Our Instructors
Vicki Brunelle: Yoga Instructor and owner of Yoga For Health
I started practicing yoga 30 years ago through a community class at a local high school as I was looking for a way to be in better shape when the ski season started. I was fortunate to attend a workshop at the Kripalu Yoga Retreat in Lenox, MA and I was hooked! Little did I know that yoga was so much more than just the physical body, as I soon discovered its other benefits, such as quieting the mind and lifting the spirit! After practicing yoga for several years I decided to teach, to share the gift of yoga, and completed my first yoga training in 1998, through Integrative Yoga Therapy at Kripalu, and started teaching at Yoga Spirit in Merrimack, NH for 1.5 years. I completed my 200 month long training at Kripalu in 1999, and soon afterwards opened my first studio, Yoga for Health, in the spring of 1999 in the center of Townsend. Since then I have attended many different yoga trainings, including Ashtanga with David Swenson, Iyengar with Patricia Walden, Jivamukti with David Life, and Dharma Yoga with Dharma Mitra- which allowed me to experience a few of the many styles of yoga. After teaching in Townsend 6 years, I moved to a larger space in Lunenburg, stayed for 8 years, and am now back in Townsend, in a beautiful space, for the past 5 years.
Ann-marie LaBollita: Yoga Instructor, Artist, Studio Art Teacher
I took my first yoga class in 1979 with my aunt in Marshfield Ma. Steve Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith fame sometimes came to her classes: “That Steve Tyler is really flexible, she laughed”. I came back to yoga years later shortly after my first child was born. I have taken various classes over the years but my main practice has been with Vicki at Yoga For Health for 17 years. After a series of sad and tragic family events I made my first trip to Kripalu in Stockbridge for some healing. Noon dance knocked my socks off and brought me back from the brink of despair. I did my 200hr training in Let Your Yoga Dance in 2015. In 2017 I felt drawn to deepen my understanding of yoga and did my 200hr teacher training at Frog Pond in Princeton. Although I am new to being on the “other side of the mat” as a yoga teacher, I have felt comfortable in this position after nearly 30 years of teaching art. Art and yoga are very connected! I happily spend my time in my studio, on my mat and teaching yoga, yoga-dance and art classes.
Cathy Moore: Belly Dance Teacher and performer, Certified Nurse Midwife
Cathy began belly dancing in 1996. She studied with a collective called The Goddess Dancing , whose mission was teaching the dance as a tool of healing & self-empowerment. She was hooked from the start - emotionally stirred by the sensuality & beauty of the movements - and knew that she needed to continue to explore the art. Cathy has been teaching belly dance classes at the Yoga for Health studio for over 12 years now. Besides being a lot of fun, her classes create a safe and supportive environment for learning and experimenting with a goal of empowering her students to find a new appreciation of their bodies and to tap into their personal creativity and expression.
Jen Donovan: Yoga Instructor, Reiki Master, certified in Thai Yoga Massage
A mixture of sweet and spicy, Jen is known for her fun & compassionate, teaching style that is inspired by Buddhist philosophy. She continues her studies under Khenpo
Migmar Tseten of the Sakya Institute for Buddhist study and Kevan Gale of Trivana
Studies. She has completed her 200hr & 300hr training with Fluid Yoga School a Reiki
Master and certified in Thai Yoga massage, Spa yoga & Healing yoga.
Availing herself to continuous philosophical education and practice, Jen weaves a
thought-provoking flow, applying ancient wisdom to our contemporary western world in a useful and understandable way. She encourages growth of the physical and spiritual self.