What happened in 2018?

Making yoga happen at the Mariposa Center for Girls

Yoga for Girls Dominican Republic

A little under a year ago we launched the Yoga Effect. Gina and I really didn’t know what we were doing when it came to building a non-profit project, but we had a vision and the passion to see it though.  Over coffee in the kitchen or early morning conference calls we slowly made progress -- learning the whole way.

So what happened? What did we achieve?

  • Our first Facebook fundraiser generated $2,160 which supported the program through the first semester of 2018 -- two days a week, three classes a day. This first fundraiser was our litmus test.  If people supported our cause, then we knew that it was worth the effort. This told us to keep going.

  • Before we could event begin classes, we had to find the right yoga teacher. Lorena Medina Bourniga, turned out to be the best one we could have found. Her natural talent with the girls and bilingual experience made her the perfect choice to teach the girls sometimes complicated postures and alignments.  We are excited that she will stay on and teach in 2019!

  • In April, we collaborated with the Instagram Influencer team of @sparkofwanderlust.  Gina and I met them in Cabarete, Dominican Republic to photograph the Mariposa Center for Girls and the yoga classes we had funded. It was an amazing experience that brought tears to our eyes when we got to see the girls practice their asana.

  • During the year, two donation classes where hosted to raise funds for the Yoga Effect. Gina hosted one at her home base yoga studio, Corepower Yoga in Cherry Creek. Patty Novak and The School of Breaking hosted a Yoga and Hip Hop Mashup. Both were great successes and generated over $800 dollars towards 2018’s yoga program.


In total, the Yoga Effect was able to raise $5,448 in 2018!  We are just shy of our $6,000 goal for 2018. Help us get to our goal, donate today.

Georgia Brown