Alex Cleveland
Alex Cleveland, studio owner of Yoga at Crescent Hill, has been a yoga student, practitioner, and instructor in Louisville, Kentucky for over 20 years. He has lived, worked and studied in India for several years. Alex continues his study and practice with senior Iyengar teachers and at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Pune, India. Alex is a yoga practitioner recognized for excellence in Iyengar teaching and philosophy.
Allison Terracio
Allison is a Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher. Originally from Kentucky, Allison moved to New York city where she began her Yoga practice. She came back to Kentucky in 2005 and taught Yoga full time while continuing her studies with John Friend and Douglas Brooks. She is the owner of a Yoga studio in Louisville.
Amanda McMaine E-RYT
Amanda has over 30 years of teaching Yoga and has received numerous certifications in yoga techniques, methodology, and philosophy over the years from some of the most recognized yoga instructors in the United States. Amanda is certified by the Yoga Alliance as an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (ERYT), and also has certifications in Restorative Yoga and Yoga Therapy for Seniors from Duke. She is a recognized international workshop instructor and owner of the Yoga Studio. Amanda is the Director and Instructor of the Lexington Healing Arts Academy Yoga Teacher Training program.
Amanda McMaine, E-RYT & Alex Cleveland
AMANDA MCMAINE: Amanda has over 30 years of teaching Yoga and has received numerous certifications in yoga techniques, methodology, and philosophy over the years from some of the most recognized yoga instructors in the United States. Amanda is certified by the Yoga Alliance as an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (ERYT), and also has certifications in Restorative Yoga and Yoga Therapy for Seniors from Duke. She is a recognized international workshop instructor and owner of the Yoga Studio. Amanda is the Director and Instructor of the Lexington Healing Arts Academy Yoga Teacher Training program.
ALEX CLEVELAND: Alex Cleveland, studio owner of Yoga at Crescent Hill, has been a yoga student, practitioner, and instructor in Louisville, Kentucky for over 20 years. He has lived, worked and studied in India for several years. Alex continues his study and practice with senior Iyengar teachers and at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Pune, India. Alex is a yoga practitioner recognized for excellence in Iyengar teaching and philosophy.
Amber Davies, LMT
Together, father and daughter team Clair and Amber Davies co-developed the popular Trigger Point Therapy Workshop. Now Amber is taking over the reins for this newly formatted course for those interested in an in-depth hands-on approach to treating pain. Amber and her father Clair have published a very popular trigger point workbook, "The Guide for Pain Relief" (New Hampshire Publications, 2004). To learn more go to www.triggerpointbook.com.
Anita Courtney and Toni Reiss, E-RYT
Anita Courtney took her first yoga class at 12 years old and it was love at first stretch. She is certified as a Kripalu Yoga teacher and a Relax and Renew (restorative yoga) instructor. She completed the professional level training for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at the Duke Integrative Medicine Center. She has practiced yoga and meditation for many years and taught yoga for over 10 years. Her particular interests are mindfulness, the breath and integrating yoga practices into life. Anita is also a Registered Dietitian.
Toni Reiss is a psychotherapist and yoga and meditation teacher with over 30 years experience. She specializes in using the body/mind connection to foster healing and reduce stress and suffering. Her credentials include E-RYT 500 from the Yoga Alliance, BC-DMT from the American Dance Therapy Association and training with the Duke Integrative Medicine Center in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Therapeutic Yoga for Seniors. Toni is thankful for the way in which her personal practice of yoga and meditation has enabled her to find peace and acceptance in the midst of life's challenges.
Beth Connors-Manke, RYT
Yoga has allowed Beth to learn about the body's own capacity for healing through awareness, the breath, and proper alignment. A back injury brought Beth to yoga in 2000 and since then, her back has been the greatest teacher in her yoga practice. A graduate of LHAA's 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program and a registered yoga teacher (RYT) with the Yoga Alliance , Beth's practice focuses on intellectual, intuitive, and spiritual understanding of body and mind.
Chikly Institute Staff
A trained instructor from the Chikly Institute will lead the Lymphatic Drainage Workshop. More information will be provided when the individual instructor is assigned.
Elizabeth Stites
Throughout her career, Liz Stites has based her professional success on bringing new, and sometimes overlooked, practices to traditional challenges. Her strong interest in individual wellbeing led her from business to the practice of Ayurveda. A graduate of the Kripalu School of Ayurveda in Massachusetts, Liz studied under some of the world’s leading Ayurvedic teachers and practitioners. From this, she incorporates diagnosis and client care techniques that have been accepted for thousands of years in the East, with a practical approach for today’s Western living. Elizabeth also brings in yoga and meditation techniques—with methodologies for successfully integrating life changes. Prior to her intensive studies to become a Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Elizabeth Stites was an entrepreneur and marketing executive for Fortune 500 companies. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in materials and metallurgical engineering from the University of Michigan.
