Kelly Carter

Kelly is passionate about how yoga has changed her life. In 2006, she began practicing at a Sumits Yoga location in Scottsdale, AZ. This became a turning point in her life towards a greater quality of health and happiness.  She experienced what a positive impact the practice had on her spirit, mind, and body.  She began teaching in 2007 with a 200 hr RYT certification from Sumit Banerjee from Sumits Yoga. When Kelly returned home to Nashville, she continued to fall in love with Power Yoga and dove into more training with incredible mentors like Baron Baptiste and Johnna Smith. She is a certified Baptiste teacher and in 2016 she recieived her 500 hour certification with Dharma Mittra.  She loves to share yoga with others because of the positive impact it has had on her life. She believes yoga is a transformational practice from the inside out.

Kelly and her sister Lauren opened the doors to one of Nashville’s most beloved Power Yoga studios in 2012. Together, they lead a powerful community of yogis at Shakti Power Yoga. During the summer of 2014, Kelly was able to experience the joy in taking her teaching and practice outside the studio to co-lead her first international yoga retreat. With 17 years of teaching experience, Kelly is able to lead all levels, from a challenging advanced Power Yoga flow to beginner yoga workshops for those brand new to the practice.

Kelly resides in Hendersonville with her husband Chris and their son, Lincoln. She is a lover of travel and the ocean. Yoga continuous to allow her to grow, travel  and find happiness like she could never have imagined. Her mission is to live life fully present, to hold a space of peace, and to share her passion for yoga with others.

Lauren Farina O’Brien

Lauren started practicing in 2007 and teaching in 2009, and since then has continued to grow as a teacher and student. She feels blessed by many teachers in her life, gaining knowledge and experience from each along the way. She is a certified Baptiste Power Yoga instructor, and received her 500hr & 800hr RYT certification with Sri Dharma Mittra. What she loves about the practice is the ability to always be a student; there is space for something new to learn each day from her students, teachers & in her own practice. She believes yoga is for everybody and part of the practice is exploring what works for each person. With self inquiry, dedication, patience, and the practice of ahimsa anything is possible. 

Lauren and her sister Kelly opened Shakti Power Yoga in Nashville in 2012, and every day she is grateful for the community and the space that has been created together, and with the inspiring Shakti team. She is reminded daily that the practice is about connection and love - connection to oneself and to others to create a power and positive impact in the world. Together they lead international yoga retreats and created Shakti Yoga University. Shakti U was born out of the desire to share the practice of yoga and create leaders by holding yearly 200hr and 300hr trainings and continued education for current teachers. 

Yoga has transformed Lauren's life and she is grateful to be of service to others sharing her passion. Her classes are powerful, playful, and challenge students to go within and embrace whatever shows up on the mat in each moment. She invites you to join her in the journey to create truth and authenticity on & off the mat.

Connect with Lauren: IG: @Shaktiyogil  

Murn

Murn throws fun around like it's confetti. She loves to sweat, but she never sweats the small stuff. She's the walking, talking, listening, playing, singing, dancing, praying, laughing-out-loud, doing-the-heavy-lifting-without-ever-once-complaining (ever!)-embodiment of love and strength.

She's the one we call when we need a friend to lean on, to shepherd us back into the light. She shows up. She comes through. She and Hank do double-duty as Shakti's in-house comics, cracking us all up. Every day, Murn's goal for herself and our community isn't just to survive, but to thrive.

That's what's up in her yoga classes (Sunday 8am, every other Monday at noon, Tuesday at 9:30am, and Wednesday 4:30pm). Empowering people then seeing them do things they didn't believe they could do brings her joy - and inspires her to do the same.  Always, at any moment, she can find something to laugh about and feel grateful for. The more she gives, the more she has.

Speaking of giving, one of her newest ways of giving back is through "Corporate Yoga," or Shakti's Workplace Wellness program. Murn recently left a 15 year career in Corporate America to teach yoga full-time, manage Shakti, and has recently created Healthy Bodies, Healthy Business. She knows the stresses (and SITTING) that come along with being in Corporate America (and if you're reading this from an office desk right now, you understand!). Yoga helped Murn cope with the stresses of the corporate world and she found a new way of being. Through Workplace Wellness, she strives to bring those same benefits to as many people as possible.

