Roque Rodriguez (Pronounced: ROW-Keh), the son of Dominican immigrants, is a 500-hour trained Yoga teacher and proud co-founder of Suryaside Yoga in Queens, NY. Roque has run several yoga teacher trainings, provided teacher training scholarships to BIPOC folks living in underserved communities, and volunteered with Liberation Prison Yoga to bring healing practices to Rikers Island Correctional Facility. 

He is a co founder of Abolitionist Educators, a consulting firm that runs workshops for adults and teens on mindfulness tools, trauma sensitive communication, and healthy community building. Roque is a recipient of the Creatives Rebuild New York Artist Employment grant. He used this grant to provide Healing Through Writing workshops for the Woodside Houses community. These workshops include journaling, creative writing, breathing exercises and meditation. 

Roque encourages folks to Practice Humanity as a way of life. Whether that be calling out injustices, helping to feed and care for your community members, or simply being compassionate with yourself and the people around you.

Matt Lawrence is passionate about sharing the benefits of exercise and guiding practitioners towards greater awareness of their physical and mental well-being. His mindfulness-based philosophy incorporates a diversity of influences, including sports, meditation, and multiple disciplines of yoga. Fairly new to Pilates himself, Matt strives to create a welcoming and inclusive space where practitioners of all levels can feel comfortable exploring their practice. He lives in Sunnyside with his wife, Tracy, and cat, Klaus, and can be found teaching or practicing at Suryaside if he’s not at Humanity Pilates.

Geraldine Mariano (she/they) is a Filipino-American yoga and fitness instructor who is dedicated to uplifting and celebrating others. With a deep passion for both physical well-being and human connection, she strives to create spaces where people from all paths of life can feel safe, supported, and empowered to show up as their real and full selves. Her approach blends strength and circuit training, yoga, sports, mindfulness, and compassion, offering a holistic perspective on fitness that nurtures body and soul. Geraldine was born and raised in Queens, is a middle child, and a cat mom to the bestest Penelope “Penny” Pumpernickel.