Our Story

Llamaste was founded in 2014 in Brooklyn, New York by owner and founder, Bill Ades. Inspired by an afternoon with his children sketching out cartoons and fun characters, he came up with Llamaste. The brand was originally designed from a youthful perspective and to this day incorporates that same theme by creating classes and apparel for all ages. Our family yoga center is located in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn within the historic Columbia Waterfront District, just outside of Red Hook. Here we strive to generate an atmosphere of fun, while creating an awareness for health and well-being. Llamaste's goal is to bring families together, spread conscious lifestyles, and create community! 

Our Products

Our apparel and yoga gear are created from the very foundation of our brand-for family! We aim to provide safe, efficient, fun, and inclusive products for all ages. Almost all of our products are locally sourced from our home, right here in New York City! Our vision is to provide families with a brand that connects them straight to their practice and lifestyle. Our collections feature designs and gear for ages 2 - 100! Yoga is for everyone and Llamaste is here to make your practice as accessible and fun as possible!

Our Team

Bill Ades, CEO, Teacher (RYT® 500)

Bill Ades, the founder of Llamaste, is a 500 Hour RYT, having received his teacher’s certification through The Kaivalya Yoga Method Teachers Training Program. In addition to that, he is an accomplished artist who has exhibited his work throughout New York City with a degree from New York University as well as a health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where he uses his innovative skills and creative approach to help people through all walks of life discover their callings and realize their goals.

As a dedicated entrepreneur, he realized there was a need for other yoga teachers and enthusiasts to be able to transport their mats and other gear with comfort and so, he created a product line designed for specifically for that purpose along with the mission to donate portion of his company's proceeds to charities that benefit children and their well-being.

He currently lives in Brooklyn and offers yoga sessions out of Llamaste Family Yoga Center, in which he gears his focus toward families and children alike! 

"Bill helped me overcome smoking and live a happier lifestyle, showing me that the key was inside me all along." 

-Thumbtack, Jack M. of Brooklyn

Topaz Aleah Davis, Creative Director, Teacher (E-RYT® 200, YACEP®), Reiki Healer

Topaz specializes in yoga and energy healing, with certifications in Vinyasa/Hatha Yoga, reiki energy healing, SUP yoga, as well as children and family yoga. She received her teacher training at the Vinyasa Yoga School in Rishikesh, India, SUP Yoga & Fitness in Malta, Rainbow Kids Yoga in Montreal, and studied reiki energy under master Klaus Gournish at the Arati Healing Center in Koh Phangan, Thailand. Infusing Eastern influence with her western roots, her classes bring a unique flare into the studio. In addition to her love for travel and wellness, she is also a professional dancer. Having trained in classical ballet at academies throughout the country, she has developed a career in ballet dancing professionally in California, North Carolina, and here in NYC as well. Her goal as a guide is to make yoga as relative and personable as possible, to help lighten hearts and free minds.

Anna Lee, Studio Director, Teacher (E-RYT

® 200, RPYT®, YACEP®)

Anna’s classes offer creative and comfortable movements, a way to embrace yourself and facilitate learning the unity of mind and body. Her approaches enable to live peaceful and balanced lives. 

Anna's yoga practice focuses on women’s health and brain longevity.  She received her certification from Yogi Hari’s Ashram-Sampoorna Yoga in Florida, Prenatal Yoga certification at Arhanta Yoga Ashrams, and studied Brain Longevity at Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation (ARPF). 

Prior to becoming a yoga teacher, she worked in marketing and public relations with multinational companies throughout Asia, America and Europe. She has also worked at tech startup companies in Silicon Valley.Outside of the studio, she works as a professional interpreter (Korean/English) in healthcare, education and advertising.

Illiana Dominguez, Studio Manager, Teacher (RYT), Reiki Healer (level 2)

Illiana is a yoga teacher who has been on this spiritual path for over 10 years. She started her practice after studying many other sports such as swimming and gymnastics since she was little.

Along with her career in Real Estate she had the need to release the stress she was having in the physical and mental strain of her profession. She felt such a sign of pain on an emotional and physical level, that she knew it was time to do something for her mental and physical health, to regain some of that flexibility acquired in her childhood years.

Then she started practicing yoga in the community where she had once seen her mother practice "crazy" things like strange postures, fasting, meditations and dressing in white.

Later she learned that the practice of yoga went beyond that, to discover the importance of the connection that exists between body, mind and spirit.

She took her first Yoga Alliance teacher training in 2011 in Mexico City with teacher Sheri Cherokee focused on Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga and Tantra Yoga. A year later, she joined the training of O2 Yoga teachers with Stephany Weingers, where she was able to improve her teachings with a dynamic style based on the Ashtanga alignment technique, power yoga and restorative yoga. In 2012, she had the opportunity to go to India for a yoga retreat in Rishikesh, which gave her a new, broader perspective on the actual practice of yoga and energy healing. This inspired her learnings about Reiki when he returned home. She graduated from level 2 of Reiki Usui and is also Deeksha Giver. She also has a Yoga Nutritionist and Wellness Coach certification from the School of Plant-Based Nutrition with teacher Fred Bush in Miami.

During this years, she has taught in several studios and gyms in Mexico City, Puebla, Cancun, Miami, NY as well as private classes. This gives her the opportunity to apply her energy & knowledge to customize the sessions so her students can easily connect with their inner wisdom and apply yoga both on the mat and in their daily lives.She seeks to raise the consciousness of people through the practice of yoga, awareness and mindfulness. She seeks that people can achieve better quality of life, health and enlightenment so they can experience life with more enjoyment and fulfillment.

