our staff

Mark Drost

Mark, the owner of Bikram Yoga Buffallo, has been studying the philosophy of Yoga for 20 years, practicing Hatha Yoga for 15 years and practicing Bikram Yoga for 10 years. He has been teaching Bikram Yoga for 8 years, and has taught in over 50 studios in the US and around the world. Mark is a senior member of the Bikram Yoga Teacher Training Staff. He has founded or co-founded 7 studios. Mark has worked very closely with Bikram and Rajashree on the organization and operation of the Yoga Asana Championships. He is a trained judge who has judged many Yoga Asana Championships.

Zefea Samson

Zefea had her first experience with Yoga at the age of 4 when her parents practiced with renowned teacher Angela Farmer in the Iyengar tradition. She forgot all about Yoga during her teens and twenties and trained in different physical exercises like Boxing and the combat system Krav Maga. Zefea rediscovered Yoga when she started practicing Bikram Yoga in her home town Amsterdam, Netherlands. She graduated from Bikrams Teacher Training in spring 2005 and taught in Amsterdam for two years, before joining Mark in the US. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 she represented the Netherlands as the Dutch gold medalist in the International Yoga Championships, all those years finishing in the world's top 10. In October 2009 she placed second in the NY, NJ, CT tristate regionals, but she wont be able to represent NY in the US nationals because of her her newest exciting adventure, practicing Yoga while being pregnant. Zefea: ' Please dont hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding practicing during pregnancy!'

Roberto Valenza

Roberto lived in India and Nepal for 7 years. He studied with some of the most famous Tibetan Lamas and deeply studied their practices of meditation. He lived in Seattle where he produced and directed art, music and poetry festivals. Roberto went to the Bikram Yoga Teacher Training in fall 2002 and has taught since then in many studios, mainly in close connection with Mark Drost.

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010, our dear friend passed away in hospice in Springhill, Florida. The last months he has suffered from liver cancer with quiet grace and unimaginable strength. He now suffers no more. Our dear friend, teacher and inspiring artist will be greatly missed.

Rachael Hobbs

Rachael grew up in Bath, England before moving to New York in 2005 with her job in the Financial Industry. Exercise and nutrition have always been a key part of her life and after practicing Hatha yoga for the last 5 years she discovered Bikram Yoga. Her life took on a whole new meaning. She then decided to leave her hectic job to become a Bikram Yoga teacher in order to help others experience the same peace, happiness and health benefits it has brought her.

Nicole Switzer

Nicole has most recently taught in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has  taught in many other locations, including Richmond, Dallas, Austin, Skagway, and Buffalo. Her educational background includes premedical studies, phlebotomy, and psychology. When her joints began to lose their resilience due to high impact sports, she discovered that yoga is an excellent way to stay healthy. Nicole also has practiced other styles of hatha yoga. She chose to teach Bikram’s Yoga because of the intense nature of the class, and the incredible feeling of well-being and relaxation. An extra lumbar vertebra has given her extra insight into the importance of a healthy spine, and this yoga is the best therapy she has found to alleviate her back pain. 

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Poppi Knowles

Poppi lived in an ashram in India for 6 years from the age of 15 to 21. She has been studying yoga ever since. She took her first Bikram yoga class in 1998, and immediately afterward she was positive she wanted to become an instructor and have Bikram yoga as a permenant part of her life. She's instructed from Boston to San Francisco, and has always loved and welcomed every aspect of the Bikram lifestyle. To her a day just isn't complete without a class! Additionally her love for Bikram yoga has been combined with her interest in fashion. Poppi started designing her own yoga clothing line. Two years ago she started Poppi Wear which has been a wonderful adventure that has paralleled her journey down her yoga path. You can visit her at www.poppico.com.

Torrey Travis

'I started practicing Bikram Yoga in July of 2006. After my first class, I was fascinated and couldn't get enough. At the time I was going to school at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO.  Yoga really helped me de-stress when school was too much, and also got my body back into shape after living a not-so-healthy lifestyle in the first few years of school.  I just kept consistently coming and started to realize that yoga was so much more than a workout and a way to rid myself of stress. It is most definitely the best thing that has ever come into my life.  I loved the feeling of becoming more and more connected with my body every single class. I also loved to find out that there is no end to yoga, only learning more and trying more.  I realized I liked yoga more than any other thing in my life. I went to the Spring 2008 yoga teacher training in Acapulco, Mexico.  I have been teaching since June 2008 and am thoroughly enjoying it!'

