about alexa

hi! first and probably the most important thing to know about me is I am a Scorpio Sun, an Aries Moon, and a Sagittarius Rising.

and that’s all you need to know! just kidding, of course.

My full name is Alexa Plourde. I lived in Connecticut up until I graduated from college in 2016. that college being Central Connecticut State University, which I went to for Social Studies Secondary Education. once I completed my degrees, I was offered a full-time position at the high school I did my student teaching in. and this was a job all of us in my cohort were hoping would come our way. but I couldn’t accept it - I needed to get out of CT and live my life a little bit. which is what I did!

I moved to Portland, ME in January 2017 and have been here ever since. over the course of that time I got married, got divorced, came out as a lesbian and went through some insane life transitions which I won’t bore you with here (I blame it all on my Saturn return) and here I am!

I took my first Yoga class my first year of college in 2013. it was a Beginners Yoga series and I left with this new-found experience and many years of exploring different Yoga classes and instructors ahead of me.

Yoga showed me how disconnected from my physical body I was. it showed me how I spent my life almost in complete disassociation from my body (for many reasons) and now I have a space in which I can feel safe and comfortable to be in my body - and FEEL.

that lead me to taking my 200-hour YTT at the Portland Yoga Project, which lead me to taking some other courses including my 25-hour Yin certification from the Portland Yoga Collective. I am looking forward to many other courses as I have endless more things to learn.

I believe deeply in leading students through shapes and postures in order to have them experience sensation within their bodies. I’d rather have students hold a shape for 5 breaths and feel each part of the bodies experience in the shape instead of rushing through it in order to get the heart rate up. I believe in working to keep the integrity of the ancient yogic philosophies that have been (in my humble opinion) lost in most Western Yoga spaces. now that is a conversation in of itself and it is an endless process. I believe in creating a safe container in which ALL students in ALL bodies and ALL orientations can feel safe. as a queer yoga instructor myself who relied so deeply on a weekly yoga class to make me feel safe in my body, I aim to create that for folks.

I also believe in a great playlist and SMILING in class (sometimes people can be too serious for my taste).

so please come join me or contact me and I’m happy to chat!