Eric Stephenson, L.M.T., NCTMB
As Director of Education for imassage, Inc., Eric creates continuing education focused on career longevity for massage schools, spas and professional organizations nationwide. He is a former lead instructor of the Body Therapy Institute in Silk Hope, NC and The Lexington Healing Arts Academy in Lexington, KY, helping in the design of the hands-on massage curriculum. He has completed The Spirit of Learning®, a 90-hour massage educator-training program.
His presentations have included the American Massage Therapy National Convention, The International Spa Association Conference, The World Massage Conference and AMTA state conventions. Eric is a regular contributor to Massage Magazine.
E-mail Eric: eric@imassageinc.com
Joseph & Cynthia Cinquina
Joe and Cynthia are licensed massage therapists and both are graduate of the Lexington Healing Arts Academy. They own Soular Massage Wellness Center where they both practice massage.
Joseph Cinquina
Joe is a licensed massage therapist and a graduate of the Lexington Healing Arts Academy. He has owned several companies, including Soular Massage Wellness Center where he is a therapist, and manages all the sales, marketing, and business networking. He is also involved with website design and community wellness education. Joe teaches the Career classes at Lexington Healing Arts Academy.
Kali Ray
Kali Ray is internationally renowned as a yogini and founder of TriYoga. Traveling extensively, she has taught TriYoga on a daily basis for over 30 years. Integrating Eastern thought and Western tradition, she has presented 32 keynote addresses at yoga conferences and other venues worldwide, and has been featured in yoga magazines and other media. Kaliji's presence, her mastery of the flow and the ageless wisdom inherent in TriYoga have inspired and transformed countless lives. For more information on Kaliji visit her website www.triyoga.com.
Laura Coombs
Laura Coombs is a Certified Athletic Trainer (NATA) and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA) with eight years of teaching experience at the college level. She received her B.S. in Psychology at the University at Stony Brook, NY and her M.S. in Exercise Physiology at Queens College, NY. Laura has worked in the field of sports medicine for 20 years in a variety of settings ranging from high school and college athletics to an industrial manufacturing facility of over 7000 employees. She was the Director of Programs at the Ultimate Goal Indoor Sports Complex, Watertown, NY where she managed a variety of community wellness programs. In addition to teaching at the Lexington Healing Arts Academy, she is an independent contractor for both personal training and athletic training in Lexington, KY.
Lauren Howard
Lauren is a certified pregnancy and post partum massage therapist, certified baby massage instructor, birth Doula, and mother of two. She has her own private massage therapy practice.
Marjorie Brook
“I place Marjorie high among the best Active Isolated Stretching Practitioners in the world. She is a cutting-edge teacher, that students across the nation rate as exceptional”
Aaron Mattes, MS, RKT, LMT - Pioneer Active Isolated Stretching
Marjorie Brook, LMT, CIMI, International Educator/Therapist
From the very start of her practice as a Massage Therapist, Marjorie Brook recognized the importance of treating scar tissue. As an Advanced AIS practitioner and Certified Personal Trainer, she trained under and assisted Aaron Mattes (pioneer of AIS) across the United States and Canada. Marjorie’s experiences contribute to the perspective that has allowed her to develop 2 specialized techniques: F.A.S.T. Release Method™ , and F.A.S.T. Therapy™. She offers seminars and lectures on both techniques throughout the US, Canada and Europe.
Marjorie has also authored two series of stretching manuals, Flexibility First: A Fitness Approach for Life for the general population and Flexibility First: The Professional Series for Healthcare Providers. The manuals present the information in an easy user friendly format featuring the FAST Release Method.
Marjorie founded Brook Seminars Bodywork Education in 2007 with the intention of sharing her knowledge to enable a more satisfying bodywork experience to all who care to learn. Ms. Brook has been a Nationally Certified, NYS Licensed Massage Therapist since 1997. In addition to her commitment to teaching, Marjorie has a private massage therapy practice, A Kneaded Break that caters to both healthy and special needs children and adults.
Matthew Branstetter, L.M.T.
Matt Branstetter is a LMT and instructor in Fundamentals at LHAA. He is interested in the relationship of massage techniques to other bodywork modalities and has studied extensively in Martial Arts, Yoga and Zen meditation. Matt has a Masters from Lexington Theological Seminary and is an adjunct professor in World Religions at St. Catherine College.