Connect with Murn: IG: @themurnburn

Michelle Donice Gillis

Michelle Donice Gillis often says that yoga saved her life. During a very difficult time, she found that yoga helped her get out of her head and into her body. The moving meditation taught her how to stop overthinking and how to practice self-love and non-judgement towards herself and others. 

Michelle Donice seeks to share the transformative power of yoga with everyone! She strongly believes that yoga should be accessible to all, and she invites anyone who is interested in beginning a yoga practice or who wants a non-heated, gentler flow to join her on Thursday's at 5:30 pm. 

Although not a native Nashvillian, Michelle Donice Gillis moved here several years ago and can't imagine living anywhere else! When she's not teaching, Michelle Donice can be found writing, reading the latest bestsellers, or exploring one of Tennessee's hiking trails with her husband and their two dogs. t.

Connect with Lauren: IG: @michelledonice 

Dougie Keebler

A word from Dougie:

The introduction to the weird shapes I could, and mostly could not do, with my body occurred in 2009 when a friend invited me to a class in his backyard. I spent the next several months in studios looking all around at others (and mostly between my legs) to get any sense of direction. I found out they call this Yoga.

My exercise journey actually started in 2005 while I was touring Europe as a musician. There, I saw people living a healthier lifestyle than what I knew existed to that point in my life. I decided to give it a try on the road and when I returned home to the States. I walked to the store one day, then started riding my bike to work, and then finally went for a run … for fun?!? After losing 60 pounds, I felt like saying: “Here I am World!”

But who am “I”?

Little did I know that I had only taken the first steps in my personal growth journey. I believe that is where my love of yoga began. The shapes became poses. The poses became grounding. And the grounding became an awareness of self.

As an instructor, my hope is that I can help others discover the space to explore physically, emotionally and mentally what they “need today.” I would be honored to welcome you to my class at the studio. Come as you are and open to the idea of finding out more of who you are. This is my daily practice, and one I hope you’ll join me on. ~ Dougie

Connect with Dougie: IG: @ddkinteriors

Liz Mead

Liz received her Masters at Columbia for Human Rights and has been an educator for ten years. While teaching history at an inner-city high school in New York, she began leading afternoon yoga classes—the only highly attended after-school program at her school. Yoga helped her students overcome emotional obstacles and fall in love with love with their lives again. Thus motivated, she received certification from Laughing Lotus yoga studio in New York City.

Liz is now certified in health counseling, yoga, and Reiki. Since receiving her certification, Liz has taught yoga in New York, Nashville, Belize, and Costa Rica. Her yoga classes encourage students to find their own practice by helping them understand the body’s potential and uncovering the unique rhythm of their own breaths. Her style is energetic and informal, warm and welcoming, and her goal is to bring yoga, nutrition, and wellness to everyone—even the skeptics.

Liz has developed various health-related workshops, such as prenatal health, capoeira fusion, and creative writing and yoga fusion. She believes that people of all ages and backgrounds can lead healthier and happier lives through movement and nutrition. Her twin mantras are, “Move like yourself” and “Become your own best teacher.”

To learn more about Liz Mead’s yoga classes, personal training and nutrition programs, and health counseling, visit Belmont Lotus.

Alexis Henslee

You can expect three things from a yoga class with Alexis Henslee:

Cactus arms

Skandasana

A creative, fun vinyasa practice where you feel safe and seen.

She is a kind, loving teacher that will hold you to a high standard of practice no matter what your experience level. Alexis is a 500 hour RYT, having completed her 200 hour program with emPower School of Yoga and her 300 hour program with Sanctuary for Yoga. Both programs are based in Nashville, TN. Each class with Alexis conveys her love of the practice. She hopes to cultivate that deep love in her students. Come take a class and have fun with Alexis.

Connect with Alexis on IG: @aahenslee

hadley Kelsey

Connect with Hadley: IG: @Hadley_Kelsey 

Alex Fisher

Alex Fisher came to Nashville in 2009 by way of Vanderbilt Law. After law school, she began attending yoga classes at Shakti in November 2012 in order to regain some flexibility following one of her many injuries from a decade of running competitively. After her first class, she fell in love with the physical, emotional, and spiritually restorative aspects of a powerful vinyasa practice.

