SANCTUARY YOGA STUDIO

SANCTUARY YOGA STUDIO

PARTNER

SANCTUARY YOGA STUDIO

SANCTUARYYOGASTUDIO.COM

At Sanctuary Yoga Studio, we offer accessible yoga for everyone. If you can breathe, you can do yoga. We recognize that yoga isn’t a one-size-fits-all practice. We continually encourage our students to trust that they are their own best teachers and explore what works for them in each and every pose.

Our boutique studio offers a welcoming and inclusive environment with a maximum class size of 14 students. We offer a variety of yoga instruction for EVERYONE. Classes are all-levels accessible to all bodies at all ages, sizes, gender, and any level of health. Our passion is sharing the slower forms of yoga with students, including gentle, yin, restorative, and chair yoga but we also offer faster paced classes like yoga flow for those who desire more movement. In addition, we offer virtual classes for those who wish to be in community but from the safety of their own home.

Our certified and gifted teachers have been selected for their experience and knowledge, as well as their commitment to being both teachers and students of yoga. We are committed to teaching accessible, all-inclusive yoga while honoring the roots of this ancient practice.

The founder of Sanctuary Yoga firmly believes that yoga is the change maker the world needs now. This ancient spiritual practice is one that allows space for everyone to connect intimately to the Self through inquiry, discovery and exploration of the body-mind-breath-spirit connection, simply BE(ING).

We look forward to walking beside you on your own yogic journey. Welcome to Sanctuary Yoga! Find yours here.

Sanctuary Yoga Studio

1218 Rockbridge Rd SW
Stone Mountain, GA

1218 Rockbridge Rd SW
Stone Mountain, GA

info@sanctuaryyogastudio.com

Studio Partner Love: Sanctuary Yoga, GA

Peach Out Power Yoga
Karen Patton - Peach Out Power Yoga
PEACH OUT POWER YOGA

PEACH OUT POWER YOGA

PARTNER

PEACH OUT POWER YOGA

PEACHOUTPOWERYOGA.COM

Peach Out Power Yoga owner Karen Patton is a self-proclaimed California Girl, having lived most of her life in LA before moving to East Cobb in 2012. Her yoga journey began out of convenience in 1997 when she moved into a beach house across from YogaFit Studios in Hermosa Beach, California. Little did she know she had stumbled across one of the most talented instructors in the yoga world who would be her inspiration. A few years later, the studio closed its doors for bigger dreams, and owner Beth Shaw went on to become founder and President of YogaFit Training Systems, the largest yoga fitness educational school in the world. From there, Karen went on to practice regularly at other local studios, taking various workshops throughout the years and contemplating teacher training.

When Karen moved to Marietta, life took some unexpected turns. She found herself turning to yoga for spiritual healing during a difficult period in her life, and decided it was time to make some career decisions. She bit the bullet and signed up for yoga teacher training. Upon completion she saw the need in the community for a studio that was accessible to everyone and finally had the confidence to move forward. It became clear to her that she had ideas to offer, but most importantly the talented and seasoned instructors to support her.

With a background in management and wholesale and retail apparel – she worked for Tommy Hilfiger and The Gap – Karen has the business know-how to complement her passion for the art of yoga. She knows her staff is her most important commodity.

Karen is a single mom with two beautiful, supportive daughters – Frankie, a Sophomore at the University of Colorado Boulder, and Sasha, a Senior at Pope High School. They live a hop, skip and jump from the studio with their dog Ginger.

Peach Out Power Yoga

3162 Johnson Ferry Rd., Suite 440
Marietta, GA 30062

3162 Johnson Ferry Rd.
Suite 440
Marietta, GA 30062

info@peachoutpoweryoga.com

Peach Out Power Yoga
Karen Patton - Peach Out Power Yoga
Peach Out Power Yoga
THE YOGA HIVE

