Stacie Finucan was ushered into the world of yoga through her mother’s passion for hot yoga and desire to create a yoga studio with which to share the love. New to yoga, but already steeped in performing arts, mythology, and philosophical studies, Stacie found her passion and gift for guiding students through classes of all styles after completing 500+ hours of training with Bikram and 500+ hours with Baron Baptiste. Since 2004, Stacie has continued learning, taught full-time, owned and operated studios, led trainings and workshops, and joyfully hosted international yoga retreats in Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, and Italy. Stacie’s classes are infused with her excitement for biomechanics and her talent for weaving words, both of which allow her students to get out of their minds and dive deep into body and spirit. When not in the yoga room, Stacie is blissfully immersed in her home life with three amazing children, an inspirational husband, and a menagerie of pets.
Stacie's Teacher Origin Story
My mom had a dream: to build a family run yoga studio, and to create a yoga community in her hometown of Longmont, Colorado. She believed in the power of a consistent yoga practice (specifically Hot Yoga), and her heart was set on opening a beautiful center of her own. The biggest obstacle was the fact that she was not a yoga teacher... and to own a Bikram studio, you have to be a Bikram certified teacher. That's where I enter the story.
​
I was young, optimistic, and ready for adventure, so I agreed to be sent off to Bikram's infamous 9-week long Teacher Training even though I had only taken a couple of yoga classes ever -- and had never successfully completed a Hot Yoga class.
​
After surviving the training, I taught as much as possible at Bikram studios in Vermont while waiting for the family studio to be built. And since I was still so brand new to the world of yoga, I really was teaching MYSELF how to practice yoga while teaching others, and it was such a beautiful, innocent, and humble beginning. I had so much to learn: self-compassion, self-discipline, perseverance, humility, mindfulness, grace. And so that is what I taught the students who showed up for my classes.
​
As we approached the opening of Solar Yoga, we realized that we couldn't be a strict Bikram studio, so we pivoted: now we would also offer Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga as well. The problem? None of us taught that style of yoga. So once again I was shipped off to teacher training boot camp.
​
I arrived in Hilo, Hawaii to learn from Baron Baptiste having done only one or two Vinyasa Flow classes in my whole life. I did not even know what a Sun Salutation was; I had no way to be prepared for 2-3 hour long sessions twice each day of flowing, hip opening, contorting, and inverting in the heated room. And I was REALLY not prepared for the hours of self-inquiry and meditation. My mind and heart were once again blown wide open.
​
I taught my first Vinyasa Flow class at my own studio. All bravado, quick-thinking, and trust in both myself and the Universe. I grew up with my students, I found my spirituality within the practice I taught, and I learned how to be powerfully vulnerable by opening up and connecting with the community of loving yogis who showed up day after day, month after month, year after year.
​
My sister, my mom, and my dad all became certified teachers and we all taught at our beautiful studio. We had no agenda, no pretense, no ego around yoga or running a yoga studio... how could we? We had no preconceived idea of how it was supposed to be done. It was wholly ridiculous and wildly divine to be so innocent and free of expectations while running a large yoga studio. It was magical to allow the yoga to do its work on us, our students, and the community. We didn't really know what to expect beyond the mechanics of running a business, so we couldn't begin to imagine the growth that would take place as the yoga took root.
​
I have taught yoga and run yoga studios my entire adult life, since that fateful first day at Bikram training in the summer of 2004. I never would have guessed that saying "yes" to doing a training in a field I had absolutely no interest in would lead to a life of deep fulfillment. It is my greatest joy and privilege to impart the life-changing wisdom of yoga with others, and I am living proof that you don't need ANY experience to DIVE IN, dig deep, and trust the process. The yoga works, all you have to do is keep showing up.