About Bhakti Yoga DC

Understanding that every body faces its own challenges, AJ develops all of her classes by delicately balancing the need for safety and stability with innovation and divine reflection. AJ first began her movement journey as a ballet and tap dancer, later turning to yoga as a college student over 20 years ago. In 2013, she discovered barre, which appealed to both the dancer and yogi within, becoming a certified barre instructor the following year. After being diagnosed with degenerative spinal arthritis, however, she was forced to abandon teaching and focus on rehabilitation and pain management. After regaining mobility, AJ returned to her yoga study as a way to manage her condition and reestablish confidence in her mind-body connection. Motivated by what she's learned about strength, health, and well-being since her diagnosis, AJ brings energy and creativity to every class, while ensuring comfort and suitability for all levels.

Alex, ERYT 200, has been practicing yoga since 1999, and teaching yoga since 2002, when she got her initial 200 hour teacher training certificate from Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. Since then she has incorporated more Vinyasa flow to complement Kripalu's Hatha style of yoga, attending trainings with Vinyasa teachers and mentors Shiva Rea, Shannon Paige, Laura Wade Jaster and Jess Lazar. Also, studying and practicing Buddhist philosophy and meditation has added a joyful peace and freedom to her approach to yoga practice. Her practices are fluid with elements of strength and grace.

Alex also enjoys the depth, commitment and connection that come from teaching prenatal yoga.

Alex lived and taught yoga and practiced massage in Vail, Colorado for the better part of 10 years and has recently relocated to the Northern VA/D.C. Metro area. She is transitioning into new massage and yoga experiences and will update schedule with any new classes and massage information as it becomes available on her website: www.renewaltide.com.

Manjari is a certified yoga teacher and marma practitioner with over 200 hours of training in each. She has been a teacher of Bhakti Yoga in NYC for the last 4 years and has recently moved to DC. She is an artist by profession and has also studied Native American spirituality and the use of medicinal herbs. She enjoys running, meditation, and travel.

Dot, RYT 200, first came to yoga a few years ago as a way to manage chronic pain, and has been exploring the connections between yoga and her work in art and natural science ever since. Dot offers vinyasa flow classes that invite you to explore what yoga can mean for you, offering opportunities to build strength while maintaining alignment and grounding through breath. Dot completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training at Bhakti Yoga DC in 2024.

Dr. Hassan Brown is on a mission to get more underserved communities to the mat. As a wellness practitioner, Hassan practices various types of yoga and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 500) with Yoga Alliance. Hassan completed his 200-hour and 300-hour teacher training at Sankofa Yoga & Wellness Center and Spiritual Essence Yoga, respectively, in Maryland. Hassan’s approach to yoga is both reverent and eclectic as it blends a variety of styles and other athletic disciplines and arts. As an education executive, technologist, and media producer, Hassan finds yoga and meditation to be an essential practice for stress reduction, sensory regulation, and increasing mobility. Hassan teaches a weekly Power Yoga class at Sankofa Yoga and Wellness Center. In addition to his weekly studio classes, Hassan has facilitated yoga workshops for a variety of clients including law firms, school districts, and nonprofits. Hassan encourages his students to challenge their bodies, honor their breath, and have fun. In his non-yoga pursuits, Hassan has worked in the social and education sectors his entire career and he received his doctorate in education leadership from Harvard University. Hassan is also a proud HBCU alum of Morehouse College. Hassan is an avid hip-hop and R&B aficionado so when you flow with him, expect a flow that will build momentum to engage the mind and body, while grooving your soul!

Ingrid is a certified 200 hour YTT dynamic vinyasa flow yoga teacher with continued training and a concentration in yoga for depression and anxiety as well as providing restorative yoga. She offers a deep and powerful heart-warming practice for beginners and intermediates.  She maintains a loving yoga practice that will open and engage the hearts of her students while pushing them beyond their perceived limitations in order to bring them in alignment with themselves.

She incorporates meditation and kriya breath work in her classes. She also volunteers and shares her yoga practice with people in need residing in shelters and survivors of substance abuse.  Ingrid is passionate about helping others and spreading love, kindness, and compassion.

Teaching since 2012 and practicing longer, Jeff found yoga and meditation as a means to connect with his body, confront anxiety and depression, and overcome issues around body dysmorphia.

His classes are highly inclusive and well-loved for their physical and mental inquiry, dreamy playlists, cultivation of curiosity, courage, strength, and sense of humor. Expect a vibrant, creative class with considerate variations of movements for various body types.

