My name is Maria!

Thank you so much for being interested in possibly helping to make this dream come true! Firstly, I wanted to share that this will be an unheated studio. I love attending a good, ass-kicking hot class, but am not a fan of teaching hot classes, especially to those newer or new to yoga.

A little about how my journey to yoga came about. I started doing yoga at the age of 20 while attending a private acting conservatory, but never found the connection with the movement or breath work; hence why I said “doing” versus “practicing” yoga. Like most millenials, I (still) experience severe body dysmorphia, so the last thing I wanted to do was attend a class that involved a mirror AND watch others practice more advanced movements. My time at the acting conservatory ended and for the next year, I would float through life lost, unhealthy, and unsure of my future.

At 23 years old, my negligence of choosing to text and drive resulted in ending the life of a young man, exactly 9 months older than myself. I would later find myself completing a combination state prison and county prison sentence. Living with this knowledge was and has been the most difficult fact I live with. I attempted suicide at the age of 23 years old (while I was in the midst of my legal proceedings and didn’t know if I could live with what I did; that I too deserved to not be on this earth). But it didn’t work.

While incarcerated, they offered yoga classes by volunteer instructors twice a month and in the first class I attended, was the first time I experienced that MAGIC. A decade later while in my Yoga Teacher Training, I realized that MAGIC was feeling the release of my body no longer being in survival mode for the first time in years. I finally understood what made yoga so special. Like many others in movement, I would regularly practice yoga, but due to finances, mental health, or that fear of being in a place where I didn’t feel safe to move. But I knew that yoga was essential and I would always come back to it. I’ve had many people say, “Why don’t you just do it for free in your house?” I try to. But there is something very special about taking your brain and body away from the comfort of your home to the comfort of a yoga studio and practicing next to several other people.

There was another suicide attempt at age 33 was significantly more emotionally driven by the parallels of my life, but managed to crawl out of that deep hole. I’d later come to the conclusion, okay I’m still here. That mental breakdown made me realize I would always return to yoga and that is exactly what I needed to add into my life.

YoYoYogis’ Yoga Teacher Training program was easily the best decision I had made; it was one of the most amazing, beautiful experiences, as well as tough due to it being somewhat intense at 9 weeks. I graduated in May 2025, completed an apprenticeship, started teaching at a local ‘queer beefcake gym’, returned to YoYoYogi as a Cleaner of Karmic Yoga and was able to exchange cleaning once a week for a free membership. That time really saved me. YoYo saved me and showed me what I was capable of.

I moved back to California in June 2026, to be closer to my other passion project I founded called Doll Fest. I applied to every yoga studio possible and received no response, so what did I do? I had already started volunteering at the iconic volunteer DIY run space, 924 Gilman, and shared that I would love to host yoga classes there. Just once a month, donation based with a split between me and the club, and with the emphasized pretense that I would sweep and mop before the class. It was voted yes and the success of the classes gave me the momentum to well… start Twelve Petals Yoga.

Twelve Petals Yoga is based on the lotus flower, the main symbol of your Heart Chakra, where a lot of your love and lessons stem from. It’s what can also get in the way of wanting to make certain choices in our lives, including finding a safe space for yoga, and hopefully with your Heart Chakra, you can find your way to the safe space for the alts, weirdos, and everyone in between, to Twelve Petals Yoga.