NEDERLAND — “Can we all just take a breath together? I’m a yoga teacher after all.” Diana Underhill, owner of Tadasana Mountain Yoga started her speech during the Nederland Strong benefit concert back in November of 2025, by letting the crowd expel some of the tension and grief they had been feeling since the Lakeview Fire less than a month prior. 

“It’s hard to describe in words what the past few weeks have been like. In just a few hours our studio, the place that held 14 years of classes, laughter, healing, and community, was gone. Losing that physical home has been heartbreaking, but it’s reminded us of something powerful: the true heart of yoga isn’t found in walls or floors, but in practice, and the community is always our home.”

“We’re nomadic yogis now,” Underhill stated. “As we look ahead we’re not just rebuilding businesses, we’re reimagining them. We have the chance to create something that reflects what we are now, a community grounded in compassion, devoted to healing, and stronger than we ever imagined.”

And then…

“It was true then and is still very true,” Underhill told The Mountain-Ear, looking back at her speech nine months later, at the conviction she had then to keep moving forward in the aftermath of the fire that burned down the Caribou Village Shopping Center, home to the yoga teacher’s studio and business.  

“It’s unbelievable that through all the borrowed locations we’re where we are now.” 

Underhill and the team at Tadasana embraced the nomadic approach right away by collaborating with, and receiving support from, local businesses, organizations, and the Town itself—endeavors which not only kept Tadasana alive for their base community, but brought the studio back to its standing before the tragedy.    

“We’re back up to 20 classes a week,” Underhill said proudly. “Before the fire we had 22, so we’re pretty much back to full capacity, and I’m super grateful for all who reached out with support.”

Together We Rise was the name of the benefit yoga series, hosted at Eldora thanks to the quick action and support from the ski area's management.

Photo courtesy of Diana Underhill

That support came quickly as the perfect opportunity arose for Underhill to put the powerful words of her speech into action, when management from Eldora Mountain Resort reached out and offered to host a yoga series, which Underhill titled Together We Rise.   

“It was the perfect spot! Eldora was so great; they reached out hours after the fire—they weren’t open yet and had a big space.” The support from Eldora was just what Tadasana needed to develop the path for its new future. 

“We chose not to do a GoFundMe at the time, especially since we could keep operating, but we did that series as donation-based classes just to get something going and to get back on our feet.

“At the same time I was looking at other locations around town where we could do our regular weekly classes. Eldora was the perfect spot for that phase, because by the time the mountain opened we were kind of situated back in town.”

The question these days is, where isn’t Tadasana hosting yoga sessions, as they offer Slow Flow sessions at the Nederland Community Library and at Boulder Creek Lodge; Mountain Flow and Mountain Fit classes at the Nederland Community Center; a kids’ yoga course at Nederland Elementary School; a Kids’ Yoga Summer Camp in Chipeta Park (for July 27 through 31); and Sun Salutations at HubNed.  

These community partnerships have also allowed Tadasana to host its annual Yoga Teacher Training, as well as expand its services, including the creation of a new wellness-focused book club, and therapeutic massage services.

“We offered massage when we had the studio, which was pretty limited then because the massage room was in the back of the studio,” Underhill recalled not being able to host a yoga session and a message session at the same time. “But now we have a dedicated room in the HubNed building, and we’ve been able to expand that and see more clients.”

Going forward

In the retelling of her last eight months, Underhill can’t keep from pointing out the positive side of the changes she and her business have been through. She notes that Tadasana is just two courses short of being back to its former capacity, that she didn’t lose any staff and was able to keep everyone employed after the fire, and that she was even able to bring on more team members. 

A lone, burnt, and singed yoga mat lays right in front of the space that used to be Tadasana's studio in the Caribou Village Shopping Center.

Photo by Christopher Kelley

“As well as keeping all of our amazing die-hards,” She was sure to include her long-time yoga enthusiasts who have trained with Tadasana through thick and thin. “Through COVID, through the fire, we’ve just kept a very strong core base—some of them have been practicing with us since we first opened! Their support is amazing and I feel very fortunate.

“There’s silver linings everywhere,” Underhill said, then added one more. “Being in different locations around town, we’ve definitely seen different people coming and checking us out. I think there’s something that can feel unfamiliar and maybe a little bit intimidating about going to a yoga studio for the first time.” 

Tadasana being out in different parts of town has opened up the minds of those residents who were once hesitant; the community is now more receptive to what yoga is and can be, especially outside of the confines of a brick and mortar location.

For Underhill and the whole Tadasana team, while the shift to a nomadic style has been in many ways fruitful, it has still come at a harsh cost, and the journey was not without its challenges. 

“It was a lot of logistical gymnastics and figuring things out and getting supplies,” Underhill recalled, noting the fast-paced energy in the period of time immediately following the fire. “My car for that first six weeks was just packed, but now we’ve got it all sorted out, where each location has a little storage area for us.

There was a lot of adapting to the new reality, and it’s so interesting how your mind just wants to go to, ‘Oh, is this normal now?’”

Underhill’s abilities to adapt in times of stress and struggle, to face adversity with aplomb, and to nurture positive healing out of the expelling of negative energy are exactly what makes her a great yoga teacher and healer, and go a long way towards explaining how Tadasana was so prepared to handle the challenges before them. 

“Tadasana has had to adjust quite a bit, because as a service-based business in fitness we were definitely impacted pretty hard by COVID. I think if we had not gone through that experience adapting to the fire would’ve been a lot harder, but because we had been through COVID I was able to understand that we were going to be fine.”

Though there is a comfort in accepting one’s new reality, life still awards opportunities to look back, to be reminded of that different time. This year, back in March, Tadasana Mountain Yoga celebrated its 15th anniversary. As they had no studio, no central location to throw a party, Underhill decided they will be celebrating this anniversary every month on the 15th. 

Thinking back to 2011, Underhill remembers a yoga teacher of hers planting the seed of opening her own yoga studio in Nederland, and six months after that seed had been planted Tadasana first opened.

Underhill remembers Guercio being owner of the Caribou Village Shopping Center. She remembers that the health club was gone, that the liquor store was on one end and the laundromat on the other and that there wasn’t much in the middle yet. 

“When Tadasana first went in we didn’t have neighbors on either side of us,” she said. 

Thinking ahead, Underhill can’t help but consider the importance of a yoga collaborative having a permanent studio, as well as remember what the shopping center was like when every one of its spaces was full, and the life of the community truly flowed through it. 

“I do miss our business neighbors,” she admits. “As our culture is changing and there is so much more available online or in a virtual way, I think that brick and mortar stores still hold value in the community because that human-to-human interaction is so important.” 

Back to brick 

When asked if Tadasana Mountain Yoga will return to a newly rebuilt shopping center under Tebo Properties, Underhill answered with an enthusiastic “Yes.” 

“We’ll definitely go back! The Tebo team, for me, has been great, super supportive, and very communicative. I’ve had a couple of meetings with them about options and about what our space can look like, so there’s light at the end of the tunnel.” 

With the design and construction of a new Caribou Village Shopping Center expected to take years to complete, before Tadasana can move in and yoga mats can unfurl in their new home, Underhill and her yoga studio will, in the meantime, continue to float on, to embrace nomadic life, and to breathe among their community. 

“More than anything, we’re still here—we’re kind of everywhere—still doing classes, and we’re super grateful for all the people who have stuck with us, and we’re excited about all the new faces,” Underhill said, before concluding by acknowledging one of her main fountains for inspiration and positivity. “There’s a lot of resilience in our community—a lot of resilience and a lot of support.”