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Our Team

Learn more about our knowledgeable and experienced faculty members. 

The faculty and staff at LHAA are second to none! The experienced, supportive school administration team are here to help you pursue your passion and succeed. Our experienced, passionate faculty are here to educate, guide and coach you through an incredible journey of professional and personal growth. In our massage program our experienced, dedicated faculty combined have over 200 years as licensed massage therapists and over 175 years teaching massage therapy. The Yoga faculty members have been teaching Yoga for over 20 years. That level of experience brings quality and a depth of learning you can count on. Join us in learning from the best and rest assured you are receiving a quality education.

Meet Our Staff

Bill Booker
Robyn Hardy
Cynthia Petitt
Carol Rajchel
Patricia Seaman

Patricia is one of our Administrative Assistants and has a background in Archives and Records Management. She is originally from Long Island, New York. She lives with her husband and their two dogs in Lexington. Patricia enjoys hiking, camping, and reading.

Meadow Smith
Zach Sneed

Meet Our Educators

Ali Blair

Ali has always had a passion for the sciences and has a bachelor’s degree in biology. She spent six years doing biomedical research at the University of Kentucky prior to becoming a massage therapist. After graduating from Lexington Healing Arts Academy in 2001 she began teaching human anatomy, physiology, and pathology in the massage therapy program in 2004 and in the yoga teacher training program in 2019. She has a private practice in Lexington, KY focusing on pain relief and management. In her spare time, she loves being out in nature, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and canoeing.

Ann Boone
Ann-BooneAnn has been practicing massage therapy and bodywork since 1979. After many years of practice as a self-taught therapist, Ann continued her education in a more traditional setting at Lexington HealingArts Academy graduating in 2003. Her advanced trainings include: Neuromuscular/Trigger Point therapies, Lymph Drainage, visceral and neural manipulation, Craniosacral therapy, Pre/post-natal, sports massage and Active Isolated Stretching. Ann has over 3,500 hours experience in physical therapy settings (outpatient orthopedic, acute care, sports medicine) as well as having served as team massage therapist to the University of Kentucky track team (co-Ed) as well as the basketball team for 11 years. As a member of the AMTA, she has served as co-founder/co-chair of the AMTA-KY Sports massage team, delegate to the national convention for Kentucky and is currently state Government Relations chair. She has a private practice in Lexington, Kentucky and currently teaches kinesiology and ethics at LHAA in the Massage Therapy Training Program.
Matt Branstetter

Matt was a member of the first class to graduate from Lexington Healing Arts. He has been practicing massage professionally for 20 years and is an instructor of Massage Fundamentals. He also graduated from the first Yoga Teacher Training offered by LHAA and now teaches yoga philosophy and meditation in this program. A long-time student of meditation and the martial arts, Matt has taught classes in Yoga and Tai Chi at the college level and is a certified qigong Instructor through Rising Lotus Qigong. He assists Master Ding Mingye in designing and teaching the Tai Chi workshops at LHAA. He has explored perspectives on the relationship between the body, healing and spirituality from a variety of cultures and is a professor of World Religions and Ethics at Midway University. Matt brings a passion for teaching and a love for the somatic arts to his various roles at LHAA.

Shane Burry
Joseph Cinquina

Joe Cinquina is a licensed and Board Certified massage therapist and a graduate of the Lexington Healing Arts Academy, where he has been a faculty member since 2010. He teaches Fundamentals of Massage 1 and 2, Career Development, and Thought Patterns for a Successful Career, and he also assists in Kinesiology. Joe is certified in Integrated Manual Therapy and Orthopedic Massage by James Waslaski’s Center For Pain Management, and he co-owns Soular Massage Pain Management with his wife, Cynthia. As a hot stone specialist, he teaches continuing education courses in hot stone massage at LHAA and has also taught deep tissue therapeutic massage for the KY chapter of the AMTA.

Aside from massage, Joe also has a second career as a professional freelance musician and church music director. He is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Composition and a Master’s Degree in Music Theory from the University of South Florida. He is the author of “The Practical Fundamentals of Music Theory.” Joe says one of his great passions is for teaching, whether it be massage or music.

Beth Connors-Manke, E-RYT 200

Beth has been practicing yoga since 2000 and graduated from LHAA’s first 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2009. An Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) with Yoga Alliance, Beth began teaching studio classes in January 2010 and has taught continuously since then. Beth’s teaching specialties include back health, the subtle body, yoga philosophy, ethics, and Ayurveda.

Beth joined the LHAA teaching team for the yoga teacher training in 2017, taking on the role of co-lead trainer. Since that time, Beth has helped update the curriculum to make it more integrated and learner-focused. During the Covid pandemic, she was responsible for adapting the curriculum when the program had to shift temporarily to instruction over Zoom.

Beth’s pedagogical experience extends beyond the studio. She has a doctorate in English and has taught college-level writing, rhetoric, public speaking, and literature since 2001. In that capacity, she has trained and mentored new teachers for more than 15 years.

Justin Gibson

Justin Gibson received his master’s degree in Biomechanics and his Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Kentucky and has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association since 2012. During this time, he has worked with stroke survivors, multiple sclerosis patients, back pain sufferers, post-op knee replacements, and a host of other factors needing quality training and guidance to let people live and perform at their best. He has taught science courses for LHAA graduates of the Fitness and Nutrition Training Program, and now teaches for both the Massage Therapy and Fitness & Nutrition Coaching programs. He has competed in both bodybuilding and powerlifting and has a fondness for racket sports despite his sore lack of coordination.

