the mat. I started scheduling in classes that I could make and slowly realized that my yoga practice was not just another event on my calendar for the day, it was essential for my day. I aim to make my classes challenging and up beat while applying the principles that I have learned from so many. Some influential yoga teachers in my life: Rachel MacAdam, Darren Rhodes, Sam Rice, Stephani Lindsey, Annie Smith, and Rachel King.

Ron Wassell

(he/him)
My yoga journey began with a whim, a yearning, a feeling that I was missing out on something.  Was I ever right!  Content with being a regular practitioner, those feelings of "missing out" came up again, and next thing you know, I'm in the first 7+7+7 Yoga Hour Teacher training! THAT transformed me, bringing out a mix of vulnerability, fear, joy and community unparalleled by any other experience. With no plans for teaching studio classes, the universe had it's own ideas.  My first YO teaching opportunities surfaced in the months prior to the COVID lockdown. I'd only begun my teaching trajectory when the doors shut, temporarily. Thankfully,  we're back to in-person classes and I'm loving it!  Connecting with the YO community has been vital to that feeling of "hey, everything's gonna be all right!". I thrive off the energy of students. My teaching style might be characterized as approachable, lighthearted, chillaxed and relatable.  I try to interject humor, poignancy and real-life explanations into each practice. I teach because I want to give the gift of Yoga to each student that comes through the door of YO, and hope for the type of transformation that I have experienced in my practice.

Sam Rice

(she/her)
​Instructor
Originally, I started practicing yoga due to a back injury. Over the years, my reasons for practicing yoga have morphed and evolved and continue to do so. The first class I ever taught was in Whitefish, Montana. It was an alarming wake up call to how little I understood about yoga, and yet at the same time I realized I was passionate about teaching. That experience really motivated me to submerge myself into the study of yoga in a ferocious way, and that appetite continues to this day. I am an E-RYT 500 and continue to study with my primary teachers Christina Sell and Darren Rhodes. I do consider yoga class a class. My classes are full of detailed instruction and strategic sequencing. My goal for classes is to provide an environment that offers the opportunity to gain insight and refinement for your practice. samriceyoga.com

Sarah Maaske 

(she/they)
Instructor
​Yoga attempted to find me for the better part of a decade – I’d do a class and then forget about it for months. After attending classes at YogaOasis that changed, and I could be found at the studio practicing daily. I spent 2012/13 studying to be a teacher, but I didn’t fully know what that would look like. I identify as a queer person and after conversations with other people in my community, I realized that there was a need for intentionally queer spaces in yoga studios. What resulted was an LGBTQ+ yoga class, which I was honored to bring to YO in 2018. My hope is to create safe, accessible, and affordable spaces for all individuals. For me, yoga is about doing what I can to break through the barriers that often prevent people from accessing yoga, and I am grateful to YO for their support in these efforts.​

Shawn Asplundh

(he/him)
​Instructor
I got into yoga around 2009 as I had accumulated a lot of injuries over the years and figured it would help me work through that. In 2013, I finished a teacher training which focused on the spiritual aspect of yoga. I wasn't sure what to do next. I started flipping through the Yoga Resource book trying to jump in and fall out of these crazy poses. After about a month, my dad suggested I go do a teacher training with Darren Rhodes. Only a week later I moved to Tucson to do just that. I started teaching in 2014 as a way to give back everything I've gained from yoga. My classes balance between happy mediums of seriousness and silliness, hope and hype, and of course strength and stretch. Outside of yoga, I usually spend my time skateboarding, and doing backflips.

Stefanie Caffarel

(she/her)
​Instructor - On Break
​Can a haiku for a bio cut it? Imagine a snail holding plank pose. Hopefully you giggle, chuckle, or softly smirk. ‘Snail holding plank’ is an image I often conjure while practicing breathing while moving. I hope to see you in class! We’ll float through complicated, always interesting movements you may never experience without a yoga practice. In a shared space - held just for that purpose!​

Stephani Lindsey

Instructor
​bio coming soon

Tanya Witman

(she/her)
Instructor
Yoga found me after college, lost, disappointed, and accustomed to seeing the world through a cynic's eye. My first class annoyed and frustrated me, but left me with a lightened heart. Hundreds of classes and many styles later, I find myself in Tucson both practicing and teaching yoga and no longer describing myself as an angry person. Yoga has taught me how to exist in discomfort and choose my reaction to it. Because of my practice I purposely look to the good in situations, which balances my inner critic. I bring these lessons into my teaching, asking my students to be willing to walk carefully into difficulty and maintain awareness to navigate it more skillfully. I bring to classes the lightheartedness that was my first gift of yoga–just because we fall doesn't mean we fail, but neither does it keep us from coming back.  mantrassage.com

Tim May

(he/him)
Instructor
​Yoga has changed my life. I began practicing in 2010 when a friend suggested I try out a class at YogaOasis and I was instantly hooked. When I started practicing I remember thinking the benefits would be purely physical, so it was a welcome surprise when the lessons I learned on my mat begin to spill into other areas of my life. Yoga has been such a wonderful tool for creating the space for me to grow both physically and mentally. Its transformative power is what has kept me rolling out my mat over the years. Teaching only adds to this experience and I love sharing this practice with others.