Meet Your Teachers
In 2017, 2nd Story co-founders Elaine O’Brien and Kay Ottinger hatched their plan to create a space in Jackson Heights where movers of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels could develop their movement practices in their own neighborhood. Since then, 2nd Story has blossomed into a thriving community of dedicated teachers and practitioners, most of whom live in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights and surrounding neighborhoods of western Queens.
It is the mission of 2nd Story to provide a variety of movement classes to our neighbors in a friendly and accessible environment. Our broad range of classes and events are intended to inspire connections within the community and within the individual practitioner. We hope that each participant can experience new levels of well-being while strengthening relationships with their neighbors.
Elaine O’Brien, co-founder and studio director of 2nd Story
A lifelong performer, dancer, and lover of movement, Elaine’s vinyasa yoga classes are intricate but not stuffy. They are sturdy without being taxing, and Elaine loves sharing her practice with students of all experience levels and backgrounds.
Elaine began her teaching career in 2008 upon completing her 200 hour yoga certification at Laughing Lotus Yoga Center. Elaine has continued her studies with her yoga teachers Nikki Vilella, Lindsay Ashmun and Amanda Harding.
In addition to her yoga training, Elaine completed her mentorship with exercise physiologist Bill Boland, and in 2013 became a certified Bodyfix Method practitioner at his Manhattan clinic.
Elaine studied dance with her beloved friend and choreographer, the late Stanley Love, from 2015 until his passing in 2019. Stanley’s influence is ongoing and Elaine hopes to share the spirit of Stanley’s joyful and rigorous approach to movement with her community at 2nd Story.
Photo: Chris Gampat
Jennifer Alarcon
A native New Yorker, Jenn grew up in a culturally diverse family. Having roots throughout Latin America, she feels familiar and comfortable teaching yoga in Spanish. All are welcome! Fifteen years ago she made the transition from dedicated student to Yoga teacher. Focusing on a safe and mindful practice, Jennifer aims to share her knowledge and enthusiasm of yoga, pranayama and mindfulness with her students. Teaching tools that can help them achieve their goals and better cope with everyday stress.
Jennifer nació y fue criada en Nueva York. Sus raíces en Sur y Centro América y también en el Caribe le ofrece una conexión y conocimiento especial con Latinos de todas partes. La clase es de nivel abierto. No tienes que haber tenido experiencia con yoga. Vengan a ver! Todos estan invitados.
Yoga Works 200 Teacher Training March-June 2009 NY
200 hour, 12 week, Vinyasa Teacher Training lead by Tzahi Moskovitz.
Prenatal Yoga Training October 2012 with Juliana Mitchell at The Yoga Room
Rope Wall Workshop June 2010 with Robert Cory Yoga Works NY
Core Power Fusion April-Aug 2008 NY
Received 100 Hours of training in the Hot Power Yoga
Josephine Chung
A competitive runner and cyclist since her teenage years, Josephine went in search of cross-
training methods that would sharpen her performance and speed injury recovery. She found that
Pilates was ideal for this and other health goals. While living in Hong Kong, Jo became a
certified Polestar® Pilates teacher and taught in Asia for 10 years before returning to New York
in 2020. She is also a yoga instructor who emphasizes alignment-based teaching. Jo thrives on
connecting with clients and motivating them in Pilates practice by focusing on alignment
technique and benefits.
Priyanka Das
Priyanka started her journey as a yoga teacher in traditional Hatha Yoga, from Sivananda Yoga tradition. Before long, her practice led her to the Vinyasa method and she hasn’t looked back ever since. With over 8 years of teaching experience, she has a unique way of combining modern movement mechanics with ancient yogic principles, simplifying tangled concepts to make it more approachable to students of all temperaments. She has assisted and taught several Teacher's trainings in India and is currently studying Scriptures and Indian Philosophy under her Teacher of Advaita Vedanta lineage. Priyanka also actively practices and teaches Vedic Mantra chanting and meditation.