She completed her 200 hour RYT in Spring 2015 through the EmPower School of Yoga, and enjoys sharing her love of yoga with the Shakti community. In addition to teaching at Shakti, you can find her serving as a board member of Small World Yoga, a non-profit founded by Shakti's Liz Veyhl to connect yoga with various communities and people across the Nashville area. She is also a practicing attorney at Morgan & Morgan where she represents homeowners in advocating for their rights against insurance companies.

Peter healy

Peter has been practicing yoga since 2010 and aims to create an environment in which students can celebrate vulnerability, discover their strength, create connection, and occasionally dance like no one is watching.

Practice with Peter on Wednesdays at Noon  

Shelby Baxter

Shelby grew up in Connecticut and bounced around New England while starting her family and landing in Nashville in 2013. A retired runner, active mother of two, and avid cook she enjoys creating whether that be in the kitchen or on the mat. Her journey is steeped in self study and discovery, something she loves to share with others looking to go a little deeper into human being rather than human doing.

Shelby began studying yoga in 2015. She came to the mat looking to move and found so much more. She received her 200 RYT in 2017 and has been teaching since. In her classes you will find more than just asana, or the physical limb of the practice. Pranyama (breath work), Mudra (symbolic hand gesture), Yama (self study), and Niyama (spiritual discipline) are all carefully curated throughout her challenging but welcoming classes. Movement is measured and challenging, cues are meticulous and the goal is connection; the true function of yoga to “yoke” or “unite” the facets of the self in search of connection to source. Her hope is that when you leave her classes you will feel challenged, empowered and balanced.

Danny Williams

I started by yoga journey at my work place gym in Atlanta 2008 and took my first hot yoga power class in Charlotte 2012. I immediately fell in love with the heat mixed with power and how my body and breath accumulated to the practice. I observed the physical and mental change in students that went through teacher training so I received my 200hr at Y2 in Charlotte 2018. One day later, I was teaching my first yoga class at a pizza joint.

I have now received my E-RYT teaching over 1500 classes at studios, gyms, schools and work places in Nashville. I live in East Nashville with my husband and two dogs.

Connect with Danny: IG: @dwnash1000  

Sarah Blizzard

Sarah Blizzard is originally from Frederick, Maryland but considers herself a Nashville native after living here for over 12 years. 

She discovered yoga when she was cross training for running and realized it allowed her feel balanced: strong and also relaxed.  She earned her 200 hour yoga teaching certification at Baptiste Power Yoga Nashville and is one weekend away from completing her 300 hour yoga teacher training here at Shakti U.  Sarah has been teaching yoga for 2 years and is passionate about sharing her love of yoga with everyone she meets.  Her background is in anatomy and physiology and she strives to empower her students to explore the mind body connection.  Sarah loves backbends, especially camel pose and is always curious and constantly learning with an open heart.  She teaches stand up paddleboarding and when not teaching you can find her at home singing to her rescue pups Oliver James and Moon Pie. 

Connect with Sarah: IG: @sarahheartblizzard

REBECCA CAREY

Rebecca fell in love with Yoga in early 2008. Seeds had been planted along the way with introductions to Yoga in her teenage and college years, but it wasn't until she attended her first class at Kali Yuga Yoga in Nashville, TN as a young professional that she realized how powerful this practice could be. As a person who was drawn toward the spiritual and loved physical exercise, finding the combination of the two in Yoga felt like a perfect fit; the practice she had unknowingly been in search of for years. Filled with a calling and strong desire to share the benefits of Yoga with others, she completed her 230 Hr. Teacher Training at the Asheville Yoga Center in 2010 with her teachers, Stephanie Keach and Shala Worsley.  In 2014, she earned her 500 Hr. Advanced Teaching Certification through the Asheville Yoga Center. 

Rebecca's teaching style is influenced by an eclectic blend of Yoga traditions. Her classes are predominantly a blend of creative Vinyasa and Yin. She also has training in Prenatal Yoga, Senior Yoga, and Yoga as Therapy.  A big fan of bodies of water and the outdoors, Rebecca is certified in Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga. 