THE YOGA HIVE

PARTNER

THE YOGA HIVE

THEYOGAHIVEATLANTA.COM

We offer you a quality yoga experience. Our studio is founded on the core values of nurturing community, promoting well-being and advocating for inclusion. We maintain a full schedule of daily classes (in-studio and livestream), offer weekend workshops, travel to distant retreat locations, and host annual yoga teacher trainings. We represent every body shape, stage of life, and level of ability: we are Yoga For Everyday People.
Here you will find classes that are centered on breath coupled with movement, while maintaining stability and alignment, and all with the intention to lengthen and strengthen you from the inside out. Because yoga is not one-size-fits-all, our aim is to guide you toward developing your own sustainable practice. We offer a variety of yoga styles to accommodate all.
All of our teachers at The Yoga Hive have been hand-selected for the integrity, knowledge and experience they possess and their ability to share it with you in a safe, supportive, and playful manner.

The Yoga Hive is a fresh and inviting oasis, designed to enhance your routine and offer you a respite from the outside world. Inside, we maintain a moderate ambient temperature (76°-82°) beneficial for stretching and detoxifying the body safely. We are located in the popular & newly-renovated Toco Hills Shopping Plaza, which is easily accessible and offers ample parking. We serve the surrounding neighborhoods of Toco Hills, North Druid Hills, Emory, Decatur, Brookhaven, Morningside, Lindridge-Martin Manor and beyond, because all roads lead to us.

Holistic side effects from a consistent yoga practice include; increased flexibility, deeper relaxation, more muscle tone and strength, cardio and circulatory health, weight reduction, deeper respiration, better posture, improved energy and vitality, and an elevated spirit which can induce feelings of winning in the game of life. You are always just one yoga class away from a better mood!!
We look forward to seeing you on the mat because You Belong Here!

The Yoga Hive

Toco Hills Shopping Plaza
2867-C North Druid Hills Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30329

Toco Hills Shopping Plaza
2867-C North Druid Hills Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30329

hello@theyogahiveatlanta.com

Our IG live chat with Yoga Hive Founder Rebecca Gala Jones

The Yoga Hive
The Yoga Hive - Studio Door
The Yoga Hive

Studio Spotlight: The Yoga Hive

Edited by: Tashya Knight

The-Yoga-Hive-Rebecca Gala

We are so excited to chat with Rebecca Gala Jones, the owner of The Yoga Hive, our first studio partner in Georgia! You can see the full interview via our YouTube link, and here is an excerpt of our fun IG live chat we had about what it was like opening a studio during the pandemic, the importance of community and rest, and exciting things coming up for the studio!


Iana
Thank you for chatting with us today. How long have you been open?

Rebecca
We opened in September of 2020, which was not a plan at all. We had signed the lease for the property in October of 2019, and then they broke ground in January of 2020. We took possession in April of 2020. We’re in Atlanta, Georgia and right after Memorial Day of 2020, they started to lift some of the restrictions. So that worked in our favor in the sense that we could have people in the studio and people that were comfortable. We wore masks, we had all of the social distancing, so that was really exciting. And then we did something we had never considered doing which was to have virtual classes, which we still continue to this day. A lot of other studios have done away with virtual classes because there are more people coming into the studio.

One of the things that was really exciting for us when that happened is that we were able to offer classes to a lot of people who are not geographically close to us. I just co hosted a retreat in North Georgia this weekend and people came from Chicago, interestingly enough, and people came from Lexington, Kentucky. They may not be able to connect in person with us in the studio, but they can take virtual classes with us. So that was one of the meditations that I often do, I mean, people open businesses in recessions at times when it’s really tricky. And we’re finally on the other side of a lot of the discomfort.

Iana
That’s the perfect way of putting it.

Rebecca
Because it’s really uncomfortable, it’s scary. There’s no right way, there’s no wrong way, there’s only a path and trust in the process. And then there’s the financial component of it. How long can I continue to be with something that I’m not really sure if there’s going to be a return? Or put money in it,  or we have rent that we have to pay every month, the vast tax of what has to go behind the business. So fortunately we’ve been very lucky that every month we were able to cover our costs. I did have a business partner when I first went into it who decided that it wasn’t sustainable for her. A lot of it was because of the fact that we weren’t able to see the future. And so she decided to step away and I decided to continue and I’m very glad that I did. We have a beautiful community and I’m really proud of what we’ve constructed, staying with it.