Gabriela Guevara, Teacher (RYT), Admin

 Anna Grotzky, Teacher (RYT)

Halley Gerstel, Teacher (RYT)

Halley Gerstel was born and raised in Brooklyn. She began her yoga journey in 2001 immediately after the attacks at the World Trade Center. Dealing with her own depression, fear and anxiety during this time, she dove head-first into working and practicing at the Park Slope Yoga Center. She fell in love with both the amazing teachers she had and the bright yoga light that began to shine in her life. Her passion as both a teacher and student is to help others discover and see the light that shines in all of us. 

Halley (also known as Halogyn in the NYC dance scene, a name given to her by the graffiti artist Meres One) received her 200 hour yoga teacher training as a scholarship student at Yoga Works NYC and her 30 hour children’s yoga training from Karma Kids Yoga. She is also a certified Simonson Technique Dance Teacher. Currently Halley teaches movement and dance to students in a NYC DOE Pre-K for All program. She is grateful to have been an Arnhold Scholar receiving her Masters in Dance Education from Hunter College and a BFA in Dance and Education from Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus. Halley has formally performed and danced for Larry Keigwin Co., Doug Elkins and Dancers, Jody Sperling Time Lapse as well as with her mentor and teacher b-girl Rokafella and the Full Circle Crew. Halley is very excited to work with the youth and families at the Llamaste community!

Opal Rose, Teacher (RYT)

Opal Rose is a NYC based yoga instructor and music performance artist with over 7 years of teaching experience.  

She believes in the connection between the flow of music and yoga movement, which heavily influences her personal and teaching practice.  She can’t wait to explore yoga movement with Llamaste yogis!

Her intention is to you guide you by honoring your body's boundaries, navigating your emotions through deep breathing, & showing up as the best version of yourself no matter what level practitioner you are.

Opal received her second 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Certification by YogaWorks in June 2019.  Her teaching is also influenced by a 200 Hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training by Aura Wellness Center and a 20 Hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training by Yokid Organization.   

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Agnes Obratanska, Teacher (RYT)

I teach and practice Vinyasa Flow style/Katonah yoga. I have an artistic background that influences my classes, they are creative, fun and challenging. I try to treat all students as unique in order to meet their individual needs, and to help them find their own purpose, transform the body, mind and lifestyle in active, mindful movement.

I received a 200-hour certification through Three Sisters Yoga and did a 300-hour teacher training through YogaMaya Studio. In addition to my Vinyasa training, I completed Prenatal Yoga training at Om Yoga Center in New York with Rebecca Lynn Conant, Intensive Teacher Training with Maty Ezraty in Berlin, and Restorative Yoga at YogaMaya in New York.

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Eva Avilas, Reiki Master (Level 3)

Eva, a native of Brooklyn, NY is a Reiki practitioner who  started her journey with Reiki after she discovered Transcendental Meditation. Eager to assist others on their journey toward positive changes. Eva is dedicated to helping clients improve their mental, emotional and physical well being through Reiki and meditation. 

Connecting with clients and educating them about the benefits of energy flow and focus of work for their highest good and support. 

Eva’s field of study includes training and certification of Usui Reiki master and breathing coach certification from Yoga Teacher College. It is her goal to promote wellness, mindfulness and awakening as a foundation and lifestyle to thrive and live fully. 

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Jenna Roth, Teacher (RYT)

Jenna is a 200 Hour RYT. She recently spent two months in Bali to advance her yoga practice and teaching method, diving deep within in order to provide the best for her students. Jenna's mission as a teacher is to serve as a guide, inspiration, and resource. She motivate students to discover their full potentials by encouraging exploration of their personal journeys throughout communal or individual practice. She aims to create a safe environment which fosters students to find freedom, opportunity, choice, connection, and balance in each suggested movement. Jenna is dedicated to delivering well-planned, creative, and challenging, yet nurturing, sequences. She lives and teaches yoga as a life path and holistic journey; one which guides students to live a peaceful, happy, and fulfilled life. Jenna aspires to help her students evolve and grow on and off the mat by providing meditation for the mind, movement for the body, and love for the heart.

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Grayson Mills, Teacher (RYT)

I moved to New York to pursue a career in Musical Theater, and that is still a huge part of me. But for my first few years, I got very caught up in the hustle and bustle of New York itself and the auditioning life. I spent a lot of my time worrying about making rent and what I looked like, what people thought of me, getting a gig etc. Last year, my partner of 4 years was diagnosed with cancer and everything changed. I became so aware of how unhappy I was day to day and how life is too short to be living that way. I thought about what I really loved in my life and one of the biggest things in my mind was my regular yoga practice. While he was going through the treatments, I would go to yoga every morning before accompanying him, and I realized that how grateful I was for my practice and how I wanted to help other people on their yoga journey.

 

I went to Bali for an intensive completion of my 200 hr certification and returned to CT for his recovery and was able to begin teaching in the very place that inspired me to teach. Once my partner was better we returned to NYC where I got a job at Tangerine Yoga and received my children’s certification at Kidding Around Yoga. I teach an Ashtanga based Vinyasa flow focused on using each and every breath to deepen into the alignment of the pose. I have an interest in creative sequencing while still maintaining a steady and accessible flow with enough challenges to keep any level of personal practice engaged and focused.

 

For Children’s Yoga Classes I use a series of tools like songs, games, and partner activities that incorporate yoga poses and yoga philosophy while having a lot of FUN. Every class also has 5 minutes of meditation and a lesson on why and how we meditate, and 5 minutes of deep relaxation or savasana at the end of class. My goal is that they have a positive experience with yoga and eventually learn how to calm their minds and bodies on their own with the skills they develop in the classroom.