How It All Began
A journey from culinary school kitchens and Indian ashrams to a thriving wellness community in Los Angeles.
Maya Chen always felt torn between two worlds. Growing up in a family that gathered around the dinner table every evening, she understood early on that food carried meaning far beyond calories and nutrients. It was connection, ritual, and love expressed through carefully chosen ingredients and patient preparation. At the same time, she discovered yoga as a teenager, finding in its disciplined breathwork and flowing sequences a calm center that nothing else could provide.
After high school, Maya enrolled in a prestigious culinary program in San Francisco, where she trained under instructors who emphasized seasonal sourcing, plant-forward techniques, and the deep relationship between what we eat and how we feel. She spent two years learning classical cooking methods, studying fermentation and whole-grain baking, and working weekend shifts at a farm-to-table restaurant in the Mission District. It was demanding, creative work that solidified her belief that nourishing food could be both artful and accessible.
But something was still missing. After graduating, Maya traveled to Rishikesh, India, the so-called yoga capital of the world, for what was supposed to be a three-month teacher training program. She stayed for nearly a year. Studying under seasoned teachers at an ashram overlooking the Ganges, she completed her 500-hour certification and immersed herself in Ayurvedic cooking traditions that treated every meal as an act of self-care. She learned to pair specific spice blends with different practice intensities, to prepare sattvic meals that promoted clarity and calm, and to view the kitchen and the yoga mat as two expressions of the same intention: presence.
When Maya returned to the United States in late 2018, she settled in Los Angeles and began hosting small gatherings in her apartment, inviting friends for a gentle vinyasa flow followed by a seasonal dinner she had prepared that afternoon. Word spread quickly. Within months, her living room was too small, and the waitlist for her informal events stretched weeks out. In early 2019, Maya formally registered Yoga Dining Club, secured her first studio partnership in Silver Lake, and began offering weekly sessions that combined a sixty-minute guided practice with a multi-course plant-forward meal. The response was immediate and overwhelming, confirming what Maya had long suspected: people were hungry for experiences that connected body, mind, and plate in a single intentional evening.
Our Journey So Far
Key moments that have shaped Yoga Dining Club into the community it is today.
Yoga Dining Club Founded
Maya Chen officially launched the club with weekly yoga-and-dinner gatherings at a partner studio in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The first twelve sessions sold out within hours of being posted, drawing a devoted following of wellness enthusiasts eager for a combined experience.
Pivoted to Online Programming
When the pandemic forced studios to close, we launched virtual yoga sessions paired with ingredient kits shipped to members' doors. Our online community grew to over 800 active participants across California, proving that connection and nourishment could transcend physical distance.
Opened Our LA Studio
We signed the lease on our dedicated space in Los Angeles, a light-filled studio with an open teaching kitchen attached. For the first time, yoga practice and meal preparation happened side by side under one roof, exactly as Maya had always envisioned.
First Wellness Retreat
Our inaugural three-day retreat in Ojai brought together forty guests for sunrise yoga, foraging walks, cooking workshops, and candlelit communal dinners. The retreat sold out in under a week, and attendees described it as a transformative reset for body and mind.
Expanded the Team
We welcomed Daniel Ortiz as Executive Chef, Priya Sharma as Yoga Director, and James Mitchell as Wellness Program Manager. With a full team in place, we doubled our weekly event schedule and began offering specialized workshops in Ayurvedic cooking and restorative yoga.
Corporate Wellness Program Launch
Responding to growing demand from companies seeking meaningful team-building activities, we introduced on-site corporate wellness packages. Within the first year, we partnered with fifteen organizations across Southern California, delivering yoga sessions and cooking workshops to over a thousand employees.
Cookbook Published
Maya and Daniel co-authored "Nourish & Flow: Plant-Forward Recipes for the Yoga Kitchen," a collection of eighty seasonal recipes organized around yoga practice themes. The book debuted on multiple wellness bestseller lists and brought our philosophy to kitchens nationwide.
Our Core Values
The principles that guide every session, every recipe, and every interaction at Yoga Dining Club.
Mindful Nourishment
We believe eating should be a conscious, joyful practice. Every ingredient we select, every dish we prepare, and every meal we share is designed to fuel the body with intention. Our menus emphasize whole, plant-forward foods that promote sustained energy and clarity, because what you put on your plate matters just as much as what you practice on your mat.
Community Connection
Wellness is not a solo pursuit. We create gatherings where strangers become friends over shared flows and communal tables. Our events are intentionally structured to foster genuine conversation, collective effort in the kitchen, and the kind of belonging that keeps people coming back week after week. Connection is the ingredient no recipe can capture on its own.
Sustainable Sourcing
We partner with local farms, organic suppliers, and seasonal producers throughout Southern California. Our kitchen operates on a zero-waste philosophy, composting scraps, minimizing packaging, and rotating menus to match what the land is actually growing. Respecting the environment is inseparable from respecting ourselves, and we hold both commitments equally.