We have a diverse staff of teachers that offer all kinds of classes. We have programming for pregnant women, we have programming for seniors who have balancing issues. We have women’s classes, we have men’s classes, we have different styles of yoga. We teach yin and ashtanga and restorative and vinyasa and power. So we tick a lot of boxes and we’re in an area where we’re fairly easy to get to. So we’re moving right along.

Iana
Were there moments where you thought, I don’t know how I’m going to get through this?

Rebecca
Definitely. So many times it came up because it’s like, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? And what was so interesting is I never thought that populating the studio would be the challenging component. I’ve been teaching yoga now for 20 years, always in the Atlanta area, and have been fortunate to have a following. So I never thought that that would be the difficult part of opening the studio. But there was just something that said, keep going. There was just this little voice constantly inside that said keep going. And on those days when you get just so there weren’t very many people coming into the studio or there was just a lot of fear some little thing would happen, it would be just a little nudge. My go to stock phrase all the time was “choose the hope over, doubt and then look for the signs.” So then a little sign would come up, someone buying class cards or a former student would reach out, we would get a little corporate gig, a private student that I hadn’t seen would start taking lessons again, etc.

“My go to stock phrase all the time was ‘choose the hope over doubt, and then look for the signs.’”

So some little thing would happen that would say, “you’re going in the right direction, keep going” and so I would just sort of lean into that. One of the hardest parts, of course, was when my business partner left. And then I thought, I’m not ready to stop, I have a vision for what I want to happen with this and I just wasn’t ready to say, this is it. I wasn’t ready to do that. I think we’re both exactly where we need to be now in many ways.

And then I was fortunate enough to have a lot of people behind me. Family, support, mentors, even the leasing agency wanted us to continue. When I say we, I think about myself, my teachers, my husband is a very active participant, he is a yogi himself. So I’m not doing it alone. I mean, I’m the person that signs things and whatnot. But I’m not here by myself though. And I guess that’s another go to is just that feeling of there’s somebody or something that wants this to continue. It’s not just me and the community that has gathered around us.

Iana
That’s amazing. It’s so important to have that foundation of support and having your own personal vision and motivation to keep going.

Rebecca
I’ve been teaching for a long time, and I’ve always wanted to have a space and I didn’t know, should I do this? And another one of those little phrases that comes up all of the time is one that came to me just before I made the decision to go into partnership and open the studio. It was, “you’ll regret it if you don’t try.” So I feel as though that’s something that we all need to remind ourselves of: we’ll regret it if we don’t try. While it’s not always easy, it’s typically worth it most of the time. And the reality is that no matter what you do, there’s work behind it. No matter what we do, no matter how much I love teaching yoga and creating community and being able to do so many other things that we’re doing at the same time, there’s still work, there’s effort and then there’s ease.

Iana
That was one of the things that surprised me the most when I launched my magazine, because I still work a full time job in addition to the magazine. When I would do my full time job, I could understand when I would feel a little bit cranky or tired or not so motivated, that made sense. But when I was doing the magazine, I thought, how can I be tired? I love this so much, but I’m still human and get tired and need rest. And it’s still, like you said, it’s a lot of work no matter what.

Rebecca
It doesn’t matter how passionate you are about something or how meaningful it is to you, it’s still going to take effort. I think it’s very important, particularly when you’re doing something where you share energy, that you take a step back and you recharge the battery too. I have a new teacher here at the studio, and she fields emails for me and does a lot of some of the behind the scenes things. So I can take one day a week, Tuesdays, and I completely go off the grid. I don’t look at any personal or professional emails. I’m not on Instagram on Tuesday or anything like that which is really important, I just let my time unfold however I want. So it’s important if you’re a creative type, or you’re in a nurturing profession of some kind where you share energy, to get a total disconnect from all of it on a weekly basis.

Iana
I really started doing that seriously not that long ago, quite honestly, probably about three or four months ago. And it was by accident. The first time I did it one day, I was so tired I couldn’t do anything. I just watched movies on my couch all day long. I had Disney Plus, and I just watched all the Avengers movies with my puppy on my lap, and thought this is amazing. The next day I went back and I felt great.