Rebecca is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology, and she is a graduate of the Volunteer State Physical Therapist Assistant program. Her background in Biology and Physical Therapy is incredibly valuable as a Yoga Teacher as she is able to use her knowledge of anatomy and kinesiology in her application of postures, sequencing, and to enhance students' understanding and comfort. In 2020, she also became Reiki Level 1 & 2 certified. 

In addition to a science, she believes Yoga is an art and intertwines Yoga philosophy, metaphors to daily life, and creativity into her classes.  Rebecca's classes are known for their balanced approach; moments of challenge and ease, movement and stillness, and focus on the internal and the external. All in all, Rebecca’s classes create a nurturing, supportive environment for students to explore and deepen their practices with awareness, heart, and personal freedom.  

Rebecca is also an artist. For more info on Rebecca's art visit: instagram.com/rebeccacareyart. 

Jessica Hetterich

Jessica fell in love with yoga on Valentine's Day in 2016 when she attended her first Shakti Power Flow. Her co-worker/Shakti regular asked her to come to class almost every day for a month and she was instantly hooked. The physical challenge, emotional benefits, and friendly faces kept her coming back for more. A small seed was planted in her mind in the early days of her practice that someday she would like to teach and share this transformational practice with others. Yoga helped her shift fear into possibility, and self-doubt into courage. She signed up for an assisting workshop in February 2017, completed her 200-hour training with Empower School of Yoga in March 2018 and began working full-time with Shakti and Shakti Yoga University in April 2019. The consistent practice of yoga helped grow that small seed into something big: one breath, one pose and one class at a time. 

As a teacher, it is her intention to create joy and ease, and encourage her students to be curious about the modifications, variations, and mindfulness that make a yoga practice their own. Her 7th grade history teacher introduced her to the concept of being a “learner for life” and it’s the way of being - one of enthusiasm for knowledge and curiosity - that she cultivates in the yoga studio. The unconditional love and support she found in the Shakti community is something she does not take for granted and hopes to pay it forward every time she walks through the door.

She is a graduate of Belmont University where she studied public relations and music business. After graduation and a brief stint living in Brooklyn and back with her parents in Hamilton, OH, she decided Nashville was home and has been here ever since. When she’s not at Shakti, you can most often find her lounging by the pool reading her monthly book club book, quoting Gilmore Girls in regular conversation, hiking at Radnor Lake listening to Ariana Grande at full-volume, dining on patios with friends (the working title of her memoir) and watching chef-related documentaries on Netflix. 

Connect with Jessica and her cat Topanga Lawrence-Matthews on Instagram: @jesshett

Shannon Hillenmeyer

Shannon discovered yoga 15 years ago, as a means of physical fitness during her college days. As she transitioned to the "real world," she found yoga provided so much more than the physical strength and flexibility. Yoga cultivated a reflective space to reconnect to her breath and self.

She knew she wanted to take her practice deeper as she began to notice how it sparked her overall energy, sense of connection, and gratitude "off the mat." While living in Los Angeles, she discovered the Vinyasa Flow classes of Steve Ross and Bryan Kest. Later, Shannon moved to Chicago and found a haven at North Shore Yoga. In 2009, she completed her teacher training under Sharyn Galindo's guidance, and gained her Yoga Alliance certification.  Sharyn's focus on yogic philosophy and pranayama further fueled her intrigue and excitement to share the practice with others.  Shannon is grateful for the unending journey and continual challenge that yoga provides, and she strives to deepen her practice through the insight of senior teachers and her students. Shannon's classes combine vigorous vinyasa with warmth and acceptance.  She hopes her students will meet new challenges with curiosity and ease, always leaving room for exploration and new horizons, on and off the mat.  

In addition, Shannon graduated from the University of Chicago with a Masters in Social Work in 2012.  She is in awe of the way yoga continues to inform this work outside of the studio.  In 2017, she moved to Nashville with her husband Hunter, and their three daughters, Harper, Brynn, and Lyla.

Mason Howell

I have been teaching and coaching at the collegiate and professional levels for 20+ years.  I’ve taught over 4000 hours of yoga studio classes, workshops, and teacher training.  I am a 500HR E-RYT and YACEP yoga instructor, with an extra 200 HR certification just because I love it.  I teach both power flow and restorative styles of yoga.  I am also a Certified Personal Trainer, Fitness Nutrition Specialist and People First Leadership Master Coach as well as an internationally certified 8th degree black belt martial arts Master.  I practice yoga because it is the most proven method to maximize human performance on the planet; I teach yoga because yoga literally saved my life; so, I am driven to share the profound healing impact available through regular yoga practice with anyone who is willing to take on the process of healing their own life.

