Make Peace Yogasana is a small, always evolving, postural yoga studio lovingly created with the intention to bring people together in a safe and peaceful environment to weave together the power and practice of yoga asana, breathwork, and quiet STILLNESS. 

The classes at Make Peace Yogasana are inspired by the interests of the community of yogis in the Bitterroot Valley. They are developed with thoughtful intention to provide opportunities for the exploration of and the nurturing experiences within the body, mind, and spirit.

Instruction at Make Peace Yogasana address the whole student, taking into account not only the development of the physical body, but the insightful exploration and evolution of the emotional, mental and spiritual bodies as well.

In each class, yogis can expect thoughtfully sequenced yoga asana, the practice of the art of controlled breathing, known as pranayama, and the continued development of meditative practices that encourage concentration, clarity, "emotional positivity", and a deep sense of the ever-present peace within one's self.

The studio provides yoga mats, straps, blocks, blankets, bolsters, sandbags, eye pillows, and fascial therapy balls. Students are encouraged to commit to a home practice and purchase their own mats when the time is right.

The studio was created with the intention of providing students with an opportunity to tap into and explore their true nature as peaceful and compassionate human beings, thus inspiring the name Make Peace Yogasana.

All human beings welcome

Namaste!

Colleen truly believes that bringing the opportunity of yoga to one person at a time can provide this person with the potential to "increase the peace" in the world. Her deepest desire is to help guide people to align with their true nature as peaceful beings. Her alignment centered, heart based teachings are designed for all levels of practitioners.

Colleen Alber, RYT 500, E-RYT 200, YACEP
Owner and Yoga seeker

In 2002, looking for ways to achieve a successful natural birth at her home in the Sapphire Mountains of western Montana, Colleen sought out her first yoga class in a studio in downtown Missoula, MT.  That class inspired 19+ years of personal yoga practice, the study of asana, pranayama, meditation, and Ayurveda. Those studies stimulated a desire that ultimately led her to invest time in training to become a certified yoga teacher and educator.

At first, with the intention to just deepen her own practice, Colleen attended several weekend teacher trainings with YogaFit at the local Missoula Family YMCA from 2004-2005.  Quickly recognizing there was a lifetime of yoga left to study she looked for opportunities to dive even deeper and eternally into the teachings which led her to Nancy Ruby's YogaMotion Teacher Training. In 2006 she enrolled to obtain her 200 hour teaching certificate.  Inspired to increase her diversity in yoga study she completed a 108 hour Anusara Yoga Immersion with Sundari Lucey in 2009. In August of 2017, Colleen completed an additional 300 hours of study with YogaMotion Academy in Bozeman.  Since the fall of 2017 Colleen has been studying Experiential Anatomy and other course online with Judith Hanson Lasater Ph.D ,P.T., and Mary Richards C-IAYT, ERYT, YACEP, and Lizzie Lasater as well as Yoga Nidra with Meg McCracken co-founder of Alaya Yoga School. She also has received training in Yin Yoga during the spring of 2018 with Martha Piersma. The beginning of 2022 has been spent studying vinyasa flow with Schuyler Grant, the founder and co-director of Kula Yoga Project and the co-creator of Wanderlust. Colleen is continuing into 2023 with the study of the Yoga Sutras and the Bagavad Gita with Kaya Mindlin.

She considers herself a lifelong student of yoga. Her favorite yoga podcasts include “Let’s Talk Yoga” with Arundhati Baitmangalkar, “Yoga is Dead” with Tejal Patel and Jasel Parikh, and “Yogaland” with Andrea Ferretti and Jason Crandell. One of Colleen’s favorite YouTube learning channels is an offering with Anvita Dixit on the Yoga Sutras.

Colleen had been teaching in the gyms and yoga studios of western Montana for 9 years before opening her own studio, Make Peace Yogasana in October of 2016. What started out as an outbuilding that was used for storage of miscellaneous items on her property transformed into a bright and beautiful community studio that welcomes people of all ages and abilities to share in the magic of movement, breath, and meditation. Year-round Colleen hosts group classes, workshops, mini-retreats, continuing education opportunities for yoga instructors, and individual and small group private instruction. When not teaching and sharing in her studio, she loves to take her teachings into the schools of the Bitterroot Valley. Colleen continues her studies of the various facets of yoga in workshops and trainings online and in person throughout the Pacific Northwest.

As a Yoga Celebrant, Colleen loves to work one on one and in small group settings to design exclusive yoga experiences for specialty events like weddings and baby showers, family reunions, girls' nights out, birthdays, seasonal celebrations, and more. She believes Yoga can be a powerful tool to enhance all the milestones we as human beings celebrate in life and is honored with each opportunity that she has to develop a unique yoga event for individuals, friends, families, and/or co-workers.