Accesible Wellness for Denver’s Hispanic Community

Madera Mudra / Alquimia Yoga is committed to offering accessible movement classes and alternative health workshops to the hispanic community. Our ultimate goal is to contribute to the individual and economic empowerment of a marginalized community, through various training programs, access to Spanish speaking instructors, and introduce different modalities of wellness, and healing. 

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Hello, my name is Alexis Irias. I’m originally from Honduras. 

Two years ago, I stepped into the role of a yoga instructor in Denver, CO.  My mission through my teaching was to offer donation-based yoga in Spanish to the local Hispanic community. This experience has become more meaningful than I could have ever possibly imagined. 

Students who had never done yoga before would nervously enter my class to find a life-changing practice. As the months went by, these students not only committed to a weekly practice, but I also witnessed their lives transform and their overall well being improve. They started becoming more aware of their breath, and were evidently more comfortable in their body, and more purposeful in their actions. They became interested in their diet and overall health, and how they could improve these. 

Bearing witness to the improvement in their quality of life, through the incorporation of yoga and meditation practices, has inspired me to find more ways to help. The Hispanic communities in the United States are underserved, undervalued, and unseen. Some live in perpetual fear due to their immigration status, many carry trauma from having survived gang-based violence, abusive relationships, and extreme poverty. They attempt to drink their sorrows away, are forced to share small spaces to afford rent, and constantly invalidated as they are almost always assumed to be Mexican. The majority of them have had limited access to education, and have risked their lives and traveled with the clothes on their backs to come to this country. They made this journey because they had the dream of providing a better life for their family, which they have left behind in their home countries, along with everything that was familiar. A home country that they haven’t seen in decades, and some many even never see again. Yet, each of them have a unique story to tell, dreams to fulfill, and —like the rest of us— are seeking happiness and longing for a good life. But their heart feels heavy, and many have no idea how to healthily cope. 

So, this is where you and I come in. 

I am starting this campaign to kick-start the birth and development of a non-profit organization that will make yoga, wellness, mental health, and nutrition information and services accessible, available, and known to the Hispanic community in Denver. 

The funds from this campaign will specifically go towards:

- Startup & Operations fees (accountant quoted an initial cost is somewhere around $2,500 - $3,500 to setup.  As well as tax compliance can run up to $2,500 per year) 

- Creation of a sustainable and a viable business model; 

- Identification and onboarding of additional teachers and service providers; 

- Development of teacher training programs; 

- Establishment and offering workshops and events that focus on mental health, nutrition, and holistic health;

- Marketing materials (print and online);

- Hiring grant writers for additional funding to grow team and impact; 

- A seed fund that will allow for all Spanish Yoga classes to be on a donation basis or free.


We hope that Madera Mudra can, in a short time, grow and allow its scope and mission to expand. Our medium-term goals and funding needs will focus on: 

Identifying rental space in Denver, CO, that will serve as the first movement space for the Hispanic community, with over 90% of class offerings held in Spanish.

With the mission of continuous improvement, accountability and transparency, I will be holding bi-monthly check ins via ZOOM. I’d love for you to join. I'll be sharing access to the first and upcoming ones to all the people who donate.