Our teachers

Ania was born in small mountain village in Poland, where nature has taught her a way to live in peace and in tune with its cycles. Traveling throughout India and Brazil later introduced her to the spiritual way.

The Ganges and the Himalayas, mountains and the forests, shamans and the elders are the parents of her philosophy. Hatha Yoga and Ashtanga bring discipline and understanding to the alignment and the mechanical movement to the physical body. Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine and the Medicine of the Land in Poland are the schools of taught. Capoeira, a Brazilian Martial art, showed her how to be a warrior and how to grow strength not only in the muscle and bone but the one of the mind.

She brings it all into her teachings as a healer and mentor. Movement, meditation in motion, Yoga therapy, prenatal, postnatal practice, pranayama, Reiki, the elements, sound healing and rituals that heal the boy, mind and soul. Ania provides you an opportunity to become the witness, to dive deep, and sit in the questions, so you can heal.

“I believe in providing tools for people who are interested in finding purpose in their ‘human experience’ on this planet in this body, into the situation they chose to be born into. I’m the mirror of your true potential, the voice to be heard from a perspective of a third person, the memory that has been forgotten. My goal is to provide an overall experience where one can enter a labor which will allow the unnecessary layers to be removed and the true self can be uncovered and received. ‘Self realization’ is one of the main goals of yoga. So the dreams can become true, so the suffering can lead you to happiness, so the harmony of the senses, the elements can be found.”

Qi Gong- Beginners

Description: Students will be introduced to the basic philosophy of Qi-Gong followed by a traditional breathwork and standing movement practice with a focus on cultivating flexibility, relaxation, vitality and resilience in mind and body.

Bio: Darran is a long-standing practitioner and teacher of Breathwork and Movement practices. He has studied with Masters in the Hatha Yoga tradition and the DongHan lineage of Qi Gong with additional Body Dynamics training to address underlying emotional connections within the body. His hope is to guide students towards a full range of expression and greater personal freedom.  

You can follow Darran on Instagram: @N.Y.Qi

Natalya is a yoga teacher, meditation teacher, writer, and artist. She is deeply inspired by the profound healing abilities that yoga has on the body and mind. These practices have shifted her perspective on how she experiences life and all that gets entangled within it. She has a very gentle and soft approach to teaching. In her classes, she emphasizes joy, healing, exploration, and compassion. 

She received her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training certification with Rainbow Body Yoga, 200-hour Meditation Teacher Training with Three Jewels, and her Yin training with Daya Yoga. She is grateful to be continuously learning from her teachers and students. 

Linnea Vedder teaches yoga and meditation, and is also a visual artist. Linnea has been practicing yoga for 20 years, and has been teaching yoga for over 13 years. She received her teacher training at Kripalu Center, under the guidance of Priti Robyn Ross. Linnea is one of the co-creators of Moon Church, a brooklyn based women’s spirituality group. She studied meditation with Lorin Roche and practicing with the ancient and vibrational text that he translated, called The Radiance Sutras. Linnea illustrated The World is Your Oracle, a collaborative effort with her mother, who wrote the text, that focuses on Oracle techniques for the modern witch.

Find her at Daya on Tuesdays 7pm

Hello, I’m Casey! I started my journey with yoga over ten years ago, and have been teaching alignment-based Vinyasa classes for the past seven. I am a lifelong learner and am endlessly grateful to my teacher and friend Tony G, who introduced me to rigorous Vinyasa that incorporated precise alignment cue-ing, bio-mechanics, strength, and joint work. I am also deeply grateful to my first yoga teacher, Elizabeth Myers, who showed me how to cultivate a balanced practice that wasn’t concerned with achieving an external shape so much as learning to trust the process, and feel my way into alignment. 

I first fell in love with yoga because it allowed me to build physical strength and body awareness while nurturing a deeper relationship with breath. My classes focus on breath as a tool to soothe the nervous system and cultivate awareness in physical postures. I find great joy in teaching to all levels, with a focus on building strength and mobility in the foundational poses, using alignment focused cue-ing and breathing exercises to allow students to develop confidence in their practice. 

I feel so lucky to have met Ania, whose dedication to sharing yoga is the backbone of this wonderful Daya community!

