meet our team !

Zarfeen Samani

STUDIO OWNER / YOGA TEACHER

I teach Yoga to live my 'dharma,' my higher purpose in life. Yoga has given meaning to my existence, and I am honored to be sharing the true essence of Yoga through Kosha 5 Yoga Studio with my community. We are students for life, and there's so much to learn and grow in wisdom. I am looking forwards to graduating from my 850 HR Yoga Therapy training in 2022 and helping others heal. I enjoy teaching mixed levels 'Bliss' classes as it allows me to see the growth of my students in their yoga practice. I teach my classes in a trauma-informed way with a mission to empower my students to find the embodiment of their practice. What I enjoy the most in life is being a mother to a 12-year-old boy and feel fully alive when we engage in moments of laughter and affection together. For leisure, I like solo traveling and relish being on trips. Jetskiing gives me an adrenaline rush each time and a sense of euphoria. Last but not least, I love being around luminous humans and see the divinity in every person.

Isabella Urudiales Guzman

YOGA TEACHER

I started to practice Yoga when I first got to college, for me, it was a transformative and empowering period of my life independent of my practice. I am grateful for that time in my life when I had such caring teachers who encouraged me to further my practice and ultimately teach. I teach because I want to share this beautiful autonomy that is achievable through Yoga. I know that Yoga can be intimidating and often make you feel vulnerable, which is why I always want my students to feel accepted and empowered! When I am not teaching, I am filming commercial auditions, studying, fighting to get my 10k steps, or watching the latest film and tv releases (my all-time favorite is The Mindy Project). Some of my free time is also spent researching making gourmet food for my dogs and humans.

Yvette Vasquez

YOGA TEACHER

Yoga has been such an incredibly influential aspect of my life. From a young age, through dance and sports, I discovered muscle and mind engagement. Through the movement of my body, I learned the difference between simply moving, and moving with intention. My passion led me to a 200hr RYT training in Denver, CO in 2013. Since, I have spent several years expanding my knowledge through 60+ hr Yoga Sculpt training, over 150 hrs in yoga intensives diving deeper into the knowledge of intermediate and advanced yoga postures, concepts, and techniques. My Vinyasa has taught me priceless lessons in life and has gotten me through my most difficult trials to date. It has softened the lows, showing me that as long as we are learning and coming from a place of gratitude, we could never lose. I can not even begin to explain how much yoga has surely amplified my highs. To be able to share that gift with my students and even change one person’s day is the most rewarding honor to me. This is why I teach yoga.

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Fun Fact: I love spending time and being silly with my daughter, cooking with loud music playing, dancing, taking road trips to just about anywhere, going on adventures, and camping with my family!

Maloney Simone Sturm

FITNESS INSTRUCTOR

Maloney has been an athlete all of her life; her love for running at a young age led to her lifelong dedication to fitness. She is committed to the idea that fitness is for everyone and in her teaching she thrives to give her clients an experience that is fun, motivating, and at the end of the day, the best workout they have ever had. Maloney is a certified personal trainer, spin instructor, Barre certified instructor and is constantly learning new tools to ensure that her clients are never bored. In her spare time, you can find her surfing at San Elijo State Beach, riding her horse (Bailey) or volunteering with Tara's Chance Equine therapy

Caitlyn Manlongat

YOGA AND MEDITATION INSTRUCTOR

Yoga came into alignment with Caitlyn’s life around 2013. The philosophy of yoga completely transformed the way she experienced life. After years of time spent in personal practice and self-development, the desire to spread her knowledge and the benefits of her practice grew. In December of 2019, she graduated an intensive 200 RYT training from Atman Yoga School in Padangbai, Bali. Caitlyn’s teaching style provides a well-balanced flow of creative sequencing and some held postures, along with a healthy dose of meditation, pranayama, and sound healing. She believes in yoga being the celebration of the Self, encouraging students to discover their individual freedom in a space held for unconditional self-acceptance and compassion. Caitlyn’s classes promise the cultivation of connection to mind, body, spirit, and earth through expansive breath and mindfulness into the present moment.

Sara Brady

YOGA TEACHER

Yoga was something that found me when I needed to heal from within, and I will be forever grateful. I love to see my students come to life through practice and how together we evolve with yoga. For me, yoga is a state of being, not just a practice. I have been teaching for the last 4 years and I am always challenging myself to think outside the box with my practice, and what I teach. I would describe my teaching style as very eclectic and ever-evolving.  I was trained in traditional Hatha Vinyasa flow and meditation. Soon after I got my certificate to teach Buti yoga, which I found a true passion for.  Throughout the last four years, I feel like I have found my voice with yoga and only plan to keep learning. I am always striving to bring the best to my students through meditation, practice, workshops, wellness, and retreats. I take every day as a gift and always walk through life knowing one moment can change a day.

Caitlyn Thiele

YOGA TEACHER

I am a 200hr RYT, soon to be 500hr RYT. I have been certified in yin, yogalates, strength, and soon-to-be hot yoga. I have spent time in training that focuses on accessibility and inclusivity. I am also a certified meditation instructor, health coach, and student.

I found yoga by accident 6 years ago. My dance teacher at the time was a newly certified yoga instructor and was looking for students to fill her yoga space. Sure enough, I became one of her first students. I ultimately have her to thank for my ending up where I am today! She made me feel like I could accomplish really hard things with persistence and tenderness. I want to help my students discover that they have the capability to accomplish those same really hard things in similar ways. My biggest focuses as a teacher are keeping my classes accessible and explorative. To me, the practice of yoga is less about the shapes we make and more about leaning into how the body and mind feel as we move through the postures. I'm all about cultivating a connection to ourselves, each other, the earth, and the universe that surrounds us! Fun Facts: I enjoy old books, vintage, good food, live music, the outdoors, cool architecture, and reading tarot and oracle cards for both myself and others!

David Miller

YOGA TEACHER / MUSICIAN / MENTOR

David believes that yoga practice can be inspiring, goofy, spiritual, and physical - that every part of who we are as human beings can be reflected in this powerful practice. His teaching style rides the extremes of sound and silence, dance and meditation, depth and humor, and he works to infuse his practice with a dynamism that entertains even as it inspires divine connection. He began teaching in 2007 in the American Midwest after his heart had been won over to yoga through the challenging process of becoming sober from drugs and alcohol. Since those days he's traveled taught yoga for a decade in Orange County and Los Angeles (with a yearlong sojourn teaching in the United Arab Emirates), led thousands upon thousands of classes, lectured extensively on yogic philosophy, been involved with numerous yoga Teacher Training, trained in meditation teaching and taught hundreds of meditation classes, done one-on-one teaching and mentoring, started a podcast, done consulting work for studios, co-led retreats, joined with his partner Mona for a spoken/word sound healing project and much more. After all this work, he is still hungry to do more, connect to more humans, and constantly dig deeper into this evolving practice.