Elizabeth Spahr, Owner of Village Yoga
Elizabeth is a Certified Kripalu Yoga Instructor. She discovered yoga in 1994. Though originally looking to relax and become more flexible, she soon realized that yoga encompasssed so much more and it became integral to her life. Becoming a yoga teacher was a natural progression. Elizabeth has learned many lessons from yoga which she enjoys sharing with others -foremost is attention to the breath, postural alignment and noticing the difference between tension and relaxation in the body. Elizabeth has taught over 3,000 yoga classes and learns something new from each student. She continues to attend workshops and trainings in Kripalu Yoga, as well as different aspects of yoga to include Yoga Therapy with Gary Kraftsow, The Essential Low Back Program with Robin Rothenberg, Yoga for Skeletal Health with Sara Meeks and Thai Yoga Massage with Kam Thye Chow. Elizabeth has also completed training to become a Tai Chi Easy Practice Leader through the Healer Within Foundation. She enjoys working with a wide variety of students, both in group classes and privately on their own personal discovery of yoga. When not teaching yoga, you will find Elizabeth happily riding horses. Elizabeth also works as an independent professional gardener and is a University of Maine Master Gardener.
Susan C. Mirisola, E-RYT, CCLYI, and Reiki Master
Susan first came to yoga in her early 20's. A meditator since 1976, Susan long intended to return to yoga, but it was not until her move to Kennebunk in 1994 that she began taking classes in earnest at Nataraja School of Yoga. In May of 2007, Susan became a certified teacher through a 200-hour training taught by June Locklin, master teacher and owner of the Nataraja School of Yoga who was herself taught by Patricia Walden, an Advanced Senior I Iyengar Certified Instructor and lifelong student of Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar. Yoga re-surfaced at a critical time for Susan, one marked by personal transition, physical challenges and deep loss for which posture practice helped her cope and remain balanced. It is, however, the enrichment of the inner, spiritual life inherent in yoga that grounds Susan and for which she is deeply grateful. Susan's classes strongly emphasize alignment, breath awareness, and the process of yoga as a means of accessing mind/body/spirit wellness. Since becoming certified, Susan has taught students from the ages of 2 to 101 in a variety of settings: at the Kennebunk Free Library (where she has been employed since 1995), in private studios, in private/group classes, and at an assisted living facility. Susan has been teaching at Village Yoga of the Kennebunks since 2009, and she is registered with Yoga Alliance.
Elizabeth Clarkson, RYT, CLM, LVCYT
Elizabeth is a Certified Kripalu Yoga Instructor, a Registered Yoga Teacher, Healthy-Steps, the Lebed Method Instructor, Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga Teacher and Yoga of the Heart/ Cardiac and Cancer Certification Trained. She has been practicing yoga since the early 90’s. In 2002 after being diagnosed with breast cancer, yoga became an intricate part of her everyday life. The practice of breath guided her back into life and healing. Through that connection of breath, she discovered in the stillness of life many blessings and discovered her passion to guide others along this journey of cancer. After her treatments, Elizabeth embarked on her passion of yoga, she became a Kripalu DansKinetic’s Instructor and in 2012 completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training at Kripalu. Elizabeth has been teaching classes to cancer survivors for 10 years, currently she is teaching Healthy-Steps, the Lebed Method. She is honored by this opportunity to be a guide to so many who have come to her class. Her intention is always to bring everyone back into life, with honor and respect for their own journey. This path has brought her to a deeper understanding of healing and honoring the true gift of life. Elizabeth’s passion is gentle Kripalu Yoga, coming back to your own unique breath, to stillness and listening to your innate wisdom. Elizabeth spends her winters in Florida and will be returning to Village Yoga in the late Spring.
Celina McMichael, RYT 500hr
Celina is a 500hr RYT who began her journey as a yogi as early as 1995 in her high school dance class, then in the local gym. Celina became highly interested in yoga in her late teens and early twenties and took as many classes as she could until she found the style that suited her most. Alongside her yoga practice Celina is a wife,mother, teacher, endurance athlete (newly certified as CF-L1), and outdoor enthusiast. You can find Celina and her family surfing, snowboarding and hiking regularly.
Celina has completed multiple yoga teacher trainings and attends workshops regularly mostly in the Ashtanga lineage. Celina has taught off and on for the past 18 years and hopes to do a lot more teaching in the near future. Celina has practiced yoga throughout all three of her pregnancies as well as through her life as a cryptogenic stroke survivor.
Celina enjoys sharing the practice of yoga with everyone! She is very versatile in her discipline with strengths in reaching students of all ages, she is trained in everything from power yoga to restorative, prenatal and childrens yoga. Celina is available for private and group private instruction in the studio, at the beach or other designated private location. Celina specializes in teaching large group classes that meet everyone’s needs.