Fire Horse Yoga has been serving the community for health and wellness since 2001.
MISSION: Fire Horse Yoga provides Yoga, Barre, Meditation, Breathwork, Movement, and Mindfulness practices which have been proven effective in supporting well-being and promoting the integration of the body, mind, and spirit. We provide qualified, credentialed professional instructors, consistently maintaining an environment that is supportive of our offerings and welcoming to all. Body, Mind, and Spirit.
S T A F F
Samantha Knies Gray, E-RYT 200, YACEP®, Barre Above® Instructor, Owner/Director
Tim Gray, RYT® 200, Barre Above® Instructor, Owner, Business Manager
Danni Schaust, RYT® 200, Barre Above® Instructor, MPA, Studio Coordinator
Amanda Aldridge, CYT 200
Julia Jalles, CYT 200
Robin Morton, CYT 200
Samantha Knies Gray, E-RYT 200, YACEP®, Barre Above® Instructor
Owner/Director
Samantha is the Owner/Director and Lead Teacher at Fire Horse Yoga and our sister yoga school - Fire Horse Academy of Yoga - in historical downtown Jasper, Indiana. A lifelong equestrian, she started practicing yoga in high school as a way to develop flexibility and strength for horseback riding.
In 2016, Sam and her family (husband, Tim, and daughters, Kate and Isla) moved to Dubois County for Tim’s job and to be closer to her family in Bretzville. Shortly after moving, Sam found Fire Horse Yoga and fell in love with the slowness of Yin Yoga which helped her regain flexibility/mobility/stability in her body, as well as mental/emotional wellbeing following a rough pregnancy, traumatic childbirth experience, and major life changes.
In 2017, Sam completed her Yoga Teacher Training at Fire Horse Yoga and began leading private and group Yin Yoga practices at the studio and across the county — bringing the practice of mindfulness to others who had lost their connection to their bodies and mental wellbeing in the midst of the stress and chaos of daily life.
Samantha bought Fire Horse in ‘21 and moved it to a historical building north of the Downtown Jasper Square. She has since added new modalities and styles to the studio, became certified as a Barre Above® Instructor and YACEP (Yoga Alliance Certified Education Provider) and upgraded her Yoga Alliance designation to Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT). She currently teaches adult and children group and private sessions (including aerial yoga) at the studio and across the county for local institutions and businesses.
Sam enjoys teaching alignment-based and Yin yoga, as well as Yoga Nidra. She specializes in nervous system regulation and helping clients regain flexibility, mobility, and stability in their bodies.
When she’s not at the studio, Samantha works in marketing and loves spending time with her family on their farm in Bretzville — hiking, porch-sitting, and loving on their 3 dogs, 7 cats, 8 horses, and 3 ducks.
Tim Gray, CYT 200, Barre Above® Instructor, Business Manager
Tim is Samantha Gray’s husband, and Fire Horse Yoga’s biggest supporter. He’s been practicing yoga regularly since 2018 and quickly saw an improvement in mobility, range of motion, flexibility, balance, and fewer workout/sports/work-related injuries . Tim, a licensed engineer and Project Management Professional, has found that the use of breathwork and meditation helps to manage stress in his engineering job. His favorite style of yoga is Yin.
Tim is a CYT 200 and is certified in the Barre Above® method. He is the official fill-in as a substitute Barre teacher on Thursday evenings.
Tim helps manage the day-to-day business aspects of Fire Horse Yoga: finances/accounting, HR and payroll, donations to local non-profits/events, procedures/processes, and check-in at the studio. He’s our do-it-all guy, too — you can often find him at the studio between classes cleaning, folding blankets, sweeping floors, watering plants, and performing general maintenance on anything that needs a little help in our historic building in Downtown Jasper.
Danni Schaust, RYT® 200, Barre Above® Instructor, MPA, Studio Coordinator
Danni (she/hers) is the Studio Coordinator, Yoga Teacher, and a Barre Above® Instructor for Fire Horse Yoga and our sister yoga school - Fire Horse Academy of Yoga - in historic downtown Jasper, Indiana. Chronic stress, anxiety, and burnout brought Danni to her yoga mat in college, but her passion for community, spiritual growth, a great workout, and lifelong learning have kept her coming back for more than a decade.
Danni moved back to Dubois County in the spring of 2022 and has been a key part of the Fire Horse Yoga community ever since. Danni believes her dharma, or mission in life, is to empower people and the planet, on and off the yoga mat. Danni takes her practice seriously, but not herself. She focuses on nervous system regulation techniques and interoception - consciously guiding people back to their breath and their bodies, cultivating a sense of present moment awareness.
Danni incorporates elements of pranayama and asana into every class she teaches and adores a good inversion (forearm supported headstand is her favorite asana)! When you come to one of Danni’s classes, you can expect an authentic space for exploring the practice guided by a fun playlist, pranayama practice, the occasional inversion or deep dive into specific shapes, as well as authentic yogic & spiritual themes sprinkled throughout the class.