Rebecca
Exactly. But that’s exactly what happens to all of us, we think we don’t deserve that, especially if you’re an entrepreneur. Who’s going to feed that machine if you’re not doing it right? So that’s part of it. But you need to rest or take the afternoon, or go for a walk without your phone, any of these things. Because what I find is that I become more creative if I have a break rather than continuing. And nobody wants a grumpy yoga teacher.

One of the yoga tenants is about non harming. If you’re continuing to work in these cycles where you’re working all of the time, and it’s just overwhelming, you’re not being kind to yourself and you’re harming yourself.

Iana
I love that! It’s so important. I love that studios are open now and there’s that sense of community where we can remind each other of these things.

Rebecca
That’s what we’ve seen that is so exciting. There are a lot of people that have moved here or some traveling nurses that will come in and they always find community here for however long they’re here, even if they’re here for three months. We have some doctoral students that are working on their thesis at Emory University so close to us, and they just find a community here. People know that when they come to the studio on a regular basis, they’re going to see familiar faces. Our tagline is “you belong here” and we do our best, and we try to be reflective of the community around us and offer diversity and a welcoming space. I’m so excited when I see all ages and all sizes, and everyone from every walk of life in the studio, because everybody can do and needs yoga. We make sure that people feel they have a safe space to come to, and feel acknowledged and seen.

“Our tagline is ‘you belong here’ and we do our best, and we try to be reflective of the community around us and offer diversity and a welcoming space. I’m so excited when I see all ages and all sizes, and everyone from every walk of life in the studio, because everybody can do, and needs yoga. We make sure that people feel they have a safe space to come to, and feel acknowledged and seen.”

Iana
And I love that I hear that more and more. Now that I see studios embracing this and saying, yes, come, you can’t touch your toes, great. Who cares? It doesn’t matter. Just sit in the corner if you need to. I remember one of my teachers said, we want you to show up every single day for class. And if you’re too physically tired, it doesn’t matter. Just sit and listen. You can sleep in the back, but just be in the space and let it absorb in your body. You don’t have to be moving doing the Asana, but just be with us.

Rebecca
And just see what’s possible. I think that’s one of the things, too, with the pandemic, we all got into this mindset of feeling very isolated. So it’s important that we can come in. Over the weekend, when I was teaching that retreat, I opened up with one of the quotes from Theodore Roosevelt about the comparison as the thief of joy. So by human design, we feel as though we have to apologize: “Oh, I used to be able to do this stuff, but I’m older now and I’m out of shape.” No, you did the hardest part, you got here. We didn’t want mirrors in the studio because the mirror is you. It’s about how you feel in your body. I’m certainly not judging you. And so reserve that judgment. Put it somewhere else. We don’t need to judge ourselves for what we are or are not able to do. So just being in your body, being in community, learning how to breathe.

We see such great suffering. Several of my teachers are therapists as well as being yoga teachers, and people are depressed. They’re anxious, they’re worried. You come here, and this is to help you deal with all of that stuff. And it doesn’t have anything to do with how flexible you are. You may increase your flexibility. You may not. You may get stronger. You may not. I mean, if those are things you’re looking for, you certainly can do it. All people can do when they come into the studio is to get a little bit more in touch with breathing and then what breathing can do for you and make you feel like when you walk away.

Iana
And thank goodness we can all breathe.

Rebecca
Everyone can breathe. When people tell me, I can’t do yoga, can’t touch my toes. I say, can you breathe? You can do yoga.

Iana
You’re alive and you’re good.

Rebecca
That’s exactly right. And if you can’t sit on the floor we have a class where they use chairs. It’s really nice to see my vision taking root in that every person feels as though there is a class on the schedule they can go to. I can go to any class, I know I’m welcome in any class. We’re in an area that is largely Jewish based and so there is an Orthodox community here. And so it was originally the idea to offer a women’s only class so that women who don’t feel comfortable because of or for cultural reasons don’t practice with men would come. And then we have a men’s class because men often feel like it’s just women that practice yoga and they feel as though they come into a class where there are women that they’re going to be laughed at or they won’t be able to keep up. So we have a class that’s dedicated just for men.

