Yoga teacher sues City of San Diego for damages over citations

Emily Coffey
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Yoga instructor Steve Hubbard, known as "NamaSteve," is headed back to court — this time suing the city for monetary damages after being cited three times in May 2025 for teaching free yoga classes.

A court ruled in September 2025 that teaching free yoga classes in a park is legal without a permit, after the City appealed a January 2025 ruling that allowed Hubbard to teach yoga in parks. Hubbard argues his First Amendment rights were violated when he was cited despite that ruling.

One of the three citations came while Hubbard was live-streaming a yoga class from his own backyard. He was briefly detained because people were viewing the class in a public park and following along.

His attorney said the city's enforcement has gone too far.

"[They're doing] this overzealous enforcement posture, where they're cracking down on teaching yoga in parks, but they're not only using the teaching yoga part of the ordinance, but also this giving a lecture portion and they're citing people for doing it - online if it's viewed in a park, which is just a massive overreach," his attorney, Bryan Pease, said.

Pease contends the citations amount to a free speech violation.

"... and if you're citing somebody for teaching yoga in a public forum, that is a First Amendment issue," Pease said.

The city said it does not comment on pending litigation.

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