teachers
Courtney McdonalD
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Courtney is a vinyasa flow yoga teacher, personal trainer, and forever student based in Midcoast Maine. She first began leading fitness classes during her time in the Navy and when her enlistment concluded, she dedicated herself to her yoga practice to help with her severe anxiety. Years of practice led to her first yoga teacher training, earning her 200hr Yoga Alliance Certification from the Well Heart Yoga School, followed by her Buti Yoga Instructor certification, her personal training through the National Academy of Sports Medicine(NASM), women's fitness specialization through NASM and is currently working towards her 500hr teacher training with Authentic Movements. She continues to pursue further certifications and to seek knowledge that allows her to grow as a woman, a yoga teacher, and a trainer.
Her teaching style is commanding and energetic while she remains encouraging throughout the postures. She designs classes that perfectly blend dynamic flow with precise alignment cues and a soundtrack that never leaves her students bored. |
Johnna Stanton |
Johnna started practicing yoga twelve years ago after stumbling on an Adult Ed course set in a school library. After that first experience she sought out classes wherever she could find them, absorbing many lessons she learned from several teachers over the past decade. As she committed to her relationship with yoga, she felt the urge to do more; to draw more people into the experience she was having. As an English teacher her first instinct is to share her knowledge and experience with others. She was compelled to get her certification and teach. She seeks to make others feel as whole, nourished, and balanced as she feels every time she finishes her practice.
Johnna completed her 200 hr Yoga Teacher Training at Well Heart Yoga, Falmouth in the summer of 2016. Her teaching practice is varied and includes vinyasa, slow flow, and restorative yoga. She wants to make to help bring yoga to as many people as possible. |
Bernadette ESPOSITO |
Bernadette’s practice began in the early 1980s with Lilia’s Yoga, which aired on PBS just before Sesame Street. Two decades and three knee surgeries later, she discovered a regular asana practice not only improved her physical strength and flexibility during marathon training, but also ignited her mind-body awareness on and off the mat. With a yoga certification from Hot Power Yoga in Laramie, Wyoming, she encourages her students to develop and enrich a personal practice initiated from the core body. Her classes combine mat Pilates and Vinyasa flow.
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mia jones |
Mia’s class will leave you feeling grounded and clear. Her reorienting towards breath and somatic awareness offer the opportunity to land deeply back in the body. Her supportive nature will allow you to trust and let go in the yoga classroom. Students describe a feeling of being “held” for the duration of your time spent together. Mia’s classes are precise in alignment, steeped in intention and the subtleties that stir beneath. She eagerly shares the aspects of yoga that captivate her interest in hope to ignite a curious nature within her students. Mia’s reverence for a dedicated personal practice is the basis of her continual study with senior teachers, multiple of which hold the accolade top 100 teacher’s in the United States. Her first teacher training is in Vinyasa yoga with Boston Yoga School, lead by Ame Wren and is highly influenced by the Iyengar and Ashtanga methods. Since then she has continued education with advanced Iyengar teacher Nikki Costello and studied the junction between yoga and psychology with somatic psychotherapist Livia Cohen Shapiro.
Outside of yoga study, Mia has completed a Bachelors degree in Health Science from the University of Southern Maine. She continues education in maternal health, yoga, bodywork and ancient and traditional healing modalities. When not teaching or practicing yoga, Mia enjoys traveling, hiking, a good view, collecting spring water, nature filled adventures, bucolic drives, ecstatic/intuitive dance, smoothies galore, spending time with friends and family, eating spicy noodles and creating yummy vegan food. |
jamie mercurio |
Jamie took her first yoga class in 2005. After the embarrassment of falling asleep in savasana she did not attend another yoga class until 2010. It was in 2010 that Jamie discovered heated power vinyasa.
After 20 years of ballet training and eventual teaching, Jamie was looking for the next step in her physical journey. While attending college she began a regular practice of Baptiste-style yoga at All That Matters in Rhode Island. After moving back to her home state of Maine in 2012, Jamie continued her practice in studios throughout Portland and the midcoast, and in 2017 completed her 200 Hour Yoga Alliance certified RYT training under Melanie Burns at the Baptiste-affiliated studio Wicked Good Yoga in Wiscasset. Classes with Jamie are upbeat, and physical. She loves the way a regular yoga practice strengthens every part of the body and quiets the mind. She believes in the power of "being here now," and through teaching, hopes to combine elements of rhythm, humor, strength, and stress relief for students of all levels. |
sue henshall |
Sue gravitated to yoga in 2001 after an injury prevented her from doing what she did to clear her head of life’s cobwebs, running. Every day she is grateful for finding yoga, or maybe it was that yoga found her. She completed her first 200 hour training with Julie Gurevich and Heather Sheridan in New Jersey in 2013 and followed up with yin yoga training with Deb Donally and Crystal Paone in 2014. Sue’s desire to learn never stops, so after moving to Maine in the fall of 2015, she pursued her 2nd 200 hour teacher training through the Boston Yoga School codirected by Ame Wren and Terry Cockburn. Sue has been fortunate to learn from great yoga teachers and continues to be inspired by her teachers and fellow yogis. She is honored and grateful to be a part of the community and teaching teams at Freeport Yoga Co, Ebb and Flow, and Maine Pines. Being present and mindful in the practice on the mat extends out into the world.
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Liz demers |
At first Liz's interest was not peaked by yoga, she felt it was too mellow and didn't really think it was a serious form of fitness. However, after her first Vinyasa class at Ebb and Flow she was hooked! She loved the heat and the intensity it created as it challenged her to focus on movement and breath. Yoga has become a meditative experience and an intricate part of daily life for Liz. Her growth as a yogi continues to develop both physically and emotionally. She has become stronger, calmer and more optimistic, in times of stress all she needs is few minutes on her mat to regain perspective.
After only a year of practicing, Liz felt the need to share the benefits of yoga. She wanted to teach yoga, particularly to children. Working with elementary age children she has seen first hand how breathing techniques can have a positive impact on self regulation for both children and their adult care givers. Liz's goal is to continue to share the benefits of a yoga practice both on and off the mat. |
jeni nagy |
After a severe back, neck, and head injury in 2004, Jeni turned to the practice of Yoga for help. She experienced not only relief from the physical pain but also the humbling body, mind, and spirit transformation that Yoga lends to its practitioners. Jeni later became passionate about sharing this positive medicine with others. She completed her RYT 200Hr teacher training at Yoga Hawaii in 2015, on the beautiful healing island of Oahu, studying under studio owner Maya Siklai and Stephanie Keiko Kong.
By combing asana, meditation, and pranayama, Jeni hopes to provide all students an opportunity to explore and connect with their own individual ability to heal. Jeni encourages bringing the study of Yoga off the mat and into the practice of Life. “What draws her to her mat everyday is the opportunity to feel alive, to turn her focus inward and expand her awareness, bringing herself into alignment with who she truly is.” In her classes she offers various modalities of healing including movement, sound, breath, and encourages each practitioner to follow and honor what speaks to them. Off the mat, Jeni can be found exploring the outdoors, studying ancient apothecary, making delicious love infused soups, and spending time with family! |