Gregory Goodson

Gregory is an intuitive, holistic body worker. His energy is relaxed, humorous and focused, which comes out in his teaching. He can work with people of all ages, experience, backgrounds, and body types in his practice and in his teaching.

Gregory has over twenty-eight years in the bodywork industry and is a true student of many modalities. He is a seasoned teacher and practitioner of Shiatsu, CranioSacral Therapy, Reiki, Polarity, Tai Chi Chih, Lomi Ha’a Mauli Ola (traditional Hawaiian body work). His passion is in education and is evidenced by his life’s trail. The trail includes: Co-creating Crystal Mountain Apprenticeship in the Healing Arts in Albuquerque, NM and Lexington Healing Arts Academy in Lexington, KY.

For 18 years, Gregory has provided classroom instruction in Anatomy and Physiology and in CranioSacral Therapy, specific therapeutic treatments (e.g., whiplash, sciatica), active and passive stretching techniques, and integrating various modalities into a customized treatment. For 30 years he delivered movement classes as a certified teacher in Tai Chi Chih, Yoga, and Qi Gong and this enable students to reach centering, flexibility, improved health. Currently he is a practitioner and trainer of Lomi Ha’a Mauli Ola and Cranial Sacral Therapy.

Robyn Hardy

Robyn began her career with Lexington Healing Arts Academy in May of 2000 as an Office and Clinic Manager. In her time with LHAA, Robyn has served in many capacities. She graduated from the Massage program in 2001 and the Yoga program in 2008. In 2003 she added Fundamentals Instructor and Ethics Instructor to her duties. She is now the Clinical Director. Robyn has a full-time private practice in Lexington. Her practice includes Craniosacral and Lymphatic modalities.

Scott Jordan

Scott Jordan has been practicing massage since 1999, after graduating from the Flint School of Therapeutic Massage. Having worked in spa and clinical settings he enjoys creating a blend of the two in order to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of his clients. In 2016 he graduated from the 200 Hour Yoga Teacher training at Om Bodies yoga studio in Mount Pleasant, MI. He ran a successful massage and yoga business in his home town of Saginaw, MI before moving to Lexington in 2018. He currently runs a small startup studio with plans to expand in early 2021. His other passions include caring for his dog and cat, as well as growing and breeding orchids.

Connie Payne

Connie has been teaching yoga classes since 2013. Her classes ranged from all levels, intermediate levels, yoga with weights, yoga for strength/flexibility and yoga for the pelvic floor. She has assisted the LHAA Yoga Teacher Training program since 2018. Connie has been a firm believer in the therapeutic benefits of yoga since the 90’s when she was seeking relief from chronic back and hip pain. She found that yoga helped strengthen and heal her body, and it offered a calming, centering experience. Connie completed her 200 RYT at Lexington Healing Arts and her 300 RYT in Rishikesh, India.

Tori Price
Teresa Rogers

​Teresa has more than 30 years’ experience as a health care professional and educator. She began her career as a registered nurse in 1980. After 12 years clinical practice, Teresa began teaching Health Sciences. She completed her bachelor’s degree, with an emphasis in Vocational Education, at Morehead State University, a master’s degree in Special Education at Campbellsville University before earnings a Rank I.

Additionally, Teresa is a Registered Yoga Teacher and is certified by both Yoga Alliance and the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She completed her 200-hour certification at Evansville Yoga Center and her 300-hour certification at the Yoga Teacher’s School of Excellence in Jackson, Tennessee. Teresa currently teaches at Falling Springs in Versailles, KY.

Patricia Seaman

Patricia is one of our Administrative Assistants and has a background in Archives and Records Management. She is originally from Long Island, New York. She lives with her husband and their two dogs in Lexington. Patricia enjoys hiking, camping, and reading.

Joyce Shirazi

Joyce was an instructor at LHAA when it was first founded in 1999. She received her massage training from the New Hampshire Institute for Therapeutic Arts. Joyce has advanced training in Reflexology and Neuromuscular massage. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience with students. Joyce teaches Kinesiology.

Jason Washburn
Lena West

Lena West has a Bachelor of Science degree from Saint Leo University has been a Licensed Massage Therapist since 2004. She has been an educator for over 28 years in the areas of employee development and massage therapy. Her passion and focus have always been on raising the level of knowledge and competence in every field she has encountered as an educator. She is an active member of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) and Association Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP) and served as past President of the Tampa Chapter of the Florida State Massage Therapy Association (FSMTA). In her efforts to support integrity in the field of massage therapy education, she served as an evaluator/peer reviewer for several accreditation boards, including the Commission of Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA). Further, she has been the director of massage programs for two of the largest schools in the country and has served on several advisory boards for massage therapy schools.

Sarah Wolfe
2013 LHAA Massage Therapy Graduate and a Certified Personal Trainer with multiple specializations through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. After graduation from LHAA, Sarah opened her own private practice in 2013 and has won the “Best In Business” award three times in 2016, 2017, and 2020 from the Advocate Messenger’s Reader’s Choice Awards. Sarah was nominated “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2014 and won “Best New Business” in 2014 from the Liberty Chamber of Commerce. She uses her combined education as a corrective exercise specialist, a massage therapist, and certified nutrition coach to help her clients achieve holistic wellness on and off the table.
Jeff Zutaut

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Lexington Healing Arts Academy
272 Southland Drive
Lexington, KY 40503

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