Regular visiting teachers

Jacintha Meilink

'I practiced Bikram Yoga for 1.5 years in Amsterdam, Netherlands. I went to teacher training spring 2009 in Palm Desert; a beautiful place to sweat, stretch, work hard and have an amazing time with 320 yogis. Zefea and Mark gave me the opportunity to come to Buffalo to teach my first class (lucky me!). From the moment I stepped into the studio I felt welcome and at home because of the amazing, open, friendly students and teachers. I got impressed by this beautiful place called Buffalo. I look forward to coming back soon!'

Jessica Jacobi

Jessica Jacobi is an early childhood educator and now an Evolation yoga instructor. She graduated from SUNY Fredonia with a Bachelor degree in early childhood education, in May 2006. She then returned to Buffalo to work on her Masters degree at Buffalo State, in childhood education. Jessica had always been interested in yoga but never had time for it in college and then she discovered Bikram yoga in April 2007, and fell in love with yoga! While working on her Masters degree she worked in a daycare center, teaching three year olds their ABC’s, numbers, and even some yoga! She then knew that not only did she want to teach children their basic academics but she also wanted to share the gift of yoga to young children. Yoga is something that Jessica is very passionate about and it helps her find happiness, peace, and calmness within, so of course she wants to share yoga with everyone, adults and children!

Marina Mukandala

Marina  began her Yoga practice in 2004, when she discovered Bikram Yoga, while living in Massachusetts.  After taking her first class, she was instantly hooked, knowing from that day that Yoga would be a part of her life for a very long time.  As the years passed on, she grew in happiness and fulfillment as she experienced Yoga transforming her life and the lives of others.  It was then that the desire to teach Yoga started to rise up within her, as she wanted to share Yoga with the world, helping others to grow and transform from it.  In the winter of 2008, she relocated from Massachusetts to her native hometown of Buffalo, New York, where she continued her Yoga practice.  In the summer of 2009, she embarked on the first ever Evolation Yoga Teacher Training, which was an experience of a lifetime that she will cherish for the rest of her life.  She graduated from the 5 week intensive Teacher Training in August 2009, as one of the first ever Evolation Yoga teachers.  She is honored and blessed to be a Yoga teacher and knows that it's meant to be a part of her life's journey.  She looks forward to sharing the gift of life with all of you in class.

Roxanne Janecki

With years of Martial Arts and Kick Boxing experience behind her, Roxanne decided to try a Bikram Yoga class in early 2009.  She instantly fell in love with not only the physical benefits of a consistent Hatha Yoga practice, but she found profound emotional, spiritual, and mental fulfillment as well.  Feeling a deep desire to share the healing effects of Yoga with as many people as possible,

Roxanne embarked on the Evolation Yoga Teacher Training in the Summer of 2009. Roxanne looks forward to seeing all of you in class!

Lydia Sobczyk

Lydia rediscovered the joy of movement through Yoga after years away from her first passion, dance.  As soon as she took her first Bikram Yoga class she reawakened the connection between mind and body and felt reintroduced to herself. Yoga has given her a sense of peace and calm that permeates throughout her life which she strives to share with her students at the Evolation Yoga studio.

Sara Marioles

Sara Marioles had her first Yoga experience when she took a Bikram Yoga class in 2009 on a whim.  She instantly fell in love with the physical and emotional benefits of the class.  Throughout her life, Sara has struggled with a rare genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), which affects her body’s natural ability to produce collagen.  Since she began her practice, the negative affects of the disorder have significantly subsided, which baffled her doctors.  Sara’s goal as a teacher is to provide others with the same relief Yoga brought to her: Regardless of the situation or personal background, a consistent practice will illuminate the many healing benefits Yoga brings, allowing one to live a more meaningful and peaceful life.  In addition, given her experience in teaching children in a classroom setting, Sara would love to implement Yoga programs into Pre-K, Elementary, and Secondary school settings in the future.

Gina Camodeca

Gina has been practicing yoga in Buffalo since shortly after Mark’s original studio there.  She walked in and did a morning class and loved it so much she came back the same day for another class - she’s been practicing yoga ever since.  She got a certification in Kundalini yoga earlier this year and gives private lessons in that tradition to individual students and small groups in her home in Lewiston, NY.  Eager to teach yoga under the guidance of Mark and Zefea, she was thrilled to embark on the Evolution teacher training! She hopes to be active in the expansion of Evolation into its North Tonawanda location and beyond.  Gina also has a Ph.D. in Literature from SUNY and has teaches American literature and writing courses at a private college in Buffalo.