MEET OUR INSTRUCTORS

 Kelli discovered yoga in a dusty community room over thirty years ago when yoga was not as popular as today. Everything about it was perfect!  Over the years, this mother, runner, and high school teacher practiced yoga. Slowly and surely, it deepened from just a physical practice to a mental and spiritual way of life.  Some of the trainings that have influenced Kelli's approach and makeup of a class: Restorative Yoga Training for calming the nerves and soul; Trauma Sensitive Training for keeping the class and students feeling safe; Traumatic Brain Injury Training for those recovering from concussions, strokes or other neurological conditions. Classes by Kelli are slower inviting the students to hold poses longer to lengthen and strengthen while also noting our bodies’ strengths and limits.

Kelli is a Master (Level III) Reiki practitioner who sees clients for private sessions. She also donates her time to the Dempsey Cancer Center where she offers weekly Reiki sessions and teaches Restorative yoga to the Center's clientele and family. 

 Michael has been studying and practicing yoga since the year 2000.  He completed his yoga teacher training five years later at the youthful age of 60. His classes are beneficial for students of all levels. He completed teacher training with Deb Neubauer in 2006, and completed advanced studies with master Anusara Yoga teachers as follows:

• Three teacher trainings with John Friend…founder of Anusara Yoga.
• 50 hours of workshops with Todd Norian
• 60 hours of workshops with Desiree Rumbaugh
• 2 weekend workshops with Doug Keller
• 13 years of meditation practice and study with Paul Muller Ortega.

Michael is also a professional classical guitarist who plays live guitar music for relaxation poses at the end of every class.  His objective for every class is that each student leaves feeling more enlivened, more awake, and more grateful for their every breath than they did when they came in the door.

 Michelle Moody Adshead of Reiki in the Woods is a level lll Shinpiden Reiki teacher and practitioner. Her Reiki and Shamanic based intuitive healing practice is located at her home in So.Portland, ME.  There she teaches traditional Japanese Reiki 1 and 2 certification classes and sees clients for private sessions. Michelle is a 200hr yoga teacher, and is currently working on her 500RYT. She teaches weekly yoga classes at Yoga, Etc in Yarmouth, ME. She is also a Registered Maine Guide and Leave No Trace educator. Michelle's intention as a teacher, intuitive healer and wilderness guide is to assist her students and clients on their path to self-healing and self-love. 

and soul. More information about Michelle and her offerings at https://reikiinthewoods.com/

Originally a Jersey girl, Melissa spent much of her adult life in Philadelphia, where it feels like 'home.'  She is very much an extrovert and also highly empathic.  She is a wife to a wonderful husband and mother to many cats, is a vegetarian, and is living alcohol-free in beautiful, nature-filled Maine. 

Melissa holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Temple University, along with a M.S. in Clinical and Counseling Psychology and a B.S. in Rehabilitation Psychology, both from the University of Central Missouri. She received her yoga teaching certification from Studio 34 in West Philadelphia in 2019. 

Elizabeth Converse (she/her) started ballroom dancing after college when a friend's parents opened a ballroom studio and needed students. This accidental introduction opened up a world where music took physical form. Each dance has its own history, flavor and music. The more she learned, the more there was to learn. More dances, more technique, more steps. 

After some time off, an injury brought her back to dance. Ballroom dance was exactly what she needed to improve her range of motion and balance. This also added a new dimension to dance. It's not just fun, it's good for us on multiple levels. 

Elizabeth started Lavender Ballroom Dance to share these things with the broader public. The long-term plan is to bring social dancing back as an option for going out on the town. In the short term, this means teaching beginners to move well. Whether the students need help with learning steps, learning how to move in their body, or how to ask someone to dance, she is happy to help. 

Lavender Ballroom Dance's Ballroom Basics can be found in Gorham and Kennebunk, ME, as well as North Conway and Tamworth, NH. Expanding to Yarmouth is helping to spread the love a little farther! Find her online at: LavenderBallroomDance.com

  Gina is a Yin/Restorative Instructor “ I love riding motorcycles.  It feels like a practice akin to slow flow, yin and sometimes even a fiery ashtanga flow.  As with yoga, sensations of heightened awareness and deeper focus, strength and process permeate when riding. In both practices I see and perceive obstacles, move around them, all the while reminding myself to breathe and enjoy the ride. After a long ride or session, there is a feeling of self confidence and structural integrity. There is also the feeling of invigoration. Somehow I feel lighter as if I'm holding less clutter in my mind and therefore my body has  less to process. I end up sleeping SO GOOD. I feel stronger in my core body and am able to connect my mind and body to achieve my own sense of balance and equanimity within.” I hold a certificate as an End of Life Doula from University of Vermont, for both humans and companion animals. I am a 200 hour CYT with special focus on restorative/yin yoga for those in grief/trauma.  Since January 2024 I have been learning and working with the Maine Resiliency Center offering yin and restorative services to the Lewiston community.  Since 2022 I have been teaching beginner ashtanga, slow flow and restorative yoga at studios  in central Maine.  Among these other things I am also a student of piano, a floral/plant designer, an adventure motorcyclist and a safe space for all.