If you like jazz, we have a class that’s yoga and has jazz music because music is therapeutic. All kinds of things on our schedule that really try to tick boxes so everybody feels welcome. So if you can breathe, you can do yoga. I love that.

Iana
What do you find is the most popular class? And it could just be because of the time it’s offered, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but what class is generally the most full?

Rebecca
The class that we tend to see the most people in consistently is a Flow and Restore class. We do about 30 minutes or so of movement on your feet or sun salutations. And then the second half of that is more restorative or yin poses or stretching, for lack of better word. I love that qualifying that people really enjoy that it’s accessible for most people to do. And then the other thing is we have a basics class. We do that once a week, and that’s usually pretty popular most of the time. Most of our classes do really well. We see quite a few people in them.

Iana
I’m so happy for all your success. I always like to see what’s coming up that you’re super excited about. Do you have any other retreats that are coming up or anything you want to share?

Rebecca
We have a few really exciting retreats. We have a retreat in the southwest of France in May that we’ll be going to, which is really amazing, which is very exciting. Then it’ll be our third year in a row to go to Shinolani which is in Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. It’s a beautiful setting in the jungle. It’s so wonderful, we’re excited. They’re lovely people and have great programming when we go.

The other thing that I’m really excited about is that Jasmine, our teacher is a doula, and she’s soon to be a midwife, and she has a whole program she’s bringing to the yoga hive, which will be all about women’s services. She’ll be our women’s support services coordinator. And I’m really excited because both are something that I wanted to have and do. She’ll be introducing all kinds of wonderful resources in classroom settings and also outside of that with her services.

All of my teachers are very diverse, and one has a coaching business, so she’ll be introducing more things. 2023 will see more of what my teachers have to offer aside from just coming in and teaching a class to see more programming that will be centered around their particular talents and gifts, too. So that’s the things I’m really excited about for the year ahead.

Iana
Big stuff is coming. I’m so happy to hear that.

Rebecca
The pleasure is all mine. Being a steward for this practice is really important, and I’m glad to have these types of opportunities. So thank you very much. Thanks for the chat and thanks for continuing to do the work that you do, too.

MIMI’S YOGA KIDS

MIMI’S YOGA KIDS

PARTNER

MIMI’S YOGA KIDS

MIMISYOGAKIDS.COM

Teaching Mindfulness, Inner Peace, Meditation & Imagination Through YOGA.

Mimi’s mission is very simple! To teach Kids and their families YOGA that speaks to them. To introduce four simple elements: Mindfulness, Inner Peace, Meditation & Imagination through YOGA. We all need and deserve the gifts that YOGA offers.

Mimi's Yoga Kids

1010 Crew St SW
Atlanta, GA 30315
1010 Crew St SW
Atlanta, GA 30315

mimisyogakids@gmail.com

Check out our IG live with founder Mimi!

Mimi's Yoga Kids logo
Camelia (Mimi) Felton
Meet Camelia (Mimi) Felton, the owner & founder of Mimi’s Yoga Kids. She is a Black Yoga Teacher Alliance + a Yoga Alliance 200RYT Yoga Teacher, a KAY (Kidding Around Yoga) Certified Kids Yoga Teacher, a Certified Meditation Instructor, a YBB (Yoga Behind Bars) certified Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor & a Reiki ll Practitioner. She is also a current student at Prema Yoga Institute to become a Yoga Therapist. Mimi started Mimi’s Yoga Kids in 2018 after realizing the many benefits of doing yoga with her young grandson. She knew that this was something that kids and their families needed. She couldn’t find what she wanted so she decided to create it! She is very excited to share all these wonderful practices with children and their families. She wants to share her knowledge with the world to cultivate awareness on how these wonderful practices can teach all of us, especially our children, MINDFULNESS, INNER PEACE, MEDITATION & IMAGINATION! So come and join her as we learn, grow and thrive together. All are WELCOME here!