Holistic Wellness
True health encompasses physical strength, mental clarity, emotional resilience, and spiritual grounding. Our programming addresses all four dimensions by integrating yoga, nutrition education, breathwork, and mindfulness into cohesive experiences. We do not treat the body as separate from the mind, or the fork as separate from the mat. Everything is connected.
The People Behind the Practice
Dedicated professionals who bring expertise, warmth, and passion to every Yoga Dining Club experience.
Maya Chen
Founder & Lead InstructorRYT-500 certified yoga instructor and culinary school graduate. Maya trained in San Francisco and completed her advanced yoga studies in Rishikesh, India. She has led over 1,200 combined yoga-and-dining sessions and is the co-author of "Nourish & Flow."
Daniel Ortiz
Executive ChefLe Cordon Bleu trained with twelve years of professional kitchen experience spanning fine dining and farm-to-table restaurants. Daniel specializes in seasonal plant-forward cuisine and leads all culinary workshops, bringing an inventive approach to whole-food cooking that keeps our menus fresh and surprising.
Priya Sharma
Yoga DirectorA former physical therapist with a decade of clinical experience, Priya brings a therapeutic lens to every yoga session. She holds RYT-500 and E-RYT-200 certifications and designs adaptive sequences that accommodate all ability levels, ensuring our practice remains safe, inclusive, and genuinely restorative.
James Mitchell
Wellness Program ManagerJames holds a Master of Public Health from UCLA and spent five years managing corporate health initiatives before joining the club. He oversees our corporate wellness partnerships, retreat logistics, and community outreach, bringing rigorous organizational skills and a genuine passion for making wellness accessible to all.
Stories from Our Community
Hear from members who have experienced the Yoga Dining Club difference firsthand.
I came to Yoga Dining Club after my doctor recommended yoga for chronic back pain. I had never stepped on a mat before and was nervous about being the only beginner. Priya met me at the door, asked about my limitations, and modified every pose so I could participate fully. After the practice, the mushroom and miso bowl Daniel prepared was unlike anything I had eaten. Four months in, my back pain has decreased significantly and I have a completely new relationship with food. This place genuinely changed my daily life.
My company booked the corporate wellness package for our team of thirty, and it was the single most effective team-building event we have ever done. James handled all the logistics perfectly, Maya led a yoga session that even our most skeptical engineers enjoyed, and the cooking workshop afterward had everyone laughing and collaborating in ways I had never seen at the office. Three teams have since requested their own follow-up sessions. I cannot recommend the corporate program highly enough.
I attended the Ojai retreat in 2022, not knowing what to expect. The sunrise yoga on the hilltop, the foraging walk where we picked wild fennel and nasturtiums, and the communal dinner under string lights on the final evening were experiences I still think about regularly. I learned more about cooking with whole ingredients in three days than I had in years of watching videos online. Maya and her team create an atmosphere that feels personal even in a group of forty people. I have attended every retreat since.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Yoga Dining Club, our approach, and how to get involved.
Yoga Dining Club was founded in 2019 by Maya Chen, a RYT-500 certified yoga instructor and professionally trained chef. Maya studied culinary arts in San Francisco and deepened her yoga practice in Rishikesh, India, before launching the club in Los Angeles. What began as informal apartment gatherings quickly grew into a full-fledged wellness community with its own studio and teaching kitchen.
Yoga Dining Club uniquely integrates physical yoga practice with plant-forward culinary education in a single experience. Rather than treating fitness and nutrition as separate pursuits, our sessions combine guided yoga flows with hands-on cooking workshops, seasonal tasting menus, and mindful eating practices. Every event is designed so that the yoga sequence and the meal complement each other, creating a cohesive experience you cannot find elsewhere.
Our studio and teaching kitchen are located in Los Angeles, California. We also offer virtual classes for remote participants, host retreats at various destinations including Ojai and Big Sur, and bring our corporate wellness programs to offices throughout Southern California. No matter where you are, there is likely a way to experience what we offer.
No prior yoga experience is necessary. Our instructors adapt every session to accommodate beginners through advanced practitioners. We offer modifications for all poses and focus on creating an inclusive, welcoming environment where everyone can participate at their own level. Many of our most enthusiastic members started with zero yoga background and discovered a practice they now maintain daily.
Yes, we launched our corporate wellness program in 2024. We partner with companies throughout Southern California to deliver on-site yoga sessions, team cooking workshops, and comprehensive wellness packages designed to reduce workplace stress and build team cohesion. Our Wellness Program Manager, James Mitchell, works directly with HR teams to customize each engagement to the organization's goals and schedule.
Ready to Experience Yoga Dining Club?
Join our next session and discover how mindful movement and plant-forward dining can transform your week. New members are always welcome.