Matthew Higdon, RYT
Matthew had his first initiation into meditation and somatic awareness over 10 years ago. His Yoga classes focus on the breath, awakening, and the idea of moving into stillness. He seeks to share a holistic view of Yoga and exciting similarities in modern science and ancient mysticism. Matthew, a graduate of LHAA's 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program and a registered yoga teacher (RYT), has taken numerous workshops including Anusara Yoga, Yoga Therapy, Spontaneous Yoga, Thai Yoga Bodywork and Pranayama.
Michael Buck
Michael Buck holds a prominent profile in the massage arts and is a recognized inspiration among his colleagues and students. He has been licensed and in full time practice since 1984. In 1985, Michael graduated from the Swedish Institute in New York City while at the same time attending the Ohashi Institute where he graduated from the advanced program in 1986. He received his license in New York in 1986. In June of 1987, Michael graduated from the Anma Institute in San Francisco, California. In June of 1997, Michael was awarded a level three instructor status from the International Thai Therapist Association (ITTA). He has been teaching Ayurvedic-Thai Bodywork courses internationally since 1996. He has initiated over 5000 students in seven countries into Traditional Thai medical massage. In 21 years of practice totaling an estimated 35 thousand hours, he has documented over 12 thousand treatments.
Each year, Michael travels and studies in Thailand. He holds certificates from the prestigious Institute of Thai Massage (ITM) in Chiang Mai and concluded an intensive study of traditional thai herbal massage with the legendary teacher "Mama" Lek Chaya. His experience also includes two years as medical massage instructor at the Ocean Massage Institute (OMI) and at the Garden State Holistic Center where he taught Vedic Massage and Oriental Diagnosis (5 element theory). Presently Michael serves as an elective instructor at several schools and yoga centers through out the United States and Europe. His credits also include founder/director of Touch Dynamics Massage Guild, member of ABMP, former member of ITTA, and founder/director of The Vedic Conservatory.
In 1976, Michael received formal initiation into the Vaisnava monastic order and was ordained by the celebrated sanskrit scholar A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Serving under his tutelage for four years, Michael executed sanat varnashrama dharma (living and study vows) and was instrumental in opening several Vedic yoga and meditation ashrams (full time live-in centers) nationally. His spiritual sentiments and devotion remains unchanged.
Michael's classes are routinely infused with the teachings of the illustrious and auspicious Vedic culture. Traditional ayur-vedic ceremonial rituals such as puja (sacred invocations for family/social progress), tratak (centering meditation opening the "third eye" for physical/emotional stability), pranayama (conscious breathing disciplines producing inspired insight), and mantra (vocalizing sound resonances for mental clarity and self-empowerment) are typically experienced in his courses as satisfying and elucidating supplemental instructions.
Ralph R. Stephens, BS Ed, LMT, NCTMB
Ralph R. Stephens, 2008 Inductee into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame! This internationally recognized instructor, therapist and author comes to Lexington to share his 25 years of experience with you. A popular presenter at state and national massage meetings, this award winning therapist and best selling author and video producer is one of a few master instructors in the profession. Ralph clearly presents what you need to know in a way that you can take it home and use it immediately. He is know for making complex anatomical concepts easy to understand and fun to learn. Don’t miss this opportunity to study with this friendly, knowledgeable, and inspiring instructor who's mission is to help you help more people and achieve greater success.
Staff
Faculty members of the Lexington Healing Arts Academy.
Staff and/or Students
LHAA Personal Training Staff and/or Students.
Toni Reiss, MS, E-RYT
Toni Reiss is a psychotherapist and yoga and meditation teacher with over 30 years experience. She specializes in using the body/mind connection to foster healing and reduce stress and suffering. Her credentials include E-RYT 500 from the Yoga Alliance, BC-DMT from the American Dance Therapy Association and training with the Duke Integrative Medicine Center in Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction and Therapeutic Yoga for Seniors. Toni is thankful for the way in which her personal practice of yoga and meditation has enabled her to find peace and acceptance in the midst of life’s challenges.
Yaron Gal Carmel
Yaron Gal Carmel has worked as a bodyworker since 1987 and trained in numerous bodywork modalities in Israel, Europe and the US. Yaron studied extensively with Tom Myers and is certified in Kinesis-Myofascial Integration (KMI) in 1999. Yaron has also served on the faculty of the Muscular Therapy Institute in Massachusetts, where he has taught anatomy, kinesiology and Thailand massage. He teaches certification courses in Thailand Traditional Massage, as well as his own method, “Thai-S.I.,” which marries Thailand Massage to Structural Integration.
Yoga Instructors
The LHAA staff of Yoga Instructors will lead the community Yoga classes.
