Our Intention

 To create a yoga and community space for all people, of all faiths, of all colors, of all shapes, of all sizes, creeds and orientations. To both honor and celebrate this uniqueness, ROAM LA teachers come from a broad spectrum of lineages and modalities, offering something for everybody and every body.

THE ROAM LA FAMILY

TONY G/Teacher

Tony G’s devotion to the path of Yoga and movement fills his classes with both knowledge and intensity while his big heart lends sweetness and compassion.

 

Teaching, studying and practicing yoga for the last 18 years, it is his desire to weave biomechanics and theory into his classes to take people on both an inner and outer journey. Tony’s love for alignment guides his classes and he wants the students to not only feel great after a class but also give them tools to take on their way.

STEPHANIE KATO/Teacher

While I love teaching, I will always consider myself a student first. I have been practicing yoga for over fifteen years. I first discovered yoga while studying music theater. At first, it was a wonderful form of exercise that blended the type of dance-like movement and breathwork that I was accustomed to. But over time my passion and dedication to yoga deepened, and I fell in love with all that the practice has to offer.
Through creative and intelligent sequencing, I work to blend different types of movement inspired by everything from dance to FRC. I want to challenge my students physically and mentally, and focus on alignment to create good habits and prevent injuries. My love for music will always be present in my classes, with a motivating playlist that flows seamlessly. My hope is to create a safe, invigorating, and playful space so that you may be ever curious, hungry to learn, and eager to grow your practice.

ALEX FRATELLA/Teacher

Born and raised in New York, Alex has been an athlete since the age of 5. While competing in soccer and track throughout her youth, Alex frequently found herself facing injuries. She took her first yoga class at the age of 21, and immediately found that it offered a path towards a better relationship between her and her body.

After moving to Los Angeles, yoga became her passion: a way of exercising not only her body, but her mind and soul as well. After completing her teacher training in 2018, she discovered a deep love for helping others experience this passion as well.

Alex incorporates her knowledge of athletics, alignment, and spirituality in her sequences. She brings upbeat energy, vibey tunes, and clear and concise cueing to her classes. She believes that everything in life is about balance. She encourages her students to face their fears and to try something new; while always practicing self-care, both inside and out.

When Alex isn’t teaching yoga, you can find her hiking, traveling the world, and hanging out by the beach with her Australian Cattle Dog, Rune. She is also a Beyond Yoga fitness ambassador.

BEATRICE BUENAVENTURA/Teacher

 

Beatrice has been practicing and observing the science of yoga since 2003. Initially lured by the physically demanding and challenging method, it was Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, The Bhagavad Gita, and the science behind consciousness and awareness linked to body and mind, that she realized this could take infinite lifetimes to discover and rediscover valuable lessons. A vital gift, a wealth of wisdom,  that would teach us what we needed to know about ourselves and the world around us (and what could be).

 

In her instructions, Beatrice passes down the knowledge she has gained from her beloved teachers, interwoven with her own personal experiences and expressions of the practice and the philosophy.  Beatrice understands the potential that can blossom from a consistent practice. It opens doors for opportunities to create, build, and nurture a connection with ourselves, with others, and all that is around us.

 

She humbly bows in gratitude to her teachers: Rich Logan (Chicago,IL), Kino MacGregor (Miami, FL), Tias + Surya Little (Santa Fe, NM), David Life + Sharon Gannon (New York City, NY), Mollie Galbraith (Austin, TX), Hillary Wright (New York City, NY), the late Sri K Pattabhi Jois (Mysore, India), Richard Miller (IRI, IAYT), and David Swenson.

STEPH STOCK/Teacher

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Steph grew up an athlete running track and field. After years of running left her hips, knees and ankles stiff and sore she found herself in a hot room, sweating with strangers, and moving her body in new ways. Always a teacher and an athlete,  Steph taught English while traveling for 5 years before settling in LA where she combined her love of all things movement and began her teacher training. She incorporates her love of storytelling, respect for alignment and curiosity about creative sequencing into each class.

 

When Steph isn’t teaching or practicing she’s’ either on camera, on set, or in a studio.

RUTHIE HOLMES/Teacher

I am originally from Saratoga Springs, NY.  I studied Theater Arts at UC Santa Cruz.  My passion for movement started at an early age in the Ballet.  I dedicated time, sweat and tears training my body to be exactly the image the ballet instructor insisted it look like. Thats why now I value the concept in yoga; its not so much what the pose looks like but how you feel in the pose.

Aside from teaching yoga, I perform improv and sketch comedy.  Having recently taught improv comedy, I found there are similarities in improv and yoga. You have to listen to what is happening, whether that is on stage with a scene partner, or you are on your mat listening to your own body.

I received my Yin and my 200 hour YTT at Red Diamond Yoga.  I have experience in guiding students of all levels, focusing on fostering a positive and inclusive environment where practitioners can connect with their body while enjoying moments of levity.  My teaching style emphasizes mindfulness, alignment, and breath work, all delivered with a dose of good-natured humor to keep students engaged and motivated

While Yin yoga makes me feel great, I also can provide a sweaty flow.  

