About

Danny Chapparo is the owner and founder of Ashva Yoga.

Danny is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT-200) and Continuing Education Provider (YACEP) through Yoga Alliance and and has been teaching Hatha Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Workshops at the studio since 2010 and Equestrian Yoga with and on the horse since 2012.

She was born and raised in Germany. Her grandparents had a farm and as a kid she spent most of her vacations there, enjoying the animals and outdoors. She started her equestrian journey, studying jumping and dressage. She always had that dream of coming to America, enamored by the Western close-to-nature lifestyle, the freedom, and the open prairie. When she was 14, she remembered going to a bank and exchanging German marks to get one “cool” U.S. dollar to carry in her wallet. Danny holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, and a Master of Business Administration. She was able to participate in an exchange program through her software-engineering position with a Highlands Ranch company. In 1995 she did make the move to the U.S. and continued her career with various software companies.

She would later buy a horse, Abraham, who would change her path in life. In 2003, she had a horseback riding accident and sustained a lower-back fracture. During months of rehabilitation, she took yoga for pain relief and to avoid surgery. Yoga completely changed her body and she spent about six years studying yoga and getting certified to teach. Eventually, she realized how the techniques helped her horsemanship skills and her horse. She noticed a shift in her horse’s energy when she did breathing exercises. Abraham was calmer, more in sync with her. They developed that true connection – union – which is yoga. When she rode with friends, she had them try it, and it worked for them as well.

Because of that and other benefits, she started developing the Equestrian Yoga program. She owes so much to her former horse Abraham, for teaching her patience and what it means to be “with the horse”, not just “on the horse”. Without the accident, she probably wouldn’t have found yoga and Equestrian Yoga.

She founded the quickly thriving Ashva Yoga studio in downtown Castle Rock, which she helped transition to Buka Yoga in 2019, to continue growing her Ashva Yoga Equestrian Yoga part of the business.

Danny has studied with John Friend, Baron Baptiste, Tias Little, Jamie Allison, and Desiree Rumbaugh. She also studied with 4-star Parelli Instructors, Julie Goodnight, Ty Weber, and several other Natural Horsemanship trainers. She incorporate her horsemanship and equestrian background into her teaching.

Her style is energetic and enthusiastic and reflects her experience with the various styles of yoga, with a strong emphasis on proper alignment.

Her goal is to create a fun, yet safe environment and to empower the students to relax, develop greater strength, and improve flexibility.

Danny was a featured author for her award winning book Equestrian Yoga at the 2022 Rocky Mountain Horse Expo in Denver, CO. An article about her Equestrian Yoga teaching was published in the April 2023 Castle Rock City Lifestyle Magazine. She was also previously a clinician at the 2020 Rocky Mountain Horse Expo in Denver, CO. In January 2020 she was interviewed in a podcast with RAMM Horse Fencing & Stalls, speaking about her journey into Equestrian Yoga. She was featured in the October 2019 edition of Equine Journal, and the January 2019 edition of Horse Illustrated with her horse Tank in the article “Mind-Horse-Body”. She was a presenter at the 2014 and 2015 Yoga Journal LIVE! conference in Estes Park, CO, teaching Equestrian Yoga, speaker at the National North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC) in February 2013, and February 2019, as well as the Parker Elizabeth Riding Club (PERC) in April 2013.