MEET OUR TEAM

Larissa Diaz | 200-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher & Reiki Practitioner

With 15 years of teaching experience, Larissa Diaz is dedicated to creating a safe, inspiring, and healing environment for her students. A firm believer in the power of energy work, she integrates her practice as a Reiki healer with her yoga teachings, fostering holistic healing on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels.

Guided by her own transformative healing journey, Larissa emphasizes the connection between movement, breath, and stillness. She believes yoga is an invitation to surrender safely, explore inward, and align with our highest selves. Her classes offer a space for self-discovery, energetic balance, and personal growth through mindful practice and heart-centered intention.

I started to practice Bikram Yoga in October, 2011. I was in the midst of battling with anger, depression, and anxiety. After hearing about Bikram Yoga in a course I took in college, I was determined to start. I knew I needed something new and different in my life. I was aware that I needed to improve myself. Yoga became my home, my peace, my love. I was able to stand in front of myself, look into my eyes..and know that no matter what I had been through in life - the good, the bad, the happy, and the sad... everything was going to be alright. I was able to see the truth within me.  Being aware of the truth, I was able to look at myself and realize who I really was with acceptance, without judgement, attachment, regret, or disappointment. With my practice I was able to achieve this day by day. I knew that no matter how my day was, I had a place where I could detached from all my worries and stresses. 

I realized how much my life had improved ever since I started Bikram Yoga. I knew that I wanted to be able to improve other individuals lives, just like mine was improved. I wanted to spread yoga to all of those in need of healing, where for its physical, mental, or spiritual benefits. Shortly after, in the spring of 2013, with the help of our wonderful studio (Jane and Jack) I became a certified Bikram Yoga Instructor. 

Till this day, Yoga continues to heal me and allows me to find my balance in every way you can imagine. Yoga helped me heal through a car accident in 2015 that fractured my neck. Yoga was there to support me through my first pregnancy in 2016. And yoga continues to guide me through the path of love, light, and acceptance. My goal as a teacher is to bring balance and peace into your day. I teach with a mind and a heart full of love and understanding. In our constant search for peace and balance. I know that life is full of ups and downs and that everyday is a different day on our mats.

See you in the hot room! ~Namaste 

2013 Bikram Yoga Instructor

2016 Bachelor of Arts in sociology 

2017 Baby Om (mommy and me postnatal yoga) 

2017 Yin 96

2018 Little flower yoga (kids yoga) level 1

2018 AFAA group exercise instructor

2019 AFAA perinatal fitness 

2019 AFAA midlife fitness for women 

2019 Reiki Healing level 1 & 2 

2020 AFAA Yoga Essenials 1 & 2

Hi there! My name is Rajni!

I am a devoted yogi that is completely captivated by all things self care but especially this practice of the body and mind. I began my practice here at this studio at 18 and stuck with it ever since! Over the years i have gotten trained in HIIT Pilates, Vinyasa, Yin, Little Flower Yoga & more. I hope to continue to expand my knowledge and experience more in this lovely realm as the years go on.

I was very idle before i began practicing, feeling like i did not really have a purpose & definitely needed to be doing more with my time and once i started i fell inlove. When i first began i lost 20 pounds almost immediately and after seeing what it did for my body i began to notice how beneficial the practice was not only for my physical but my mental, emotional and spiritual self as well. If you want to change & grow in all the best ways then i truly believe this is it!

To students: Come here with an open mind and heart as much as you possibly can! Come to the hot room as often as you can and watch all the ways that your body, mind & soul change. Watch how your body transforms as well as a happier, healthier and better version of yourself emerges!

On a whim, my wife and I walked into a Bikram class having no idea what was about to happen. It was 90 minutes of my heart beating like a war drum then... peace in savasana.  I was so happy to have found that place and was lucky to have had an amazing teacher. The teachers that guide us are in it with us.  My teaching is with compassion, understanding and the intent to pass the  peace on to every body in the hot room.  When I'm not doing yoga I'm playing guitar, baking bread, hanging with my wife and 2 daughters or watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  

Peter Shedletsky found his way to Yoga and meditation because of overwhelming stress and chronic back pain. His journey started in 2012 in our Bikram Yoga studio. After experiencing the instant benefits of the practice, he wanted to share it with others. In June of 2014, he became a certified Bikram Yoga teacher and joined the Yorktown Bikram Team. Soon, he also got trained as a Yin 96 Yoga Instructor, and about a year later, took a Sivananda Teacher's Training Course in the Bahamas. He stayed in a Sivananda ashram for another three months to teach and deepen his personal practice. In 2019, he traveled to Kerala, India, where he studied with Yoga Masters and assisted in a Yoga Teachers Training.

