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"Yoga means union. Yoga is the union of the individual soul with the Universal Spirit. To practice Yoga is to unite with the body and mind. For the more practiced person it is also to unite the mind with intelligence; and for the person with an even deeper practice it is to unite the body, mind, and intelligence with the depth of the soul."
~BKS Iyengar

About Us
Location: 476 W. White Mountain Blvd. #12, Lakeside, AZ 85929
Phone/Text:  928-940-0996
Email:  info@openspacesyoga.com

Specializing in Iyengar Yoga,
Open Spaces Yoga Center
exists to...

Provide a nurturing environment for yoga practices that foster
overall health through steadiness of body, mind and spirit.


Be a center of learning for a variety of complementary healing and spiritual arts and sciences that encourage greater self-awareness
and an evolved consciousness.


Serve as a cultural center for emerging artists, art and ideas.

Foster greater awareness of the interconnectedness
with all life including the planet.


Stimulate the expression of selfless service for the benefit of all beings.

Our Teachers

Rosie Gonzalez

began her in-depth training in 2003 at Lourdes Institute of Wholistic Studies, New Jersey. She’s a certified yoga instructor and has been teaching 14 years. She embraces the Vinyasa Style of teaching and includes Yin style at times. With an encouraging message and a music playlist from “mellow” to “energizing” she adeptly guides her students according to their level of ability. Seeing her students grow, heal and go deeply into their yoga practice is Rosie’s constant inspiration.

Pam Leibowitz

resides in Show Low and Oro Valley AZ. Practicing Yoga for 18 years she became certified in 2010 through the YogaLife Institute in Exeter New Hampshire, which specializes in Classical Hatha Yoga & Yoga philosophy. Her classes will incorporate Yin/Yang, pranayama and intention. (the holding postures of Yin & the easy flow of Yang) “The thing I love about Yoga…it’s for everyone, no matter your age or restrictions. It becomes a part of you.”

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Melissa Graves

is a registered Yoga Instructor having received her initial teaching certification in Kriya Hatha Yoga in 2002 from The Yoga Connection in Tucson, AZ. Melissa went on in 2012 to receive her Masters level 500 hr. certification from Holy Yoga Ministries. Melissa has practiced and studied yoga for over fifteen years. With a love of connecting breathe with movement into vinyasa flow, working to combine the elements of mind body and spirit into each class. Melissa is a practicing licensed Massage Therapist in the Pinetop area.

Lily Tista

has taught yoga locally for 25 years with an intuitive and energetic style attracting long time students. In 2013 she began her formal training (800+ hours) toward Iyengar certification at the Iyengar Institute of San Francisco and continued that training under Senior Teacher, Carolyn Belko from 2014-2016 in Encinitas, CA. She received her Iyengar Certification in 2016. Lily brings a solid knowledge of yoga to the community through her committed practice of the systematic Iyengar method emphasizing alignment, safety, and breath. Lily has a Yoga Therapy certification with IAYT (International Assoc. of Yoga Therapists).

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Lauren Barnert-Hosie

is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor and a certified member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She received her Certificate of Psychomotor Therapy from New York Medical College and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Florida. With teaching experience spanning 20+ years, Lauren is the owner and principal instructor of Open Spaces Yoga Center. She co-directs the studio along with her husband and Meditation Master, Ken Hosie. Studying with the premier Senior Iyengar Yoga Teachers in the US, Lauren completed her 3 year Iyengar Yoga Therapeutics Course training. She is also certified with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT).

Ken Hosie (MA) 

is an accomplished artist, poet, and teacher of meditation with a unique blend of eastern and western traditions. His grounded, gentle guidance makes mindfulness practices accessible to beginners and experienced students alike. In addition to weekly public classes and private one-on- one sessions, Ken offers popular workshops including “Sound, Tone & Chant”, “Heart Sounds”, and “Meditation Through Ritual”. Call (928) 940-0997 for the next available class.

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Lisa Gallinger

was Certified by Forrest Yoga in 2017.  She has been practicing for 19+ years and teaching for 3 years throughout the Pinetop Lakeside, Show Low area. 

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In January 2001, Darla Austerman, Kimberly (Johnson) Washburn, and Lauren Barnert-Hosie  merged their considerable intellectual and professional resources to create Open Spaces Yoga Center, LLC.

That Year they launched their endeavor by opening in a 600 square foot studio in Wagon Wheel, AZ. Two years later, with encouragement and support from Mosty Donahue at Spa Estique, they pulled up stakes and moved to a far more spacious 1502 square foot space in the Ponderosa Plaza, Lakeside (right on highway 260), where the business continues to thrive to this day.

Life's changes, redirection of professional focus, and family needs brought the most recent transformation to this business entity. Lauren assumed the reigns of the organization, with Darla and her husband moving to Washington State and Kimberly expanding her nurse practitioner women's health practice in Show Low. (Kimberly and husband, Steve Washburn have opened "Yoga Caliente" -  in The Gym in Pinetop where she and others teach "hot yoga"). This change in ownership was conducted with the greatest of equanimity and compassion of all concerned and represented the highest understandings of the root of yoga....compassion, humility, loving kindness, and selfless service.

The yoga center was completely renovated at the end of 2011 when the "yoga wall mural" designed and executed by Ken Hosie was created (the only one of it's kind in the world).
Open Spaces has continued to expand it's offerings to the general public with an emphasis in Iyengar yoga, and depending on the season, other styles of yoga are offered to suit every individual's need. After 3 years of intensive yoga therapeutics study, Lauren has begun offering (2017) Yoga Therapy Classes for those with health issues that require therapeutic interventions.
Lauren is an IAYT (International Assoc. of Yoga Therapists) certified instructor.

Meditation is an integral part of yoga practices and has been led by Master teacher Ken Hosie spanning many years at OSYC on Sunday mornings. Sound, Tone & Chant, (a 7 week intensive practice to explore the indepth relationship between creating vocal sound and creating community) has been offered several times.  OSYC has yearly hosted intuitive sound healer Patricia Hurley (Santa Cruz, CA) here to offer transformative private sessions to those in the White Mountains.
 
With our commitment to serve the community, Open Spaces  has hosted tours of Tibetan Buddhist Monks, who have given teachings, pujas, offered Tibetan Herbal healings, House blessings, divinations and created sand mandalas due to the generosity of local individuals.   OSYC also regularly hosts special workshops, programs, performing artist events and public talks.

Open Spaces Yoga Center is fully equipped and offers all levels of practice to accommodate the broadest possible needs of the young and old, the infirm, the sports-minded, healthful-living enthusiasts and those in search of evolved spiritual practices through yoga  and meditation.  
 
Without the devotion to yoga of our many fine instructors, OSYC wouldn't have attracted and maintained the diverse and dedicated students, who over the years have made Yoga a regular part of their lives.  To our students we are forever grateful for bringing themselves to the path of yoga. To the OSYC staff and students we extend our deepest heartfelt thanks for ensuring that yoga thrives in the White Mountains.

Our History

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