With a background deeply rooted in dance, Mackenzie discovered her passion for teaching early in her career. After years of training in various dance disciplines, she found joy and fulfillment in nurturing that love of movement. After completing her 200 YTT under the direction and guidance of Yogini Kali, Mackenzie began teaching Hatha and Vinyasa classes. Now with seven years of teaching yoga and over 15 years teaching dance, Mackenzie primarily offers power and dynamic vinyasa classes at Daya with scattered workshops in somatic dance inspired movement, inversions, etc.

Mackenzie’s impact as an educator extends far beyond the physical aspects of dance and yoga. She believes in nurturing the whole person, helping her students develop self-confidence, resilience, and a sense of joy in their practice. Her genuine care for her students' well-being and her ability to create a supportive and nurturing environment have earned her admiration and community from those she teaches. Find her on instagram at @_mack_of_all_trades__ for a complete list of her offerings and journey!

My spiritual practice is and always has been strongly rooted in the lifelong practice and conceptual exploration of yogic philosophy. I first fell in love with yoga over 15 years ago on a camping trip and soon after began studying and teaching yoga with an undying passion ever since. Constantly inspired by the infinite realms of body, mind and spirit, I've accumulated over 900 hours of teacher training experience from various styles of yoga and meditation including Ashtanga, Hatha, Meridian, Tantra, Yoga Nidra, Vipassana, Pranayam, and Iyengar. I continue to study other psycho-somatic /conceptual worlds as a performance / sound artist deeply fascinated by the human psyche and all the ways in which we can explore and unveil the multifaceted levels of our perceptual experiences. My classes are intentionally crafted with a wide breadth of movement styles and methods for cultivating presence, metaphysical / perceptual shifts and charging up the body/ mind / spirit with inspiration and philosophical inquiry.

https://www.oyadamla.com/

Carlie teaches from what interest her: our eternal link to primordial human society—breathwork, visual imagery, asana, and mythology. Her work is rooted in computer science, hatha, vinyasa, fine arts, fashion design, photography, literature— all roots bud to inform a practice that illustrates gratitude, awe, and joy.

Reid Foster has lived in Bushwick since 2018 after spending his childhood in the South and his early adult years in the Midwest. He fell in love with yoga in 2016 and the practice has been a staple in his life since. He’s extensively practiced many styles of yoga, including Katonah, hot yoga and Ashtanga, which have influenced his teaching style. His goal as a teacher is to help others tap into the joy the practice has brought him. 

Jessica is a Brooklyn-based yoga teacher from Austin, TX who has studied yoga for over 10 years. A traveler who must check out a local studio no matter where she goes, the yoga mat is where Jessica finds clarity, peace, community, and home. As a teacher certified through Daya Yoga's 200hr Teacher Training, Jessica focuses on helping others find their home on the mat and in their bodies. Let's chat chakras, the moon, card pulling, numerology, colors, aromatherapy, herbal medicine, meditation - Jessica loves all the tools that help strengthen our intuition and sense of knowing. Find her on IG at @jesshowulikeit

Julia has been cultivating her yoga practice since 2016. Her classes pull from various styles – combining Katonah yoga’s alignment and use of metaphor and her experience as a dancer to design inventive flows. Julia also has experience in Trauma Informed Community Building and strives to create a safe and inclusive space for students to play and explore.

Off the mat, Julia works in food and nutrition policy after receiving her Master of Public Health Nutrition. Combining her knowledge of nutrition with her background as a restaurant chef, Julia integrates the principles of holistic wellness into her teachings, encouraging students to nourish their bodies with delicious and nutrient rich foods just as we nourish mind, body and spirit through the practice of yoga. Julia completed her 200-hour RYT at Daya Yoga.

Masha has been immersed in the practice of yoga for over a decade. Introduced to Ashtanga by a friend, she quickly fell in love with the dynamic flow, self-discipline, and the profound connection between mind and body.

Her journey began with five years of dedicated Ashtanga Mysore-style practice before she delved into the exploration of other yoga styles, including Vinyasa, Dharma, Hatha, and Yin. 