KARA MCNAMARA/Teacher

Kara specializes in a challenging vinyasa flow style with emphasis on inventive and seamless sequencing.

Her class asks for more than just engagement in precision alignment in asana. She encourages students to deepen their practice by infusing her classes with yogic and other healing philosophies.

She invites you to come sweat, expand and explore breath as medicine.

ZOE WIRTH/Teacher

Zoe grew up practicing yoga with her parents at the Sivananda center in south Florida and never thought she’d become a yoga teacher. Working in the fashion industry wasn’t fulfilling for her anymore and her teacher/close friend advised she become an instructor. This was the permission slip she needed at that time and embarking on the teaching side of her practice gave a new meaning to her life. She sold most of her material possessions in 2016 and moved to a yurt in Santa Barbara to train at White Lotus Foundation and has been living in LA ever since.

 

Zoe loves making playlists to accompany her classes and brings an element of fun and lightness to all her classes emphasizing the importance of breath and showing up over anything else during practice.

RAE SHATIN/Teacher

I began my yoga practice when I was a teenager. On a whim, I took my first class and immediately fell in love. In that class, I felt something new: true relaxation of the mind. After my first year of practicing, I knew I wanted to help people find the same happiness I’d found in yoga.

My class can be considered a dance where students spiritually connect through graceful and intentional movement. My held sequences and flows come together in a dynamic and upbeat practice. Music is a big part of my life and always plays a big role in my classes. After a back injury that left me unable to walk, I starting diving deep into the physical architecture of yoga and movement. Since then, I’ve incorporated in-depth and specific anatomical cues to my classes.

When I’m not on my mat, you can usually find me hiking, cooking veg food, dancing ’til sunrise, or greeting every dog and cat I come across.

CRISTINA SCHULMAN/Teacher

Cristina first fell in love with yoga in 2002 while she was attending The School of Visual Arts in NYC. There, she took a yoga philosophy class where they stretched, moved, and stood on their heads with their amazing 75 year old professor. He talked about the BREATH and the NOW and he shined SO brightly. She remembers wanting to shine like that and thought there must be something to this whole yoga thing. 

Fast forward to today, Cristina has been teaching various styles of yoga and meditation classes since 2009 and is constantly inspired by teachers and students from all over the world. She is inspired by how movement brings us closer to all parts of ourselves and by the amazing things the human body can do.  

RAQUEL PENNINGTON/Teacher

Raquel and yoga began their love story in 2007. After moving from Texas to Los Angeles, she found the practice of yoga and an open-armed community that enriched her life beyond her dreams. Trained by Keric Morinaga and Rachel Jackson in the Anusara style of yoga, Raquel’s classes blend universal themes with specific and intentional alignment instructions. Raquel hopes that each student leaves her class feeling empowered, aware and connected to their bliss.

Outside of the yoga studio, you’ll find “the beaded lady” creating custom made jewelry for her company Hanuman Heart.

CRISTINA BACCA/Teacher

Cristina began practicing yoga in 2008 in her hometown, Huntington Beach. After earning her Bachelor’s in Psychology and Gender & Sexualities Studies at USF in 2013 she worked as a research assistant at UCLA and UCSF, studying interventions to human rights violations. This work made her increasingly aware of society’s need for collective healing. Her career shifted when she completed her 200-hour teacher training in 2015. Since then she has used the discipline of yoga to help people build the type of self-awareness needed to heal themselves and others.

Cristina has continued her education with over 600 hours of credentialed teacher training including a 90-Hour Prenatal Yoga training, a 30-Hour Restorative Yoga training, and a 45-Hour Trauma-Informed Yoga training. Cristina has been mentored by Diana Oppenheim, Kori Strobl, and Martin Scott.

When she’s not practicing, studying, or teaching yoga you can find her rock climbing, dancing to live music, traveling to beautiful beaches across the globe, cooking vegan meals, and making friends with your dog.

JESSICA TANZER/Teacher

Jess believes in the transformative power of a yoga practice. The ability to create change from the physiological which then translates to the psychological. Her classes combine breath, mindfulness and asana with western therapeutic methods for a practice that is holistic and accessible.

 

She integrates theory and teachings from her trainings in Katonah Yoga and Threes Physiyoga offering classes that will give you the tools and techniques to better inhabit your body.

LUNA PIERSON/Teacher

Born in the bay of San Francisco and raised in the cornfields of Illinois, Luna has always had a big heart and an open mind.

In 2009 Luna helped her family open Amara Yoga & Arts, a yoga studio in Urbana, Illinois, and with her background in gymnastics, took to it immediately. She soon developed a strong practice and a passion for the yogic way of life. In the summer of 2010 Luna completed 200-hour yoga teacher training through YogaWorks in Santa Monica, and she taught public classes at Amara until she graduated from the University of Illinois in 2012. Luna then relocated to Los Angeles where she completed the 300-hour YogaWorks teacher training program with her mentor, Kia Miller.

