Meet Michelle Preble of Colorado Springs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Preble.

Hi Michelle, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I founded OM Shanti Yoga & Wellness in 2018 in my hometown of Colorado Springs, but my relationship with yoga actually began in high school. After my mom passed away in 2015, I was in therapy and my therapist suggested I return to my practice as a way to cope with grief. When I did, I remembered how grounding yoga had always been for me, and I fell in love with what it was doing for my healing. During my first teacher training in 2018, my kids were practicing alongside me, and I saw how mindfulness and movement were helping them too. That experience showed me how powerful these tools could be for families and communities, not just individuals.
I started teaching yoga, building programs for new studios and gyms, and partnering with nonprofits to bring mindfulness and wellness workshops to students and families across southern Colorado. Community engagement became a natural strength, which eventually led me into education in 2023 as a restorative justice and student success coach, supporting youth using the same wellness tools I had been sharing in the community.
As OM Shanti grew, I brought yoga onto the water through stand-up paddleboard classes and adventure days across Colorado and the San Luis Valley. Today my work blends yoga, retreats, and community programming with life, health, and wellness coaching, helping women, youth, educators, and families reconnect to themselves and each other.
I hold a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher certification with Yoga Alliance, along with specialty certifications in trauma-informed yoga, adaptive yoga for amputees, and SUP yoga. I’m also trained as a Divine Feminine Healing Practitioner and Embodiment Guide, and I’m continuing advanced coaching education through Coach Training EDU toward ICF Professional Coach and National Board Health & Wellness Coach credentials.
OM Shanti Yoga & Wellness has grown into a space rooted in my belief that healing is both personal and communal. Whether it’s a paddleboard class, a coaching session, or a workshop, my mission is to create spaces where people can feel divine, grounded, and whole.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road. Building OM Shanti Yoga & Wellness as a mom of four meant learning entrepreneurship one step at a time—often late at night after bedtime, with spreadsheets open next to coloring books. I didn’t have a traditional support system or business background, so I figured things out through experience, community connections, and a lot of persistence.
My kids have been my biggest encouragement and my reason for keeping going. They saw me build something from the ground up, and that experience shaped both of us. It taught me how important it is for women to have supportive spaces, which is now at the heart of everything I offer.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Through OM Shanti Yoga & Wellness, I create spaces—on land and water—where women, youth, educators, and families can reconnect to themselves and each other. What started as teaching yoga classes has grown into a holistic private practice that blends yoga, mindfulness, stand-up paddleboard experiences, life and wellness coaching, workshops, and digital resources designed for real life.

I specialize in trauma-informed, family-centered wellness. I work with people navigating stress, grief, burnout, postpartum challenges, and big life transitions—the kinds of experiences many of us carry quietly. My approach is gentle, practical, and rooted in nervous-system regulation. That might look like a paddleboard yoga class on a quiet lake in the San Luis Valley, a school workshop teaching students grounding tools, a women’s circle, or a one-on-one coaching session helping someone rebuild their confidence and sense of direction.

I’m probably best known locally for bringing wellness into unexpected places. I’ve built yoga programs for new studios and gyms, partnered with nonprofits to teach mindfulness to youth, worked with school districts on restorative-justice and student-success initiatives, and now host paddleboard adventure days for schools, youth groups, and businesses. Being on the water has become a signature part of OM Shanti—it’s playful, grounding, and reminds people that healing doesn’t have to be heavy.

Another part of my work is creating resources people can use at home—guided meditations, playlists, and workbooks like The Divine Woman Workbook, plus my “Self Series” courses on inner child healing, self-love, and soft-power leadership. I want wellness to feel accessible whether someone is with me on a lake, in a school gym, or sitting at their kitchen table after the kids are asleep.

What I’m most proud of is the community that has grown around OM Shanti. I’m proud of the moms who told me they finally felt seen in a class. The students who used breathing tools during a stressful moment at school. The educators who learned ways to regulate their classrooms. And honestly, I’m proud that my four kids have watched me build something meaningful from the ground up—they’ve grown up seeing what it looks like to follow purpose, even when it’s hard.

What sets my work apart is that it’s rooted in lived experience. I’m a mom of four, a former educator, a small-town entrepreneur, and someone who came back to yoga during grief and healing after losing my mom. I know what it feels like to hold a lot at once. My programs are designed for real life—kids climbing on the yoga mat, busy teachers needing quick tools, women rebuilding themselves while caring for everyone else.

OM Shanti Yoga & Wellness is guided by a simple mission: help people feel divine, grounded, and whole. Whether that happens on a paddleboard under the Colorado sky, in a quiet coaching session, or in a community workshop, my hope is that people leave feeling steadier, supported, and a little more like themselves.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck in my life has been less about big dramatic moments and more about timing and unexpected doors opening, or closing, at exactly the right moment.

Running OM Shanti Yoga & Wellness means working in real life, not a controlled environment. Classes get canceled because of Colorado wind, equipment breaks, childcare plans fall through, or a venue suddenly isn’t available. I’ve had paddleboard events planned for weeks that turned into weather days, workshops where only three people showed up, and months where finances felt uncertain. At the time, those moments felt like bad luck.

But often those “failures” led somewhere better. A canceled event turned into a partnership with a school district. A small workshop introduced me to someone who later hosted a whole season of paddleboard adventure days. Moving between Colorado Springs and the San Luis Valley expanded my network in ways I never could have planned. What looked like setbacks became pivots.

Good luck, for me, has usually come through people. Community partners who trusted me early on, students who told their friends, other small-business owners who shared advice, and families who kept coming back year after year. In a small community, relationships are everything, and I’ve been incredibly lucky to be surrounded by people who believe in bringing wellness into our schools and towns.

I’ve learned that luck tends to meet preparation. When you keep building programs, refining your work, and showing up, even when the turnout is small, opportunities start to stack up. The paddleboard side of OM Shanti is a good example. It started as a tiny experiment and grew into adventure days for schools, youth groups, and local businesses because people were willing to try something new together.

So I’d say luck has been part of my story, but it’s really been about staying open, adapting quickly, and trusting the community around me. Sometimes luck looks like a calm lake at sunrise. Sometimes it looks like learning something important from a canceled class. Both have helped shape my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.omshantiyogawellness.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/msyogamichelle
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/omshantiyogallc
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-preble-b58501183