I was fifteen when my mom brought me to my first hot yoga class. I didn’t know it at the time, but that room — and the practice that began in it — would become the foundation of everything I’d build later.

For twelve years, I practiced before I ever thought about teaching. Bikram, then Pilates. Both gave me something I didn’t know I needed: a place to put my body when my mind was too loud. When I lost my father suddenly, the mat become more than exercise. It was where I went to cry, to be still, to be exactly as I was without explanation. The discipline of showing up, the gift of practice, became a quiet kind of medicine.

My path into teaching began with study. I trained as a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist at the California College of Ayurveda, and it was that work, learning the ancient science of how the body, mind, and spirit move together, that finally pulled me onto the path of becoming a teacher. From there, the trainings came back to back: Bikram yoga in 2015, followed quickly by Hot Pilates, and then Vinyasa.  

DOMA opened in 2018. The name is a tribute. My father was Croatian — he came to Sacramento as a young boy, lived on the streets for a time, learned a language that was not his own, and built a life in a country he didn’t know. He taught me resiliency through kindness. He showed me what determination looks like when its soft at the edges. Doma (Croatian for home) felt like the only word that could carry both my practice and his memory.

This studio is for the version of you that needs the mat the way I once did. It is for the days you arrive strong and the days you arrive struggling. It is for every body, every level, every chapter. We are so glad you are here.