Laura Dalesme
Laura is a French-American certified vinyasa yoga and pilates teacher. Her teaching journey began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay in 2017. After returning from the Peace Corps, Laura completed a 200-hour vinyasa yoga teacher training in France. She has since then trained as a pilates instructor at Core Pilates and Good Day Pilates in New York City. She has also trained as a prenatal, postnatal and birth preparation instructor. Laura is also an aspiring doula. Her classes are infused with positive affirmations and functional movement so we can live longer, healthier and balanced lives.
Joshua Gonzalez
Joshua is a native New Yorker who grew up in a family bursting with social justice pride. At a very young age, he has taken part in multiple trainings and community engagement workshops with Make the Road NY regarding immigration reform, DACA, the Dream Act, police reform and LGBTQIA+ topics-which also included participating in many critical protests. This path led him to fuse his activism along with his artistic choreographic abilities to create bold and educational statements. Joshua holds a BFA degree in dance from Rutgers State University-Mason Gross School of the Arts; class of 2021. In dance, he believes that it is important to not only perform, but to advocate for world-wide social injustices. Identifying as a gay Puerto Rican cisgender man, he has dedicated his artistic work to educating and spreading awareness to his audience regarding the oppression, discrimination and relentless violence that happens daily in his community.
Joshua has completed his virtual 200hr yoga teacher training certification with Lila Flow Yoga (Yoga Alliance Certified) during the pandemic in the summer of 2020 and immediately began teaching on their online platform. He implements his classes centered around acceptance, uniqueness and inclusivity as this is what he believes is essential in yoga, in dance and in life. In April of 2021 he obtained his Pilates certification with Lila Flow under the direction of Patricia Pinto. Joshua was recently appointed Artistic Program Director for the New York City Government and will be implementing a curriculum centering around creative artistic expression in the forms of dance, fitness, mindful practices and community engagement. His personal goal within this responsibility is to establish an outreach program for movers and creators to have access to resources in order to build their craft and paint their path where their creative voice guides them. Joshua is excited to teach at 2nd Story and intends on continuing his approach on maintaining a judgement-free atmosphere in all of his classes while promoting creative expression, individuality and inclusivity to all students.
BEVERLY GOODMAN
Beverly is an empathetic, knowledgeable yoga teacher with a particular interest in working with people for whom yoga doesn’t feel easily accessible. She infuses every class with humor and guided self-inquiry, with the goal of physical, mental, and emotional alignment. Her long career as a financial journalist required her to be a good listener, curious question-asker, keen observer, and efficient synthesizer of information. She draws on all these skills in her work as a yoga teacher. She is a certified yoga therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and has specialty training in Yoga for Osteoporosis and Yoga for Back Vare with her mentor Dr. Loren Fishman, and Restorative Yoga and Experiential Anatomy with Judith Hanson Lasater.
Kay Grigar
Kay Grigar is a compassionate teacher with a comprehensive understanding of anatomy and kinesiology. As a former professional dancer and choreographer, she has taught at the Duncan Center Conservatory in the Czech Republic and Grant MacEwan University in Canada. Kay received her 200 Hour Yoga Certification (2009), as well as a Backcare and Scoliosis Certification (2014) from Dr. Alison West of Yoga Union. Yoga is a tremendous tool to quiet the mind and bring energy to the body. Kay is delighted to share her practice with the Jackson Heights community where she has lived with her son and husband for over a decade. All proceeds from her community class will be donated to the Queens Climate Project.
SANDHYA KAURWAR
Sandhya is a certified yoga teacher and has been teaching traditional Yoga in the NYC area for the past fifteen years. She was trained in the well known gurukul university ‘Yoga Vidya Dham’ in Nasik, India. Through her yoga classes, she focuses on relaxation, pain and stress management . In addition, she specializes in teaching Yoga Nidra, an unique guided meditation and mindfulness. Her students range from people of all ages and diverse communities. In her training she has exhibited equal competence, empathy and compassion to Pre K and elementary school kids at one end and the senior / elderly diverse communities on the other. One of her specialized training is Chair Yoga , that she teaches in senior community centers in NYC. While she imparts training in groups, every student still gets personal attention and customized training through her kind and insightful interaction.