Masha holds a RYT 200 certification from Abhaya Yoga under the guidance of Tara Glazier and Yin Yoga training from Daya yoga with Ania Lesnyak and Liza Leonard.

Masha's daily practice is anchored in mindfulness and the mind-body connection. It encompasses meditation, breath-work, and movement (yoga, contact improvisation, authentic movement, and embodiment practices).

Katerina (she/her) is a working dance artist from and based in NYC. After receiving a BFA in Dance from Purchase College, Katerina started her Yoga teacher journey at Durgas Tiger School in Ecuador. Next, she completed another 200 hr YTT at Daya Yoga in the spring of 2023. Ania and the Daya training has gracefully provided Katerina with a grounded foundation and a mind,body, breath connection. Currently her practice explores the ideas of flow, coordination, strength, and breath. You can attend Katerina’s Vinyasa class at the Ridgewood location every Monday 6 or 7:30pm and Wednesday at 6 pm. 

June Bug is new to New York, but well acquainted with the powers of Yoga. Having practiced for 10 years now, she delights in finding the pleasure of each posture and the metaphor in every pose. June believes that in this fast-paced world, there is tremendous value in slowing down and connecting to our breath, moving the body, and calming the mind.  She is committed to accepting every student as they come and finding new and creative ways of designing yoga experiences to deepen our understanding and appreciation for this ancient philosophy. She is yoga certified through Daya’s 200 hr training, as well as a certified Transformative Breathwork instructor by Marlize Joubert and a certified Meditation teacher through Unplug Meditation.  When off the mat, June finds herself in front of the camera, making television & movies. Check her out on IG @junebug.schreiner for updates on all things! 

I'm Manavi Malhotra Persaud, a 500 hr certified hatha  + ashtanga vinyasa yoga teacher with nearly 5 years of teaching experience. I am also an Ashtanga practitioner since 2017- and I draw inspiration from both Ashtanga yoga and hatha yoga in my teaching. Since most of my yoga studies and teaching experience have been in India- my teaching style is deeply reflective of the traditional methods of yoga. 

The classes start with pranayama/breathwork moving to an ashtanga based vinyasa that is beginner friendly with fiery intensity and finally we move into a guided meditation in shavasana.

Glo’s first experience with yoga was in 2016 when her roommate dragged her to a traditional ashtanga primary series class, and as they say, the rest was history. It was the beginning of a lifelong journey of healing, somatic exploration, and spiritual discovery. The practice has helped lift her through chronic pain and illness, and helps her stay soft in a world that can make it hard to do so. She teaches creative and dynamic vinyasa classes that are often ashtanga inspired, and leaves space for her students to create their own unique experiences.

Glo completed her 200-hour teacher training with Yoga to the People in San Francisco, Yin Teacher Training with Daya Yoga, Art of Yoga Sequencing with Jason Crandell, and has completed additional harmonium and kirtan trainings with Seth Lieberman.

Maggie found yoga early in life: she has been practicing since 2014 and teaching since 2019. She completed 200 hours of teacher training at Rhinebeck Yoga Center with Jivamukti Yoga teacher Carla Olla. She is an avid learner across disciplines and enjoys studying new practices, traditions, and ideas to share with her students.

What to expect: In class, Maggie strikes a balance between lightheartedness and discipline in yoga. She loves teaching both brand new beginners and longtime practitioners, helping all students explore the relationship between mind and body.

At the tender age of 10, Jodie initiated her journey into yoga as she navigated the ebbs and flows of her commitment to the practice until five years ago where she wholeheartedly embraced it as a discipline demanding unwavering dedication. Yoga, for Jodie, has become a profound journey of self-discovery, offering tools and lessons that extend far beyond the mat, fostering a deepened sense of compassion for others.

Her personal practice transformed into a formal pursuit, earning her a 200-hour certification from YogaRenew and later, a 300-hour certification from AyurYoga Eco Ashram. Upon returning to New York, she added a Yin Yoga certification from Daya Yoga to her repertoire.

In her teaching, Jodie extends an open invitation for students to embrace their authentic selves and empowers them to take charge of their bodies and practice. She fosters an environment where individuals are encouraged to show up just as they are, fostering a sense of self-authority and self-acceptance.