Peter believes that Yoga and Meditation can improve everyone's life, and it's a gift that should be available to everyone.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, Peter was offering free online Yoga Classes for the public. He even developed a special beginners program just for men. Because of the transformation he experienced through Yoga, Peter is not only a teacher but a true ambassador of Yoga. His students love Peter's gentle and playful approach and his "signature" relaxations. Besides teaching and practicing Yoga, Peter runs a house painting company. His passions are heavy metal music, reading, hiking, urban exploration and photographing old cemeteries, abandoned buildings, and ruins.

Marissa Dinki is a Sekhem Sound Healer, All Love (Sekhem-Seichim-Reiki) Master Teacher, Group Breathwork Facilitator, Heart Coherence, Akashic Records Practitioner and Intuitive Guide. She started her journey with Sound Healing through the Sekhem Remembrance Mystery School in 2020. Marissa started her journey with Reiki and as a meditation guide in 2017. Sound frequencies were pivotal in her personal healing journey she decided to explore the ways she could use them and she continues her education by constantly learning new techniques and exploring new instruments. Her mission as a healer is to remind those around her that there is magic in their heart and to remind them of their ultimate truths by spreading the power of All Love. 

Frances is an open hearted, determined, lover of life. Her refreshingly calm demeanor instantly invites a sense of safety, and peace into her classes. 

Hailing from NYC, Frances moved to Denver nearly a decade ago where she has completed a 200 hour Teacher Training program, Advanced Restorative & Yin Teacher Training programs a Reiki Master Training program and Birth Doula Certification in tandem with diving deeply into her studies of Astrology and Esoteric Spirituality. She recently moved back to NY and is excited to be in the Hudson Valley.

In her classes Frances pairs intelligent sequencing with meaningful dharma’s for a deeply healing experience. Don’t be fooled by her laid-back disposition however, you can expect an intense slow burn from her flows that matches the burning passion for and devotion to the practice + the healing of all of humanity.

Frances is currently remotely enrolled in a 300 hour Certification program based out of India, deepening her practice as both a teacher and a student. 

Hi guys I’m Emma! Born and bred Westchester yogi, with a strong background in Bikram, Yin + HIIT. I started my yoga journey as a teenager in 2010 here at Bikram Yorktown, and really dove in 2014 when I went to Bikram Teacher Training in LA. Since then, I explored different countries and cultures as a traveling yoga instructor, leading yoga retreats and teacher trainings. I received my Sports Medicine Certification, HIIT Training, Yin Yoga in my first 6 years of my Teaching Career and just completed my 200hr Vinyasa training this past May, 2023. My teaching style has a balance of power and serene energy. I enjoy working my yogis hard but also receiving the benefits of letting the dust settle. Outside of Yoga, I enjoy training in the gym, connecting with nature and being a foodie. I am excited to pursue my dream as a Wellness Health Coach and start the program this Fall. I am also excited to meet you all and hold space at BYY

Being a Marine and a firefighter, i literally had to be pushed into my first yoga class. I was involved in a bad accident and had fallen into depression and was in chronic pain. I was retired from the fire department and was hooked on pain killers. Another fire fighter convinced me to try a hot yoga class. I hated that first class, being so out of shape and full of the toxins from the pain killers. But I felt so good after the class and actually slept through the night. I went back the next day and became hooked, that was 11 yrs. ago and I haven't stopped since. I no longer take pain killers or anti-depressants. I won't say I'm  pain free but Bikram yoga is my prescription now!

Steve Zagami

USMC

NYC Firefighter 

Registered Nurse

Bikram Yoga teacher  Fall 2014

Inferno Hot Pilates teacher Fall 2016

Coach Brian has 20 years experience coaching and training young athletes for elite competition. He is certified in personal training and sports nutrition. He takes a functional approach to fitness and wellness as he identifies the needs and strengths of each client and creates an individualized fitness plan towards strength, mobility and stamina. Coach Brian is also a C licensed soccer coach and has held a Director of  Coaching position with a premier soccer club for the last five years.

My yoga journey began in the summer of 2011. I was introduced to Bikram Yoga through my mom, and after that first class I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough of the heat, the postures, and the euphoria I felt leaving the hot room. I completed teacher training in the Fall of 2012 and have been teaching ever since! Nothing is better than watching my students grow in their practice and leave the yoga studio with more confidence and control over their breath and body. When I’m not in the hot room, you can find me spending time with my husband, daughter, three dogs and two cats! See you on the mat soon!

With over 22 years of Bikram yoga practice and 3 years of teaching experience, Lauren brings deep passion and dedication to every class. From the moment she first stepped foot in that heated room, she knew it was love at first stretch. For Lauren, Bikram yoga is more than just a physical practice—it’s a transformative journey of strength, focus, and healing. She is excited to share her knowledge, helping students discover the power of the practice and find their own moments of transformation on the mat.