Our Team
Our expert trainers and teachers, with backgrounds in physical therapy, acrobatics, capoeira, circus and more, create personalized growth plans tailored to you. Next month you’ll wish you had started today!
Ana Costa
PERSONAL TRAINING, KETTLEBELLS, CAPOEIRA ANGOLA, & MOBILITY
Ana is a certified personal trainer from the National Academy of Sports Medicine with a degree from Columbia University. She has been practicing Capoeira since age 19 and has a passion for creative, challenging workouts that emphasize strength and active mobility. Growing up in Liberia, Kenya, and upstate New York, Ana's diverse background inspires her holistic approach to fitness. Her specialties include strength and conditioning, mobility, acrobatics, injury prevention and rehabilitation, pre/postnatal training, and Capoeira Angola. Ana is certified in Functional Range Conditioning, TRX Suspension Training, and Kettlebell Training. She believes that a regular exercise and movement practice can be transformative and healing.
Certifications
FRCms | TRX-STC | TRX-RTC | Pre/Post Natal | Precision Nutrition L1 | Professora de Capoeira Angola
Anna Maltby Patil
PILATES MAT
Anna is a certified Pilates mat teacher and a certified prenatal and postpartum exercise specialist, and has been an ACE-certified personal trainer since 2015.
She is passionate about helping people of all backgrounds, identities, and fitness levels discover movement they enjoy and that makes them feel stronger, better, and more functional every day. She takes a body-neutral, weight-inclusive approach and believes in the power of rest and listening to your body, while also finding the right level of motivation and drive to help you keep progressing. Anna's classes are positive, encouraging, inclusive, and multi-level.
She also works as a journalist and content strategist. She served as editorial and fitness director for Nike (M)ove Like a Mother, the company's first-ever comprehensive perinatal exercise guidance program (available for free in the Nike Training Club app). Anna lives in Park Slope with her husband, two children, and two cats.
Certifications
ACE-CPT | Knocked-Up Fitness Prenatal and Postpartum Exercise Specialist | JMG Fitness Postnatal Exercise Specialist | ACE Functional Training Specialist | Power Pilates Beginner & Intermediate Mat Pilates
Gary Nelson
CONDITIONING
Gary is a certified personal trainer from the National Academy of Sports Medicine with a degree from Brown University. A former NCAA Division I lacrosse player and national championship semi-finalist, he is passionate about fitness and workouts that emphasize strength, endurance and efficiency.
Gary is a firm believer that fitness is a lifelong journey; a challenge that helps develop self-discipline and confidence, and a tool that allows each of us to be closer to our ‘best selves.”
Certifications
NASM
Gina De La Chesnaye
CULTIVATE (QI GONG)
Gina de la Chesnaye is the founder and director of The Nachan Project which provides mindfulness based practices for trauma and resiliency, humanitarian aid, psycho-social support and public health advocacy to the Karimojong women and children of the Katwe slums in Kampala, Uganda. She also offers Mindfulness and Trauma Management Trainings to social workers, trauma therapists, medical doctors and humanitarian aid workers throughout East Africa and the United States as well as Care for Caregiver Workshops.
Gina has served as key faculty for The Lineage Project, bringing mindfulness based practices to youth in residential incarceration sites, detention centers, homeless shelters and suspension schools for more than a decade. She is also the Mindfulness Course Director for the Surgical PA Residency Program at Yale Medical School / Norwalk Hospital and a core faculty member of Second Response which tends to the emotional & psychological needs of people exposed to trauma, providing body-centered methods to relieve the harmful effects of stress, distress & trauma. Gina teaches a weekly on-line meditation class through Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science .
She has been a martial artist specializing in San Da, Muay Thai, K1 kickboxing and Western Boxing for more than 20 years and has taught meditation, yoga and Qi Gong to communities across the globe both in person and on-line.
Gina is an alumna of the Harvard Global Mental Health Trauma & Recovery Certificate Program and holds a Master of Global Public Health degree from NYU. She has an MFA in Photography from Hunter College and has exhibited her work globally. She is a writer and photographer and has written numerous articles on yoga, meditation, martial arts and Buddhism as well as produced multiple series documenting the lives of the Sherpa and migrant communities in Nepal as well the slum communities in Uganda.
Gina is currently shooting a documentary on the experiences of the Karimojong in Uganda.
Julia Kelly
VOICE COACH
Julia Kelly is a ten-year veteran performer and director with Third Rail Projects– hailed among the foremost companies creating experiential multidisciplinary theater in the United States. With Third Rail she has given over one thousand live performances in New York and coached countless more. Her teaching is informed by this craft and the Linklater, Alexander, Feldenkrais and Body-Mind Centering® approaches to wellness that have kept her whole.
Julia has completed over 400 hours of Linklater study and teacher training through the Linklater Center for Voice and Language. She is an alumna of Barnard College of Columbia University and studied with the Moscow Art Theater, faculty of the Juilliard Dance and Drama Divisions and with the Movement Theater Studio (Lecoq). As a dancer she was invited to train alongside artists of Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal and toured with the Limón Dance Company.
The child of two clinical social workers, Julia is deeply invested in the self-actualization of human beings of all orientations to our world and values empathy and play. She believes that pleasure and ease are great teachers and that our potential for growth is boundless in a safe space. Julia lives in Windsor Terrace with several of her other greatest teachers: her partner, her toddler and two excellent cats.
Katie Bergstrom
PERSONAL TRAINING, KETTLEBELLS, & YOGA
Katie’s movement journey began at nine with classical ballet, leading to nine years as a professional dancer with the New York City Ballet. Discovering yoga towards the end of her ballet career, Katie also embraced traditional strength and kettlebell training.
She is a perpetual student of the human body whose coaching philosophy is interdisciplinary, drawing from her diverse background. Katie explores various movement forms to cultivate resilience in body, mind, and spirit.
Committed to empowering others, Katie guides her students on a journey of self-discovery. Fostering awareness, strength, and trust in their bodies, she instills confidence in every facet of their lives.
Certifications
CPT | SFG 1 | FRCms | 200hr RYT
Wilmot Stubblefield
PERSONAL TRAINING & STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
Wilmot Stubblefield is a dedicated fitness coach with over 12 years of experience. As a former NCAA Division 1 Track and Field athlete and record holder, Wilmot has the expertise to help clients of all ages and fitness levels reach their goals.
He is NASM Certified, TRX Certified, HYPERICE Certified, and Pre/Post Natal Certified. Wilmot has helped clients achieve athletic scholarships, weight loss goals, and strength gains.
His passion lies in helping people conquer everyday challenges, using fitness as a tool for personal growth. He is an inspiration to be around, and his knowledge and guidance can take your fitness game to the next level.
Certifications
NASM | TRX | HYPERICE | Pre/Post Natal
Start Your Journey
Ready to discover more than just a place to workout? At Esquina you'll find a supportive community dedicated to your health and personal growth.