Noel MacDuffie
Noel MacDuffie has been working with a wide range of clients for 20 years. From helping rehab double knee replacements to easing chronic pain to reestablishing essential fitness he has helped many folks reconnect to their bodies and celebrate their potential. He believes every day is a chance to discover and that moving with ease and confidence is attractive to everyone.
Noel has trained extensively in neuromuscular retraining with anatomist Irene Dowd for the last 16 years. Noel was a professional dancer and choreographer and incorporates that physical knowledge into his work with his clients.
Molly McGaughran
As a young teen, Pilates was brought into Molly's life by her ballet teacher, who suggested her students crosstrain with Pilates to further support their bodies in dance. Although Molly took Pilates classes off and on for the next 13 years, it wasn’t a big part of her life until an injury forced her to take a break from dance. It was then that Pilates became her only source of exercise, as she found a physical therapist who used Pilates to help Molly heal. Although she didn’t return to dance, Molly has found herself returning to Pilates again and again over the past decade, its many benefits drawing her in: healing, mind/body connection, weight-loss, bone and muscle strengthening, posture correction and much more. Molly received her BA in Dance from Goucher College and received her certification for Pilates from Lila Core. With 20+ years' experience as a pilates student and her continuing education as a teacher, Molly is excited to start this journey as a Pilates teacher with a solid base of knowledge to build upon.
Kaitlin Murray
Originally from Minneapolis, MN and currently based in Queens. I grew up as a dancer training in styles including modern, contemporary, jazz, commercial heels, and ballet. Graduated college in spring of 2021 with a Dance B.S. degree and minor in Health Science. In the fall of 2021, I came to NYC to attend training programs at the José Límon Dance Foundation. I continue to take classes from different studios and like to try new things. As of fall 2022, I got certified in Mat Pilates from Core Pilates NYC and continue to further my education by taking workshops. Outside pilates, I enjoy hiking to get lost in nature and painting which can be seen on the platform Baifarin. I hope to incorporate my training from different movement experiences to provide different tools and ways of strengthening, mobilizing, and aligning the body.
DORITA ORTEGÓN
Dorita, originaria de Cali, Colombia, es una apasionada y experimentada profesora de yoga y mentora en Ayurveda con más de una década de dedicación a estas antiguas prácticas. Su viaje comenzó en Colombia, donde se certificó como instructora de yoga y pasó seis años transformadores viviendo en un ashram. Durante este tiempo, Dorita se sumergió profundamente en la práctica espiritual, obteniendo valiosas experiencias y conocimientos en la enseñanza del yoga.
Con una base arraigada en la sabiduría del Yoga y el Ayurveda, Dorita combina estas ciencias ancestrales para guiar a sus estudiantes hacia una vida equilibrada y armoniosa. Sus clases no se limitan a las posturas físicas; son una experiencia holística que integra ejercicios de respiración, meditación y los principios del Ayurveda para ayudar a los estudiantes a conectarse con su verdadero ser y los ritmos de la naturaleza.
En 2024, Dorita se mudó a la ciudad de Nueva York, llevando su pasión por estas prácticas a una nueva comunidad. Su enfoque se centra en la autenticidad, el bienestar y la espiritualidad, con el objetivo de inspirar a sus estudiantes a emprender sus propios viajes de autodescubrimiento y transformación.
Dorita, originally from Cali, Colombia, is a passionate and experienced yoga teacher and Ayurvedic mentor with over a decade of dedication to these ancient practices. Her journey began in Colombia, where she was certified as a yoga instructor and spent six transformative years living in an ashram. During this time, Dorita immersed herself deeply in spiritual practice, gaining profound insights and experience in teaching yoga.
With a background rooted in the wisdom of Yoga and Ayurveda, Dorita combines these ancient sciences to guide her students toward a balanced and harmonious life. Her classes are not just about physical postures; they are a holistic experience that integrates breathwork, meditation, and the principles of Ayurveda to help students connect with their true selves and the rhythms of nature.
