Maria Toso · Media & Speaking
Meet what hurts.
Return to presence.
Author of Heal What Hurts. Speaker, somatic yoga and meditation teacher, and founder of Powerfully Peaceful.
Maria Toso brings a compassionate, practical approach to the moments that unsettle us most. Through interviews, talks, workshops, and retreats, she invites audiences to understand their emotional triggers and explore how to stay connected to themselves when life hurts.
Invite Maria to your eventBased in Minnesota · Available for international travel and virtual engagements
The book at the heart of the work
Heal What Hurts
How to Heal Emotional Triggers
What happens when we stop escaping our emotional pain and begin meeting it with Loving Presence? In Heal What Hurts, Maria introduces her eight-step somatic and spiritual process for exploring emotional triggers through the body, compassionate awareness, and a deeper connection to ourselves.
The book gives readers a language for the familiar impulse to lash out, numb out, or check out. Maria brings these ideas to life through thoughtful conversations and guided practices that audiences can explore for themselves.
Explore the book01 / In conversation
Media & Interviews
Available for podcasts, print features, broadcast interviews, and conversations about her book, Maria offers an approachable voice on emotional reactivity, embodied spiritual practice, and learning to meet ourselves with compassion.
Conversation starters
- Why understanding a trigger differs from knowing how to meet it.
- The Three Outs: lashing out, numbing out, and checking out.
- What Loving Presence means in an ordinary, difficult moment.
- The body as a starting point for self-awareness.
- How community can support a personal healing practice.
- Bringing yoga and mindfulness into education.
Listen to previous podcast conversations
Request an interview02 / Ideas for everyday life
Speaking
Maria welcomes invitations for book talks, conference presentations, keynotes, panel conversations, and educational events. Her presentations connect the themes of Heal What Hurts with the lived experiences of relationships, stress, self-awareness, and finding our way back to presence.
Heal What Hurts
An introduction to the book and its eight-step process. Explore emotional reactivity, notice what is happening in the body, and discover a starting point for responding with compassionate awareness.
Loving Presence Heals
What does it mean to remain present with ourselves when we are hurting? A conversation about self-compassion, spiritual practice, and developing a kinder relationship with our inner experience.
Healing in Community
How listening, shared practice, and compassionate connection can support personal growth and bring greater presence into our relationships.
Presence in Education
Drawing on Maria’s teaching experience and the mission of Powerfully Peaceful, explore ways to bring yoga and mindfulness into educational and community life.
Topics and format can be tailored to your audience, event theme, and available time.
Discuss a speaking engagement03 / From understanding to experience
Workshops & Retreats
Bring the book to life through guided practice. Maria combines the Heal What Hurts process with somatic yoga, meditation, breath awareness, and reflection, creating space for participants to slow down and explore presence in their own bodies.
Offerings can range from an introductory workshop to a half-day, full-day, or multi-day retreat. Sessions are designed with the host to suit the group’s experience, setting, and goals.
Bring Maria to your community
- Book-centered workshops and reader gatherings.
- Yoga studios, retreat centers, and wellness events.
- Spiritual communities and women’s gatherings.
- Colleges, schools, and educator programs.
- Workplace and community well-being events.
International invitations are welcome. Travel, scheduling, and interpretation arrangements can be discussed as part of planning your event.
Plan a workshop or retreatAbout the author
A life devoted to practice, presence, and teaching.
Maria Toso, E-RYT 500, is a Danish-born author, yoga and meditation teacher, and creator of the Heal What Hurts process. Her work draws on more than three decades of yoga, meditation, and spiritual practice, bringing embodied awareness and compassion into everyday life.
Her educational experience includes teaching yoga teacher training at Saint Paul College and Minneapolis College, along with mindfulness and relaxation in college and community settings. Alongside her writing, Maria offers private mentoring, group practice, workshops, and retreats.
Extending the work into education
Powerfully Peaceful
Maria is the founder of Powerfully Peaceful, an organization dedicated to bringing mindfulness and yoga into educational institutions and community life. Its mission centers on helping young people and the adults who support them develop presence, self-awareness, and inner resources through accessible, embodied learning.
Explore Powerfully PeacefulFor hosts & producers
Please include your organization or publication, proposed date, location, audience, preferred format, and the topic you have in mind. For events, share the approximate audience size, session length, and budget if available.
Virtual and international inquiries are welcome. If your event requires interpretation, please mention the audience’s language and your proposed arrangements. A biography, portrait, and book materials can be requested through the Contact page.
