Serving as a true reflection of her personality, China’s Vinyasa Flow classes are lighthearted and fun. In 2005 she took her first yoga class at a gym in Denver with Angelique DeSilva, not realizing yoga would become such a spiritual journey. The years of struggle with her own personal faith were being lifted with every hour she spent on the mat. When the gym closed three years later for renovations, China stumbled into Blair Vaughn’s class for the first time and walked away knowing she wanted to teach.She completed her 200-hour teacher training at Samadhi Center for Yoga, drawing inspiration from her instructors Karen Lerner, Tina Porter and Lisa Schlelein. China wants her students to walk away from the mat feeling empowered with a sense of personal understanding, which can mean it’s OK to laugh and not be serious sometimes – even on your mat!Even though most people practice yoga in a room full of people, it’s a very private experience, and China wants people to have the space in her class to cultivate that experience in whatever form suits the student. Off the mat China cruises her cruiser, hikes, tends to her vegetable garden and snowboards. “I look at my life as a work in progress,” she says. “Yoga reminds me not to get too caught up in life and to find harmony and balance between what I perceive as my obligations and the things I love to do.”