Yoga Silvestre Returns to Rock Bottom Ranch for Fourth Summer

“Especially for those who are in a lower economic bracket — the ones who have more than three jobs sometimes.”

That is the heart of it, isn’t it? Not the pose, not the perfect alignment, but the access. For the fourth summer in a row, Yoga Silvestre — wild yoga, is returning to Rock Bottom Ranch, anchoring itself in the shade of weeping willows and the quiet rhythm of the Roaring Fork River. It begins July 6 at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies’ Basalt location, a monthly ritual that has become as much a part of the valley’s cultural fabric as the snowmelt that feeds the streams.

You can feel the intention in the way Alejandra Rico Bustillos describes the space. She talks about the group gathering under the big weeping willows, the water lapping gently against the shore, the air thick with the scent of pine and damp earth. It is healing, she says, in a way that doesn’t require a studio with heated floors or expensive mats. It just requires a spot on the grass and a willingness to breathe.

Bustillos, a longtime yoga teacher who moved to the valley in 2003 after growing up in Chihuahua City, Mexico, knows the value of this accessibility. She taught in the Roaring Fork School District for years before turning to yoga, and she carries that educator’s eye into her practice. Now, she is spearheading this series in partnership with Lead with Love, the Aspen-based social impact nonprofit, and Stepping Stones, the Carbondale-based youth mentorship group. Together, they are ensuring that Spanish-language wellness isn’t a niche offering, but a central pillar of community health.

This isn’t just about translation; it’s about presence. Gina Murdock, founder of Lead with Love and an ACES partner, notes that the organization has always had a bilingual component, but this series makes it visible. “They do a lot of outreach in Spanish and tons of school programming in Spanish,” Murdock says. “They really do a lot to include the Hispanic community.” And yet, seeing it happen monthly, under the open sky, feels like a correction of a historical oversight. It acknowledges that the people who built the valley’s infrastructure and now sustain its service economy deserve to rest in it, too.

The class itself is gentle Hatha flow, restorative, deeply connected to nature. It’s free to register, with a suggested $10 donation that goes directly back into ACES’ environmental education programs. It’s a small price for the privilege of moving your body in a place that has witnessed decades of change. Bustillos also teaches Wild Yoga, the English version, on Tuesday evenings at ACES’ Hallam Lake location, where she provides Spanish translations as needed. She teaches in Spanish at True Nature Healing Arts Center in Carbondale as well. Her goal is to keep expanding this reach, to keep the door open for younger people and for those working multiple jobs who might otherwise never step onto a mat.

If you look closely at the history of wellness in the Roaring Fork Valley, you see a pattern of exclusivity; high fees, English-only instruction, remote locations. Yoga Silvestre flips that script. It brings the practice to the riverbank, to the ranch that has been a gathering place for generations. It invites you to sit on the grass, to listen to the birds, to breathe in the cool mountain air, and to realize that healing doesn’t always come with a price tag. It just comes with showing up.

The sun is setting over Hallam Lake, the water turning the color of bruised plums, and the willows are beginning to sway. The grass is still damp from the morning’s dew, and the air smells of wet stone and sage. It is quiet, but not silent. It is waiting.