Danni completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training in summer 2021 at Myriad Yoga in Indianapolis, focused on a vinyasa-based style of yoga. Since then, she has led hundreds of hours of group and private yoga classes. Danni currently teaches a mixture of Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative, and trauma-sensitive yoga classes. She is pursuing a 100-hour Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Facilitator certification (anticipated graduation: spring 2024), which will help her better serve her clients both in and out of the studio.
Off the mat, Danni can be found hanging out with her husband and dog, Stevie; chugging coffee, reading, journaling, hiking, geeking out about all things tarot and environmental sustainability, tending to her houseplants, traveling, or working on her small business, Dharma with Danni. She loves to travel anywhere and everywhere and can’t wait to guide you through a yoga class.
Robin Morton, CYT 200
Robin has been practicing yoga for nearly a decade. After six years of a regular home and studio practice, she decided to deepen her practice with a 200-hour teacher training course with the hopes of sharing her yoga with others — fully embodying Fire Horse Yoga’s mission by bringing body, mind, and spirit together.
Her Thursday evening (6:30 pm) Light Yoga is a vinyasa-flavored class that focuses on melding intentional breath with functional movement to better move us through our daily activities. Robin offers modifications to add or reduce depth/sensation in the poses allowing students the space to meet themselves exactly where they are each time they come to their mats — seasoned and beginner yogis alike.
Julia Jalles, CYT 200
Julia is a longtime FHY teacher and student. She has been practicing yoga for nearly her entire life, and you'll often hear Sam reference Julia wisdom throughout her classes: "Falling is learning!" and "No prizes for straight legs in yoga!"
If you've never attended a class with Julia, you're missing out. She is the pure embodiment of yoga, bringing deep peace to each student with her sweet, soothing voice and compassionate air.
Julia leads Friday 9 am Yin Yang, fusing both passive and active stretches and movement into one class. You might also get a little Qigong in Julia’s classes!
Julia is a mom to two sons — one in Florida and one in California — and a grandmother to 3: Sebastian, Daniel, and Ada.
RYT® 200. Teachers can register as an RYT® 200 if they have successfully completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training that is registered with Yoga Alliance. All training hours must come from the same school and multiple trainings cannot be combined to meet the 200-hour Requirement. Teaching hours are not required for this designation. RYT® 200 teachers are registered with Yoga Alliance. (RYT = Registered Yoga Teacher)
E-RYT 200. Teachers can register as an E-RYT 200 if they have successfully completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training program that is registered with Yoga Alliance and have taught a minimum of two years after completing training. All training hours must come from the same school and multiple trainings cannot be combined to meet the 200-hour Requirement. Applicants must submit 1,000 teaching hours for this designation which must be completed after completing training with a RYS 200. E-RYT 200 teachers are registered with Yoga Alliance. (E-RYT = Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher)
Once registered, an E-RYT 200 is able to provide continuing education workshops to RYTs and can be a Lead Trainer of a 200-hour teacher training program for a RYS 200.
RYT® 500. Teachers can register as a RYT® 500 if they have successfully completed a 500-hour yoga teacher training that is registered with Yoga Alliance. The 500 hours of training can either come from one school or can be a combination of a 200-hour training plus 300 hours of advanced training from a different school. Advanced training is defined as training that requires participants to have completed a 200-hour training. Applicants must submit 100 teaching hours for this designation which must be completed after completing training with a RYS 200 or 500. RYT® 500 teachers are registered with Yoga Alliance. (RYT = Registered Yoga Teacher)
RCYT. Teachers can register as a RCYT if they have successfully completed both a 200-hour yoga teacher training and a 95-hour children's yoga teacher training—in either order—that are registered with Yoga Alliance. Applicants must submit 30 teaching hours in children’s yoga which must be performed after completing a training with a RCYS (Registered Children’s Yoga School). RCYTs are registered with Yoga Alliance. (RCYT = Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher)
CYT 200. Indicates that the teacher has successfully completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training with a Yoga School that may or may not be registered with Yoga Alliance. CYT = Certified Yoga Teacher. CYTs are not registered with Yoga Alliance.
YACEP®. The YACEP designation is designed for experts in the yoga community to set themselves apart and teach courses that qualify as Continuing Education hours for RYTs and CYTs. Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT®s) who take courses with a YACEP® can trust that their training counts toward meeting their Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Requirements.
Barre Above®. Instructors are certified in the Barre Above® method. Barre Above® is a unique approach to barre workouts as you've seen them. Fusing the best of pilates, yoga, aerobics, and elements of the strengthening exercises dancers do, Barre Above® delivers a results-driven workout that is not only fun and dynamic, but it will sculpt your body and get you into absolutely amazing shape.