who we love
this page highlights the hard working people who are experts in what they do.
They are the teachers, mentors, influencers, authors, community members, and overall good people who help us learn to be better people.
OUR COLLABORATIONS
creature comforts
In addition to making the best beer in Georgia, Creature is up to something bigger by creating the collective initiative, The Get Comfortable Fund. Get Comfortable is the non-profit sector of Creature Comforts that calls upon local Athens businesses to take a piece of their business model and direct it into Athens. A panel of social service professional agencies get together to address the hunger, poverty, and homelessness in Athens.
The first tenet of teaching Baptiste Power Yoga is “come from we are all connected.” When we do this, not only is our collective impact greater, but we get to the heart of what it means to be human and what it means to be comfortable. When we come from “we are all connected,” our humanness urges us to be up to something outside our daily lives, routine, and limited, very comfortable box. Discomfort is often a good measure of growth and transformation, and summarizes one of my favorite quotes.
"If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.”
Creature is not only a place you want to be on a Saturday afternoon; it’s a place you want to be a part of. Curiosity is evident in their team, their beer, their events, their collaborations, and their space.
Join us in supporting Get Comfortable with our events Yoga + Coffee (once monthly), Get Comfy drop in’s (in studio weekly), and the Spring Yoga Series (March, April, May.)
1000 faces
1000 Faces envisions more consumers being mindful about their coffee consumption and through increased demand, spurring more quality coffee production. 1000 Faces is a coffee roaster, merchant of change, and voyager of the agrarian spirit. Shakti partners with 1000 faces with our monthly winter/fall events, Yoga and Coffee. A $10 donation gets you a 45-minute flow and a batch brew! All proceeds go to the Get Comfortable fund.
athens farmers market
Shakti collaborates with Athens Farmers Market for our free, monthly Shakti Strength pop-ups at the Saturday market! AFM hopes to create a place where community and local, sustainable agriculture interacts. AFM also doubles SNAP dollars, participates in FARM Rx, and has a weekly pop-up kitchen.
LOCAL FOLX
mokah jasmine johnson
Co-founder and President of Athens Area Anti-discrimination movement, Mokah (she/her) recently announced her campaign for the Georgia House of Representatives! Check out her podcast, Mokah Speaks.
BEAR HEBERT
Bear (they/them) is a queer life coach, business consultant, and social justice educator. They teach folx how to run a business without “selling their souls into the capitalist machine.” Rock on.
tina strawn
Tina Strawn (she/her) is an antiracist, social justice advocate, educator, and leader. She co-hosts the Speaking of Racism podcast, which highlights various activists who are dismantling racism in unique ways.
DR. CRYSTAL JONES
Dr. Crystal Jones (she/her) is an expert in sound therapy and anchoring. Her practice centers on allowing complete vulnerability in order to teach clients how to advocate for themselves.
global folx
rachel cargle
Rachel Cargle (she/her) is a public academic, writer, and lecturer. Her activist and academic work are rooted in providing intellectual discourse, tools, and resources that explore the intersection of race and womanhood.
RACHEL RICKETTS
Rachel (she/her) is an international activist, speaker + writer. She writes: “My life’s mission is to help heal the collective divide by dismantling racist heteropatriarchy, supporting healing for Black + Indigenous womxn and help us all reclaim our freedom of our mind, body and soul.” Kick ass, right? Rachel led her signature workshop, Spiritual Activism 101, at Shakti in 2019. Check out her online offerings!
JAMEELA JAMIL
Actress and “feminist-in-progress,” Jameela (she/her) has become a well-known spokesperson for all things body positivity. She started the I-Weigh campaign, which rewrites the narrative on what we “weigh” and promotes radical inclusivity.
BRENÉ BROWN
Author and researcher, Brené (she/her) is Shakti’s go-to woman for all things self-improvement. Whether it be shame, resilience, daring greatly, or the perfectly imperfect parts of ourselves, Brené’s got a book for that.
LAYLA F. SAAD
Layla F. Saad (she/her) is an author, speaker & teacher on the topics of race, identity, leadership, personal transformation & social change. Her Good Ancestor podcast is a must-listen.
FLORENCE GIVEN
Florence Given (she/her), Cosmo’s 2019 Influencer of the Year, is the friend all of us need when we’re going through a bad breakup. She invites her followers to look harder, “dump him,” and say NO to anything less than you deserve.
ILYA @ DECOLONIZING FITNESS
Ilya (he/they) provides support for trans people through purposeful movement as a tool to reconnect to their bodies and to aid in reflecting their true selves. He runs Decolonizing Fitness, a social justice platform that provides affirming fitness services, community education and apparel in support of body diversity.
ALLEN SALWAY
Allen (he/his) is a Diné, Oglala Lakota, Tohono O'odham writer / community organizer from the eastern part of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. He’s an ambassador for Dig Deep, a non-profit organization that brings clean water to American families. Support Allen’s advocacy work and read his writing below.
TEJAL patel & JESAL PARIKH
Tejal (she/her) and Jesal (she/her) run Yoga is Dead, a revolutionary podcast that explores power, privilege, fair pay, harassment, race, cultural appropriation and capitalism in the yoga and wellness worlds. Check out their podcast — it’ll change the way you view the yoga industry!
Susanna Barkataki
From Susanna’s (she/her) website: “Hi, I’m Susanna Barkataki - A teacher, inclusivity promoter, and yoga culture advocate. I see a world where yoga unites us all and excludes no one . . .But that wasn't always my understanding.
I’ve been practicing yoga for as long as I can remember. Rooted in my Indian and British background, as an immigrant to the US I experienced a lot of violence because of my race and culture. The very things I was made fun of for later became the tools for my liberation. Yoga helped me decolonize and love myself.
The way we do yoga in the West often continues to create competition and separation with ourselves and others. Instead, original yoga exists as a way to connect us all - dissolving separation within and without. Through personal experience and an educator and activist, I know that yoga is here for us to cultivate power and transcend our limitations, personally and socially.
I know that my passion is to help others bridge the gap between yoga as an exercise and yoga as a lifestyle... Because true yoga is so much more than just the poses. It’s an age-old practice that serves us all!
Today, I work to showcase yoga in action, spread the message of diversity and inclusion, and help people connect through yoga to live a happy, fulfilling life for themselves and others. And I’d love for you to join me in this mission!
We can learn authentic yoga culture as a vessel for shaping change now. Together, I know we can live a more fulfilling life - socially, physically and spiritually!”