Dorita moved to New York City in 2024, bringing her passion for these practices to a new community. Her approach is centered on authenticity, wellness, and spirituality, aiming to inspire her students to embark on their own journeys of self-discovery and transformation.
JEN SANMIGUEL
Jen SanMiguel began her yogic journey the way many people do- not as a former dancer or gymnast- but as a stressed out New Yorker looking to find some peace in the chaos of her daily life. She discovered that peace on the mat but also uncovered a life path she didn’t know she was seeking- the path to her truest and highest self, through spiritual practice and service. Jen teaches vinyasa flow classes- from beginner to advanced- with fun sequencing and an emphasis on alignment. She strives to create a welcoming atmosphere for all ages, body types, and abilities. When you come to Jen’s class, she wants you to breathe, have fun and feel better when you leave than when you walked in. Jen completed her 200 and 300 hour teaching certifications at Laughing Lotus Yoga Center, NYC, and has additional certifications and training in trauma-informed yoga, Yin yoga, Bhakti, Ayurveda, Restorative, Katonah yoga, Sound Healing and Reiki. Visit Jen at www.trueselfyoganyc.com
ANNAMARIA SANTAMARIA
Annamaria is a Queens native committed to a dynamic life of service, devotion, and love, as well as a lifelong student of Yoga. She discovered the mat over a decade ago and the practice of Yoga quickly evolved into a way of life. Initially, Annamaria was drawn to the physical benefits of the practice as it complemented her dance training, but it was Yoga’s much deeper truths that kept her coming back for more. A burning desire to deepen her spiritual connection and take her practice to the next level led Annamaria to the 200 hour yoga teacher training through Stanton Street Yoga and The Bhakti Center.
For Annamaria, the mat has always been there to support her through all of life’s ups and downs - a place of presence, connection, refuge, acceptance, fortitude, peace, and love. Annamaria is committed to serving the needs of every student by creating a safe and supportive space where everyone can show up just as they are and explore, as well as challenge, their own Truth with an open heart. Her invigorating classes focus on uniting breath with movement, thereby building strength and cultivating a taste for higher qualities. She aims to provide students with an opportunity to access their personal power so that they may each firmly stand in their beauty, wisdom, grace, and love - essential components that make up our personal Truths.
Dolma Sherpa
Dolma began practicing yoga in 2020 here at 2nd Story and soon fell in love with it. After consistently practicing for more than a year, she wanted to explore the "why" behind yoga and deepen her understanding, which led her to complete 200-hour and 300-hour training at Atmanada Yoga Studio.
Dolma’s teaching is rooted in Vinyasa - alignment, symmetry, and breath awareness, but also draws inspiration from gentle practices like yin and restorative yoga. Dolma is excited, humbled, and honored to share her love of yoga and is grateful for all the amazing teachers at 2nd Story who inspired her.
Sandy Tillett
Sandy has maintained a private fitness and movement practice in New York City for the past 20 years. Originally from North Carolina, Sandy moved to NYC to pursue a professional career as a dancer. She expanded that love of movement into a love of teaching movement. Sandy currently holds certifications from the following: National Academy of Sports Medicine- NASM (personal trainer), Kane School of Core Integration (Pilates), and Pilates for neurological conditions. She is currently working towards her certification as a Feldenkrais Method® practitioner and is an Awareness Through Movement® teacher trainee. Sandy has experience working with a wide variety of physical conditions including osteoporosis, arthritis, joint replacement, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis among others.
Melissa Wong
Melissa loves Pilates because it’s a full body and mind workout that is fun, challenging, supporting functional everyday movement.
She enjoys focusing on specific alignment and body awareness to build a strong core foundation and develop lifelong stability, mobility, strength, and flexibility.
She would love to help people reach their personal goals and simply, feel amazing everyday!
Melissa has her Mat and Comprehensive Pilates Certification from Core Pilates in NYC. She is also a Buff Bones certified instructor. She is an avid lover of continual education, running, hiking, biking, and playing time in the mountains.