MOTA is a fitness, wellness & coworking space. These offerings are designed to deliver accessible, inclusive, diverse & affordable wellness to all individuals through a trauma inclusive lens.

Our fitness classes are designed to focus on strength and muscle building. Our wellness classes are designed to encourage the exploration of self and the layers that occupy the human experience. Our spaces are created for wellness professionals to develop and sustain their independent wellness brand(s). At MOTA we celebrate those from all walks of life. We create and hold space for those of all identities: QTBIPOC, LGTBQIA2S+, people with dynamic disabilities, able bodied people and allies of all sorts. We hold space for humans and we hope that you feel safe and welcomed in the spaces we share. 

MOTA Fitness, Wellness & Spaces.

MOTA was founded by Monia Fernandez, (she/her) in March of 2021. I started out using a vacant yoga studio in Assembly Row to reconnect with people while trying to navigate the deep loss of community that was swirling around us with the presence of COVID-19.

“I completed my 200h yoga teacher training in February of 2020 with the intention of becoming a full-time yoga instructor. Surely, we can all guess how that went when March of 2020 came along. Through the course of that year, I spent a lot of time within Svadhyaya (self study) alongside deepening my practice as a teacher and a student. The findings were: with the space I had to be within myself, it gave room for profound experience of self awareness. With that awareness came a plethora of information. In October of 2020 I was diagnosed with endometriosis & adenomyosis. My self study grew deeper and in July 2021 I was then diagnosed with C-PTSD, severe depression & anxiety. The pre-pandemic wellness spaces I had once found myself in, no longer felt safe with what I wanted, and mostly needed, to move my body to manage my mental health.

I remember my first yoga class in 2015. I was in the heart of the city, a well known studio. It was a hip hop yoga class, taught by a teacher, who should have been teaching the class. The music was full of profanity, some words even utterly offensive. The environment was full of thin girls with high ponytails, with smaller sports bras paired with splits for warm ups. I had only bought my yoga mat 20 minutes prior to the class and came in a big t-shirt and leggings that I had also just bought. I was the only one that looked like me, I felt uncomfortable and unable. I stayed, I did the practice. I strongly disliked the environment but loved what the postures gave my body. So I went home and did yoga on youtube for 2 years.

I reached a point in my practice where I felt brave enough to go to a studio and learn from a teacher in real life. Through those experiences, I got injured many times through the unintentional westernized practice of performative yoga. It took me until May of 2020 to realize why I hadn’t felt safe in public classes within my body and why it was so important to honor that.

This led me to train in different lineages in yoga, deeper self study and finally to that vacant yoga studio in Assembly Row to hold the space I needed back in 2015.

On August 16th of 2021, we opened the doors to our Union Sq location. My goal with MOTA is to honor that wellness isn’t just yoga. It isn’t being thin or doing a split. The experience of wellness is unique to every individual. For some it’s through movement practices. For others, it’s through deeper internal awareness. It keeps going… through facilitating, hosting, leading, creating, doing - holding space. Wellness is multifaceted and at MOTA, so are the offerings.

I hope in this space, you feel seen, safe and at home. I hope you find ways to honor your practices that already exist, but explore new ones that fill your tool box with new ways to develop your self study. I hope you find yourself. It took me a while to get here and every single day I learn through each and every single one of you. Thank you for filling my cup. This space is my wellness, my home and where I feel safe, seen and supported.

If you ever need support or help finding safe spaces that fit your wellness goals, I’m here to hold space for you.”

xx, m.

MOTA Fun Facts! To this very date, MOTA has been operating without any support from loans, funding or grants since open date of 8/16/21. All that has come into MOTA through your support is what keeps us thriving. It’s you, our community, who has kept the MOTA heartbeat bumping with so much power and resilience. Thank you.

We are finally opening up space to receive donations to keep up with our growing demand of vibrant humans. We are looking to increase our studio props & to offer more donated spaces for workshop & trainings. If you feel inspired to donate - please use our venmo: @mota-space <3