Instructors

Roseanna Rich, RN, MSN

Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor

Roseanna Rich knew from a very young age that she was destined to work in the health care industry; it seemed the best way to help people. Roseanna received her MSN from Catholic University of America and an MBA at Tulane University. She managed nursing intensive care units for 13 years, overseeing three cardiac intensive care units at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Eventually, Roseanna came to believe that the Western medical system focused too much on illness, and not enough on preventative health. Recognizing there were limited options for health care other than the surgery/prescription routes, she vowed to set up a practice that supported and encouraged people to be healthy. She became a certified clinical herbalist, ultimately forming her own holistic health care philosophy and practice encompassing Native American, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Ayurvedic practices.

For 25 years, Roseanna counseled and taught individuals how to be healthy using herbal medicine and Iyengar yoga. Roseanna pursued the teachings of B. K. S. Iyengar and studied with him and his daughter, Geeta in Pune, India. She recognized that the therapeutic benefits of yoga were deeply healing and life altering. Roseanna became a certified Iyengar yoga teacher in 1990. She feels strongly that people make their own choices about the quality of their personal health. "Yoga's self-empowering tools enable us to transform our own personal health – physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically."

Roseanna now teaches people how to maintain a healthy body through her herbal products manufacturing company, Indian Meadow Herbals founded with Nancy Lowry in 1994. Roseanna and Nancy founded The Yoga Place in Ellsworth, Maine where yoga classes are offered. Roseanna believes that connecting to a teacher is one of the most important steps to maintaining a regular practice. "Find a teacher you can relate to and be consistent about attending class. Then work on establishing your own independent practice."

Contact Roseanna Rich:
Telephone: 207-664-5144
email: yoga@theyogaplaceme.com
 

Molly Shields

Kripalu Yoga Instructor

Molly has been a yoga student, practicing Kripalu and Iyengar
yoga, for over twenty-five years. In the spring of 2010, she went
to the Kripalu Yoga Institute and became a certified yoga teacher.
Since then Molly has been teaching classes at The Yoga Place that
combine the flow of Kripalu yoga with Iyengar alignment. Her
goal is to help others realize and enjoy the physical, mental, and
spiritual benefits of a regular yoga practice.

When not teaching yoga, Molly’s days are filled with teaching
children to read. She is an avid gardener and hiker. When time
allows and she is not in her gardens, you will find her hiking in the
mountains of Maine.

Contact Molly Shields:
207-667-6488
email: mshields@sad63.k12.me.us
 

Charlotte Clews Lawther

Certified Yoga Instructor

Charlotte began practicing yoga in 1996. She has studied with the father of the Ashtanga style, Sri K. Patabhi Jois and completed teacher trainings with David Swenson and Richard Freeman. She ran the Johnson Yoga Studio in Johnson, VT, from 2003-2006 and has since completed hundreds of hours of study. Her teaching is also influenced by her studies with the highly esteemed tantric philosophy scholars Douglas Brooks and Paul Muller Ortega.

In addition to teaching Align and Flow Hatha Yoga, she also studies and practice Ayurveda, and holds a masters degree in Botany. She is delighted by the deeply ordered and refined aspects of the natural world and she is sure to weave stories from nature into her Anusara yoga classes.

Contact Charlotte:
207-374-5450
email: charlotte@wildopenheart.com
 

Robyn Reynolds

Certified Vinyasa Flow Yoga Instructor

Robyn took her first yoga class in 2001 and has been hooked ever since. Initially drawn in by the physical aspects of the practice, she quickly realized the mental and spiritual benefits of yoga. Robyn’s personal practice consists of different styles of yoga including Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Restorative, and Yin.

Robyn received her 200-hour RYT Vinyasa Flow Certification at the Breathing Room in South Portland with Carissa Ciuca and Heather Raylinski, where she also studied with Sue Jones, Alex Amorosi, Grace Jull, Michael Plasha, Nicole Clark and others. Drawing on the influences of several different styles, Robyn’s classes link breath to movement while flowing through posture sequences, with options and modifications for students at all levels. Connecting breath and movement together in the vinyasa style creates a moving meditation. She teaches regular weekly classes at The Breathing Room and Visibility in the Portland area.

Robyn has her and Master’s Degree in Public Health from Tufts University, and works in the epidemiology research field. When not teaching yoga or working her day job she enjoys skiing, hiking, being outdoors, reading, and traveling.

Contact Robyn Reynolds:
Telephone: 617-875-4038
email: rcreynolds42@yahoo.com
 

Machelle LaHaye

Certified Yoga Alliance Instructor

Machelle studied Hatha Yoga and graduated from Namaste Institute in 2011. She  continued her studies with Marsha Danzig and Heidi Audet of Color Me Yoga in Lewiston, ME, and became a certified foundations instructor for children's yoga. Most recently, she visited Kripalu to study pre-natal yoga with Rajashree Choudhury.
 
She started teaching children's yoga last year, calling her little group of yogis Yoga Seeds. She is ecstatic to bring this new class to The Yoga Place. Incredibly spirited and playful, she speaks from her heart and walks the earth with a child-like presence that reminds you to laugh at the small things. She has discovered a deep desire to bring families closer by sharing creative and inspiring ways of practicing yoga together. She will be offering weekend workshops in parent/child yoga.
 
Contact Machelle LaHaye:
Telephone: 207-812-0621
email: lovecarmie@me.com

David Hill

Certified Aikido Instructor

Aikido is a modern Japanese Martial Art that uses pins and projection throws to neutralize an attacker while causing the least amount of harm. Aikido is a true budo or Martial Way that evolved in the historic tradition of Japanese warrior arts. Studied in earnest, budo is more than a science of tactics and self-defense; it is a discipline for perfecting the spirit. For more information visit http://www.usaikifed.com

David Hill is the instructor at The Ellsworth Aikikai and holds the rank of sandan (3rd degree black belt). He is also a fukushidoin (certified instructor) in the United States Aikido Federation. He began his Aikido training in Toronto in 1990 where he studied Yoshinkan Aikido for a brief time before joining the Toronto Aikikai. In the summer of 1992 he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana and studied under the guidance of Didier Bertrand at Aikido of Indianapolis and Akira Tohei Shihan of the Midwest Aikido Federation.

In 1998 he moved to Ellsworth, Maine and founded the Ellsworth Aikikai. The dojo became affiliated with the USAF Eastern Region in late 2000 and currently is under the guidance of Yoshimitsu Yamada Shihan, chief instructor at the New York Aikikai, and Harvey Konigsberg Shihan, chief instructor of Woodstock Aikido.

Contact David Hill:
(207) 610-1573
ellsworthaikikai@gmail.com
website: http://sites.google.com/site/ellsworthaikikai/
 

Other Teachers & Practitioners

While we do not work directly with these instructors and practitioners, we have a list of local resources in Hancock County that we hope might be helpful for you. 

Click here to view the list.