Atlanta yoga enthusiasts have found a new home in Southwest Atlanta.
Catering to a growing population of yoga students and instructors without a home base, Southwest Atlanta Yoga recently opened its doors to the community to provide a space for everyone to practice.
A long-time yoga practitioner and instructor, Toure’ noticed the void of yoga spaces in her own community. Most of the yoga studios in Atlanta existed in the northern half of the city; meaning yogis living in the southern half always had to travel up.
“As a long-term resident, this space has needed a yoga facility. Most of us have to drive past the dome to do yoga,” she said. “And then we have to drive back past the dome after we’ve done yoga. So, it’s almost like the yoga experienced gets erased in traffic.”
Though she is not an Atlanta native, Toure’ is veteran who now lives off of Cascade Rd. after spending 11 years in Adair Park and two years prior in East Point.
Located in Historic West End near West End Marta Station, Southwest Atlanta Yoga offers almost every style of yoga, including power yoga, Kemetic yoga, and Egyptian yoga.
For the last couple of weeks, the studio has been celebrating its grand opening with free yoga sessions as a great way to introduce the space to existing yogis while welcoming those who are new to yoga.
For Toure’, the studio solves a long-standing problem that has become more apparent as Atlanta continues to grow and change. While the presence of yogis has increased in the city, especially within the African American community, the number of spaces to practice is still limited or simply absent.
“I have found in the few days that we’ve been open, that yogis we actually speak the same language,” she said. “It seems like that narrative is missing here in Southwest. Part of my mission is to increase the energy and its frequency in the city, to hopefully have a unifying place where people can come; all shapes, sizes, races, and age to do this thing that we all love to do.”
Southwest Atlanta Yoga is now open to existing and beginner yogis at 785 West Whitehall Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30310.
