Ruth Bio

Ruth Richman began her yoga practice in the late 1960’s with home study and books.  She took her first formal classes in Albany, New York with about 100 other students in a large room.  The teacher walked the room with a stick and had a lovely model up front that could do EVERYTHING!  Ruth did not let either the stick nor the model cloud her vision and she saw that Yoga was a path to a better life for her both physically and emotionally. 

After moving to PEI in 1978 she ended up teaching Yoga at the Montague Community School beginning in 1980 This lead to leading and teaching 2 to 4 classes a week for twenty years as a volunteer.  

She received 250 hour and 500 hour Yoga Teacher Certifications in Astanga Yoga from Beryl Bender Birch of The Hard and The Soft Astanga Yoga Institute of New York.  Yoga Alliance then recognized her as an Experienced Yoga Teacher (E-RYT500). She also received a 200 hour certificate from Mary Beth Nehl of The Yoga Loft in Willmar, Minnesota.  

In the spring of 2010 Ruth began studying Kundalini Yoga in the style of Yogi Bhajan with Shakta Kaur of Chicago’s Kundalini Yoga in the Loop.  She received her 220 hour certificate in that style in October 2010.    

Ruth recognizes that studying Yoga keeps her own practice alive. She has studied Astanga Teacher Training with David Swenson (50 hours);Yoga Therapy with Doug Keller (over 100 hours); Yoga Therapy with Glenn Black (30 hours); and an assortment of workshops including David Williams, Tim Miller, pranayama with Sama Fabian; and other teachers in the Maritimes, Minnesota, and New York.   

In 2000 Ruth started Yoga Ink, a full time yoga business with year round classes now in Charlottetown, Montague, and Fortune.   

Yoga Ink is a registered Yoga School, recognized by Yoga Alliance with 220 and 550 hour Training programs on PEI and New Brunswick, and soon in Halifax.  

Yoga Ink offers regular classes in: Astanga Yoga, Ruth’s Blend, Ruth’s Basics, and Kundalini.  

Ruth and Yoga Ink offer weekend intensives and workshops; and she hosts workshops with internationally respected guest instructors.  Also available are private sessions,  group classes and presentations.  

Flexibility does not come easy for many of us and Ruth knows this from personal experience. She has had injuries and pain from accidents and congenital joint problems. Mindful yoga practice lessened the pain and created longer, more forgiving muscles and soft tissue. Through practice her flexibility and range of motion has increased.  

“One of the many beauties of Yoga is that everything can be modified,  so that each student can make progress with their own challenges.”