Jeff completed his 200hr training in 2012 with Sondra Loring and Raghunath, three subsequent 500hr trainings, including one with Ame Wren and Daniel Max of the Boston Yoga School, and earned his Masters Degree in Social Work from Tulane University in 2022. He currently serves on the teacher training faculty at both Yogamaya New York and Boston Yoga School. He is also a licensed psychotherapist with a private practice specializing in somatics, body based regulation, grief, loss, addiction and relationships.

Jill's greatest joy as a yoga teacher is helping you access shapes you haven't found before on the mat.  In her vinyasa classes, Jill draws upon her expertise of biomechanics and anatomy to gently, quickly, and safely help students blossom into one or more challenging peak poses, while at the same time providing options so her classes remain inclusive and fulfilling to all levels of yogi. Teaching group fitness since 2017, Jill is a Certified Group Fitness Instructor by the Athletics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA), a Registered Yoga Teacher and graduate of Bhakti Yoga's Teacher Training, and one of the first yoga teachers in the world who has been certified by the Yogi Flight School to teach arm balances and inversions using the Yogi Flight Method.  Outside of the yoga studio, she specializes in high-intensity interval training (HIIT), bootcamp, and kickboxing fitness modalities, all while practicing law full time.

Yoga Instructor and Reiki Master, Karen received her 200 hour training in 2001 after practicing yoga for a decade.  Karen is an open, warm and welcoming person who is devoted to the life-long study of yoga and it is her greatest pleasure to share her love of yoga with her students.  Karen is certified in Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative, Energy Medicine Yoga, and Meditation.

Karen offers Yoga Nidra with South Baths regularly at Bhakti Yoga DC.

Kirsten is an E-RYT 500 Elemental Flow Instructor, Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist, Marma Therapist and Corporate Wellbeing Consultant. She teaches dynamic, fluid, and strong flow classes with a focus on energetic alignment, creative sequencing, breathwork, and meditation.

Kirsten joined Bhakti Yoga DC as an instructor soon after it opened its doors in 2016 and loves sharing space with the community and good friends who join her on the mat every week. Kirsten serves as Bhakti Yoga DC’s in-house Ayurvedic practitioner and the founder of Path Wellbeing (www.path-wellbeing.com), a holistic healing and wellbeing solutions company. When not teaching yoga or practicing Ayurveda, you’ll find Kirsten hiking or running trails, swimming laps, traveling with her husband, and snuggling with her Tibetan Terrier “Karma”.

Laura’s yoga path began in college over 20 years ago, where her practice opened a small but enduring doorway within. What started as a love of breath and movement gradually transitioned into something more expansive. Over time, she was drawn to more energetic practices, while maintaining a steady commitment to asana.

She taught for over 10 years in DC, cultivating a grounded and skillful approach blending flow and form, before pausing when the pandemic closed her home studio (Tranquil Space aka YogaWorks). Returning to the seat of a student, her practice deepened from the inside out through her commitment to daily Kundalini sadhana. She honors the body and breath as sacred gateways, and views asana as a vital foundation for deeper energetic and spiritual work.

With over 1000 hours of training spanning vinyasa, pranayama, alignment, sequencing, mantra, meditation, philosophy, and kriya (energetic movements), her teaching reflects her wholehearted practice. She hopes to guide students to connect with their own vitality, joy, and truth.

Miryam began her yoga journey during her pregnancy in 2003, seeking a gentle approach to complement her active lifestyle as a competitive swimmer and triathlete. Starting with Bikram yoga, she later discovered her passion for Baron Baptiste's Power Vinyasa Yoga.

In 2009, while competing in Ironman triathlons, Miryam completed her 200-hour Teacher Training at Downdog Yoga in Washington, DC, deepening her yoga understanding and allowing her to share her knowledge. A significant turning point came in 2015 when she encountered her mentor, Jessica Lazar, and embraced the Prana Vinyasa flow developed by Shiva Rea, transforming her practice and teaching approach.

Now teaching at Bhakti Yoga in Washington, DC, Miryam draws inspiration from renowned teachers like Gopi Kinnicutt and Tara Brach. Her classes focus on reconnecting with one’s purpose in life. For Miryam, Prana Vinyasa represents a journey toward embodiment, vitality, and enjoyment, guiding individuals to embrace life’s flow and discover their inherent purpose.

Nupur guides students through yoga with a focus on acceptance, helping them embrace their practice with compassion and presence. She helps students build on their individual vinyasa journeys with an emphasis on authenticity, resilience and safety. She was drawn to yoga over a decade ago to help connect mind and body and helps her students do that same. She trained at Bhakti Yoga DC with Gopi Kinnicutt (YTT 200) and is also a Reiki Master Teacher.