Connect with Mason: IG: @masonwhowell  

AMANDA KORONKIEWICZ

Amanda has been practicing yoga since September of 2018. What started as a desire to find a new way to be physically fit, she quickly started to see the mental and emotional benefits of yoga start to show up in her every day life as well. She graduated from her 200 hour training in July of 2020, and she has been teaching at Shakti since January of 2021. Amanda loves teaching at Shakti and being able to share the practice of yoga.
Yoga really transformed Amanda’s life, and she loves being able to share the benefits she’s seen impact her own life with others. To Amanda, yoga is so much more than just a physical practice; it is a way to peal back the layers and walls we have built up within ourselves over time and get back to the core of who we really are. She aspires to let those ideals come through in all of her classes.

When Amanda is not spending time on her mat or at Shakti, she is making music. She loves to sing and play the piano. She is also a bartender (she makes a mean margarita and loves her some wine). Amanda is still trying to decide what she wants to be when she grows up. She loves that she gets to call Shakti her home away from home in Nashville, and is so honored to be a part of their teaching staff.

Connect with AMANDA: IG: @HEY.ITSAK  

joanna salce

Joanna has practiced yoga on and off since high school, but found a regular practice in 2012. She was looking for a fitness routine to stick with, and found so much more with yoga. She felt a sense of power and acceptance in her body, and her mind was calmer and clearer than it has ever been before.

Joanna completed her yoga teacher training in March of 2018, and it furthered her mission to serve others through yoga. She wants to share the all the benefits yoga has brought to her life.

Joanna is a RYT 200-hr certified teacher in Power Yoga. When not practicing or teaching yoga, Joanna teaches first grade.

 MEGHAN MIDGETT

Meghan started practicing yoga because she was looking for balance. She was stuck in a job that she "should" have loved because it was the most logical next step in her career, and it had just fallen into her lap. Everyday after work, she was drained and unfulfilled, and those stuck feelings began to seep into every other area of life which quickly became a heavy burden to bear. Meghan had started halfway researching yoga studios, and after a particularly trying day of work, finally threw on some stretchy pants and signed up for a class. She made it through an uncoordinated, wobbley practice and left feeling lighter than she had in years. She knew right away that she had discovered something big with this victorious breath she was hearing all around her.

Meghan kept showing up to yoga, and, as it does, yoga kept showing up in her life. She started to make small changes, and they began to grow into huge, transformational shifts, and she decided she needed to share this practice. She completed the Baptiste Art of Assisting Program in March 2015, graduated teacher training with the emPower School of Yoga in March of 2018, and will finish her 300 hour certification to be 500 hour certified this September.

When you come to her class, expect to hear breath cues often because to Meghan, that's the most important piece of this practice. The breath is what creates the space to pause before you come out of a pose (or not), react to an intense sensation, or respond in an uncomfortable situation. Meghan's intention is to empower students in a way that translates to life outside of the studio as well as on the mat. When she's not practicing or teaching, you can likely find her outside in some capacity, hanging with family or friends, eating some delicious creation made by her husband, or snuggling their furbaby.

Clark

Born and raised in the deserts of Arizona, Clark was discovered by Kelly at the humane society when he was 5 months old. Clark loves long naps in comfy pillows and post-yoga sweat (fair warning, he will help you rid your skin of sweat post-practice!) He is Shakti's official greeter and is responsible for making all students feel welcome when they walk in the door. He spends most days in deer pose, basking in the sunshine at the studio. He encourages us to love unconditionally, to honor your friendships, and follow the sun. 

#tallclarkandhandsome 

Hank

This sweet Bully is Shakti's youngest pup. Hank reminds everyone to work hard, but more-so is a great example of taking time to rest when you need it. He knows how to be comfortable in his own skin, and shows us all how to hold things loosely and let go.

Hank is a big fan of upward-facing dog, especially in the morning to get going, but his all-time favorite pose is savasana.

As Clark's hip younger brother, Hank is Insta-savvy - hear simple thoughts from his perspective at @hankandtheheart