From Grief to Growth: An LGBTQ+ Kula Teacher’s Story of Resilience

Content Warning: This blog post discusses themes of suicide and related topics. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for support.

At Kula For Karma, we believe that mindfulness and yoga are more than just practices—they are lifelines, especially in times of profound loss and adversity. Today, as part of our ongoing commitment to uplifting marginalized voices, we are honored to share the story of one of our yoga teachers, Tinó Zoccoli-Mayers, a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, whose journey embodies the power of healing and community.

While grief threatened to overwhelm Tinó after the loss of a close friend, the mindfulness techniques and supportive environment cultivated within our organization became essential tools for coping and healing. Through breathwork, meditation, and compassionate community, they found the strength to process their pain, honor their friend’s memory, and continue moving forward.

In this series, we celebrate our teachers’ courage—not only as advocates for LGBTQ+ rights but as people who transformed personal pain into a source of strength for others. They'll share their personal practices, how mindfulness and yoga have enriched their lives, and how finding support, acceptance, and a sense of belonging have helped them thrive.

With this in mind, we invite you to read Tinó’s own words as they reflect on their experiences, the impact of community, and the healing power of mindfulness.

Tinó Zoccoli-Mayers

Two years before I joined the teaching corps of volunteers at Kula for Karma in NJ, my Queer-identified roommate– a graduate of Rutgers University– succumbed to Bipolar disorder-related illness and chronic liver disease, passing away at UCSF’s main hospital in San Francisco, CA. She had chosen a black, defined “Om” symbol at a tattoo parlor a year or so earlier on her wrist, imaginatively describing interests in “liminal states” of reality and dream life– anchored now with this thick, Om sanskrit calligraphy letter permanently engraved.

Sadly, G. was my first close friend lost suddenly to suicide, as complicated as the circumstances were. I reached out to Kula for Karma within a year of moving home to Bergen County from SF to grieve and face my own hereditary, chronic- dual diagnosis mental illness symptoms and setbacks.

“Our pride” continues to evolve and grow, change, simplify, diversify, heal and blossom like so many different creatures, so many different humans, here in NYC and out in the proud city of San Francisco to which we had to bid “adieu.” The sorrow that befell me to encounter Loss as a young Yoga teacher (Vinyasa) changed me forever spiritually, and I was heartened and nurtured among interfaith mentors and Zen/ Buddhist- educated teachers and leaders at our Kula on the East Coast.

A video of Kula for Karma teacher moving through a Yin yoga "snail" pose and "plow" pose-asana with a simple guided meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh read in voiceover by the yogi.

Late “bloomers” though my dearly long-lost roommate and I had been… and are… I have never felt more equanimous than today: breathing deeply, living nonviolently, sharing openly, listening deeply, moving towards freedom as a trans-identified, nonbinary Androgyne. When I discovered a few years ago in this practice the esoteric, Sanskrit- translated South East Asian theological texts that the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was an androgynous Saint, I was thrilled. My whole being lit up. The deepest metta, a clear truth, the healing mysteries from this far away continent came to save me again. “Shanti, holy, peace!” 

Wishing all a splendid, inspiring, mind-opening Pride month and many healing moments of Yoga movement and thought. 

-Tinó Zoccoli-Mayers

If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts or emotional distress, please reach out for help. Support is available 24/7 through the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. You are not alone—there are people who care and want to help you through this difficult time.