Allyson Neilson

Allyson Neilson , is an ISSA (International  Sports Science Association) certified fitness trainer with certifications in Breast Cancer Recovery Care, Core Conditioning, Bootcamp, and Drums Alive from DSWFitness.  She is also the founder of Flexible Fitness Personal Training and co-founder of Body Quest Bootcamp.  Allyson approaches training holistically, assessing the choices and patterns of each client, and challenging both body and mind in order to achieve a lifestyle transformation that is tangible and sustainable.

Allyson’s  interests in yoga, martial arts, and kettlebell training, as well as her background as a social worker, influence all aspects of her training and client-trainer relationships.   Allyson keeps her clients motivated by constantly changing up her workouts, often taking clients outside to train when the weather permits.

Her interest in fitness reaches back to her youth in Cape Breton , Nova Scotia , where she started working out on her own – using Nautilus machines, lifting weights, and attending aerobics classes at a local gym.  It was years later, after several life changes and a move to Maine, that her commitment to fitness deepened and translated into a desire to help other people transform their bodies and their lives.

Allyson sees clients in her private studio in Camden.  Feel free to visit her website at flexiblefitnessme.com or call her at 542.8951.

Classes: A.B.S. All Body Sculpt

Anna Witholt-Abaldo

Anna has been studying the 5Rhythms® with Gabrielle Roth and faculty for over 10 years, and became a certified 5Rhythms® teacher in 2001. Anna has taught classes and workshops in Europe, the Caribbean and New England since 1997. Her background in body-oriented psychology (MA) and Authentic Movement adds a sense of permission, groundedness and depth to her classes. In 2001, Anna founded her own studio for dance, movement and personal / spiritual development near Amsterdam. She directed the studio until 2004, when she moved to Maine following a vision of creating a place for this work amidst the beauty and stillness of nature.

As her teaching has ripened over the years, she continues to be fascinated by two realms in particular: working with partnering, and interpersonal relationships; and second, stimulating each individual to investigate their path, and supporting them in manifesting what deeply calls them in this moment.

When Anna is not teaching or dancing, she can usually be found chasing her two little children down a woods trail or up to her elbows in play dough. She also loves spending time with dear friends; taking in the beauty of Maine’s woods, hills, lakes and beaches; creating a warm and happy home with her beloved; and making art. – you can delete this highlighted part too if it’s too long; otherwise it can be kept. Anna is a professional member of the 5Rhythms® Teachers Association and the American Dance Therapy Association.

Anna is a professional member of the 5Rhythms® Teachers Association and the American Dance Therapy Association.

Classes: 5Rhythms®

Colleen Duggan

Colleen is a certified yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance who has been studying yoga for over 15 years throughout Asia, Europe and the US. She has taught locally in Camden and Islesboro since relocating here in 2001 to start a family. Her passion is Iyengar yoga- which focuses on alignment and precision in the poses. Colleen commutes regularly to Cambridge Mass to study with her mentor Patricia Walden. She has taken multiple trips to India to study Iyengar yoga from its source. Most recently she returned from two months of intensive study with the Iyengar family in India during October and November of 2008.

Classes: Iyengar Influenced Yoga

Jessica Kent

Jessica, originally from New Hampshire, studied behavioral science at Green Mountain College.  She later moved to Maine to look for other, more holistic methods of healing.  This lead to her massage therapy training at the Namaste Institute in Rockport and then to her yoga teacher training through Shiva Shakti School of Yoga.  The practice of massage as a hands-on method of healing and relaxation combined with the mind, body, and spirit integration aspect of her yoga practice gives her unique insight on the overall health and wellness of herself and her clients.  Jessica’s great interest in the physical and energetic body has only increased since finishing her trainings.  She brings enthusiasm and a beginner’s mind to each of her yoga classes.

Classes: Early Morning Yoga

Judy Nielsen

Judy Nielsen, MA, after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1985, began studying the subtle balance between absolute attention and absolute relaxation.  She immediately began studying T’ai Chi and T’ai Chi weapons with Grand Master Hsu Fun Yuen in Chicago, and continued for eight years.  She has been teaching T’ai Chi, sword, knife and staff for 20 years.

After a trip to West Africa in 1987, Judy also added djembe drumming to her healing practice.  She was a member of Inanna, Sisters in Rhythm for ten years and has been teaching djembe for 20 years as well.

Both of these disciplines led Judy to Vipasanna, (the Pali word for “insight”) meditation in 1991.  These practices, of moment-to-moment observation of the mind/body process through calm and focused awareness, has been instrumental in living with MS.

These disciplines have enabled Judy to return to the stage writing and performing two solo theater pieces; Mother Tongue and Living in a Body.

Classes: African Drumming Class