In the fall of 2015 Luna completed the 75-hour Wanderlust teacher training with Schuyler Grant, Chad Dennis and Chelsey Korus. Luna teaches Hatha and Vinyasa Flow classes in Los Angeles that cultivate strength while encouraging a sense of peace. She inspires others to look inside themselves and find a deeper connection with their own expansive potential, wisdom, and healing abilities through yoga.

RACHEL JACKSON/Teacher

Rachel is an ERYT 500 Yoga Alliance certified teacher, mama to Eloise, and a legacy ambassador for the Lululemon.   All of Rachel’s classes are centered around a unique physical and a spiritual theme which is woven throughout every heart opening, alignment specific practice.

Over the past ten years, Rachel has taught at the best studios in Los Angeles including Equinox, Urth Yoga,  Exhale, Black Dog Yoga, The Springs, and Wanderlust Hollywood.   She has lead teacher trainings in Los Angeles and leads retreats all over the world.

If you are a rock star teacher or if you have never stepped on a yoga mat, you are welcome in her class! Her mission in class is that you feel better when you leave then when you walked in the door.

DANA RIZER/Teacher

Dana’s classes emphasize aligned, mindful movement and the cultivation of slow, steady heat. Expect a skillful balance of purification and restoration, and the space to explore the teacher that resides within. Dana is a 500-hour E-RYT, and is an ongoing student of many lineages, including: Iyengar Yoga, Therapeutic Yoga, Vinyasa and Yin. Beginning in 2011, she co-taught the annual 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training at the Nosara Yoga Institute along side founders, Don and Amba Stapleton.

 

When not on her mat, Dana finds yoga in the kitchen. She holds a Master’s Degree in Food Studies from New York University, and a holistic chef’s certification from the Natural Gourmet Institute of Health and Culinary Arts. Dana brings her love of food to life as the managing director of a nonprofit based in South LA called Groceryships, that promotes wellness through the healing power of healthy foods and human connection. Dig in with her around the table at one of her seasonal I Am Nourished workshops and retreats. www.livinglavidayoga.com and www.groceryships.org

JINO DE CASTRO/Teacher

 

Helping people feel good through movement, breath and meditation brings me joy. In addition to my fascination with all things anatomy and self-inquiry, I’m a big nerd for video games, trail running, playing guitar, being upside down, biographies, comic books, and biographies in comic book format (check out Duran, Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me: A Graphic Memoir).
I’m a native Angelino and have been teaching yoga for 12 years at various studios and gyms across town, as well as a Kinesiology Professor in the LA Community College District. My main aim when sharing the practice is to provide a welcoming environment for physical and mental self-exploration and discovery.
I look forward to practicing with you on the yoga mat, geeking out together at the next ->insert nerd interest here<- convention, or dancing with you at a music festival!

SHIELU BHARWANI/Teacher

Shielu Bharwani has an innate ability to relate, engage and inspire students in her class.  She teaches a balanced and challenging Vinyasa Flow class and is best known for her creative and rigorous sequencing.  Her classes are upbeat, fun and also meditative and inclusive.

Her training includes hundreds of hours in many different yoga styles such as Ashtanga, Jivamukti, Iyengar and Anusara.  She has studied different movement/fitness modalities such as Functional Range Conditioning, Functional Strength Conditioning, Animal Flow, Trigger Point Release Therapy, Thai Yoga Massage Therapy, and Dance.

NICK THURSTON/Meditation

Nick Thurston is a passionately committed practitioner with experience in vipassana, MBSR, and the integration of mindfulness practices with cognitive behavioral therapy. The majority of his training is in the Sanbo Zen lineage of Kamakura, Japan. He has studied with Yamada Ryoun Roshi, the abbot of the Sanbo lineage, and is currently studying under Henry Shukman, who is a Shōshike (Authentic Zen Master) and the Spiritual Director Emeritus of the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, NM. He is also in formal koan study with teacher Shana Smith.

His offerings will be a mixture of guided and silent sitting, focusing on the fundamentals of mindfulness, and on helping you discover and deepen your own easeful, authentic path of practice. Please bring cushions if you have them.

All levels welcome!

JESSICA SNOW/Meditation

Jessica Snow is a meditative storyteller and multimedia alchemist.

Since 2011, her bright imagination, inclusive nature, and magical voice have made her a sought-out and beloved meditation guide in her hometown of Los Angeles. Her main purpose is to reconnect you with your own magic.

She writes, creates, records and leads inventive mystical experiences that are as profound as they are pleasurable. Beneficial for both the first time and experienced meditator, her narratives are powerful myths and beautiful fairy tales filled with symbolism. By placing the participant at the center of each journey,she opens the door to the possibilities of awakening, rejuvenation, and transcendence.

Since starting crystal meditations at L.A.’s Spellbound Sky in 2012 (now at ROAM’s new meditation center!), Jessica has guided hundreds of events with thousands of people, written three books, created a futuristic streaming service so anyone anywhere can press play and meditate, collected a lot of crystals and witnessed an extraordinary amount of magic.

JessicaSnowMeditation.com