Keziah Catania Voted Best Yoga Instructor in Gunnison - Q&A

Thank you for your votes!! Kez was named Best Yoga Instructor in the 2026 Gunnison People's Choice Awards. From teacher training in Peru to Best Yoga Instructor in Gunnison, Kez talks agency, community, and why you just gotta bend your damn knees- keep reading for the entire Q&A !

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get started in your line of work?

COVID hit my freshman year at Western Colorado University, and I lost motivation. Yoga brought me back, reconnecting me to myself and to others in the valley feeling the same separation. I took a year off school for yoga teacher training in Peru, then came home to teach in 2022, while finishing my degree. I've been teaching in the valley ever since, now at Sanctuary Somatics!

What do you love most about what you do?

No matter how advanced technology gets, bodies will always need to move. Yoga meets every body, from adaptive athletes to ultramarathon runners. Helping spread a practice that is undeniably healthy, inclusive, and timeless, is an honor.

What's something people may find surprising about your job?

90% of yoga is remembering you have agency over your own body. My job isn't to control your practice, rather to create space for you to explore. I often say, "Yoga is the practice of paying attention." That's why I rarely do hands-on adjustments, and when I do, it's a touch of comfort, not a correction. I cue alignment verbally, so you decide what to take and what to leave. This way, students make the practice theirs, without losing the professional structure that makes an in-person yoga class worth investing in.

What's one moment in your career that has really stuck with you?

Teaching CBPY's donation-based Yoga in The Park Series summer 2023. We raised money for a different nonprofit every Sunday and witnessed 50+ people connect in an open field under the sun. This showed me how healing it is to move together outside, and inspired me to bring Yoga in The Park to Gunnison this summer with Sanctuary Somatics, benefiting the Gunnison Farmers Market. Letting people give what feels right is special; yet another chance to connect with agency.

What do you love most about being part of this community?

I love living in a place that challenges the definition of community. Claiming community as ownership doesn't resonate here, because nobody identifies with just one. It isn't Sanctuary Somatics' job to build community; generations before us already did that. Our job is to build capable, robust, antifragile humans who can show up fully to every community they find. Most businesses here share that intention. It's how this valley keeps moving forward, together as one.

What's one piece of advice you'd give someone who wants to do what you do?

A teacher once told me, "It's your job as a space holder to be the weirdest one in the room." People expect yoga teachers to be the most polished person there, but the job is to be the most authentic. Design your class the way that feels right and play the songs that inspire you! When you're having fun, your students will too.

What's one local place or activity everyone should experience?

The Signal Peak trail system. Looking over Gunnison in the wind, with hardly anyone around, reminds me how small I am, even in our little town, yet leaves me feeling capable. It's nothing fancy, and that's what I love most about it.

What's one thing you wish every beginner knew about their first class?

So many people think they can't do Yoga because they can't touch their toes. Just gotta bend your damn knees! Nobody walks into their first class strong and flexible. That's what the practice is for, and the reward is watching your body change the more you show up to it- you may be surprised to see how quickly your body responds to this ancient practice!

Thank you, Gunnison! Come practice with Kez and the other incredible teachers on our team!