Meet Our Team

Christopher Wilkes
​Owner

It was 2006 and I had just broken up with my college sweetheart.  As I delved deeper into my stage of reflection and introspection, it was during this time that I began to question my limiting beliefs. 
I came across a book by Russell Simmons called "Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success." The keen insights he offered in the book ignited my curiosity about yoga and meditation.
Around the same time I also began feeling "old" at a very young age and was experiencing debilitating back pain!  I took my first yoga "lesson" one morning by watching a tv show called "Namaste Yoga."  It was only a 30 minute show, but I felt better than I had ever felt in a long time after I was finished, and I even noticed that my back pain had greatly diminished!
 I have been hooked ever since and have dived deeply down the rabbit hole of yogic philosophy and self actualization through the practice!   
It is my immense honor and pleasure to share my labor of love with you!
Namaste

Tanya Jones 

​Tanya Jones has been teaching yoga for over 20 years in the Columbus area. In 1998 she began her yoga journey with Graham Fowler in Atlanta Georgia at Atlanta Yoga Fellowship, now Peach-Tree Yoga Center. Since that initial certification, her eclectic style comes from the many different teachers she has had the privilege to experienced over the years. Tanya teaches with passion and joy, grateful for the gift of yoga in her life and opportunity to share it with others.

Scarlett Currier

Originally from LaGrange, GA I moved to Columbus in 2009.  I began practicing yoga in 2015, because I was in a weird spot in my life.  I had been experiencing anxiety and panic attacks to the point of being placed on medication (which I have now successfully come off of, under doctor supervision of course). 
It was a few months after I started my medication that my dear friend introduced me to the practice of yoga! j Soon I had a home practice and I couldn't go a day without going to my mat.  Through my practice, I continued to face and come to peace with my past experiences.  
As my practice grew, so did my desire to share the experience with others.  I became a certified Kundalini yoga and meditation teacher in March of 2017 (through Anmol Mehta's online training series) and I continue to learn and expand my knowledge of this beautiful practice under the guidance of my teacher Yogi Aftab (an original trainee of Yogi Bhajan) and many others. I Completed my 200 RYT Yoga Alliance Vinyasa based Teacher training at Art of Yoga in Columbus, GA in Fall of 2018.

Summe​r Morales

Originally from New York, currently living the military life, as a military spouse and mother of 3 wonderful children. Summer has been teaching yoga for over 9 years and practicing for over 12 years. She is registered with Yoga Alliance as an E-RYT-200 Vinyasa Yoga Instructor. Summer has previously taught Vinyasa yoga to all ages and levels in New York, Kansas, North Carolina and England. She has experience in many different styles of yoga to include Vinyasa, Anusara, Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Restorative. Summer combines alignment and flow to allow students to grow in their practice, engaging challenge in a nurturing environment. She encourages strong asanas (poses) in her classes, but also focuses on the importance of pranayama (breath control). Summer is devoted to sharing the transformational power of yoga.
www.summermoralesyoga.com

Brandon Mays

​Hello!!! I’m Brandon Mays. I am a Delaware native and have been a resident of Columbus GA for about ten years. I have been practicing yoga for about four years and graduated from the 200 hr teacher training program at Art of Yoga in 2018.
I primarily focus on all levels vinyasa, hot yoga, individual sessions, and yoga for athletes. As a fitness enthusiast, I am passionate about teaching yoga because it beautifully marries together the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of wellness.
I look forward to having you in my class!
NAMASTE
 

Claudia Smith 

Claudia Sotoj-Smith is native from Guatemala, Mayan Quiche, father heritage. She learned all the traditional Mayan rituals and culture from her grandmother; in addition she combines Energetics therapy on treatments with different ways in her clinical aesthetician private practice. She earned her Masters in Art History from Universidad de San Carlos De Guatemala. This opened the doors to teach in the College in Guatemala and work with International organizations like Unesco and Plan International. She also Co- funded an art school of theatre, and the Center of Human development in Guatemala City. Additionally, she offers workshops in Guatemala for different organizations and teaches the Hatha Yoga discipline that she learned in the 90's with La Gran Fraternidad Universal Guatemala. She has lived and taught in Spain, Guatemala, and the US.

Deanna Clark 

After years of service in the United States Military, I began practicing yoga in 2009. My body loved the familiar movement and flow of yoga, and I needed the peace that yoga brought into my life. In 2013, I began to practice Yoga more on a regular basis, not only for physical healing, but also for enjoyment. In 2018, I decided that I could not only feel great after a Yoga class, but I could also help other people to feel that way as well. I knew teaching Yoga was for me. Yoga quickly became more than a practice for me; it became a lifestyle of living more intentionally and mindfully.
My goal is to help you let yoga into your life, while making yoga accessible to every body typeand age. I desire to make sure that all people know that Yoga is for everyone.

Sue Tomkiewicz

Musician and professor by day, yoga teacher by night (or something along those lines), Sue (a.k.a. Dr. T) has been a music professor for over 15 years, the last 10 at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. Since teaching is part of what she lives and breathes on a daily basis, making the transition from yoga student to yoga teacher was a natural progression. She completed her 200 RYT training in August of 2018 at Yogafly in Auburn, Alabama with Nicole Agostino and teaches Yoga for Performers at Columbus State University. Sue also teaches at Art of Yoga where she has been a dedicated student for the last 9 years. Sue’s specific yoga interests are yoga for the health and well-being of musicians, alignment, connecting with breath and meditation. You can follow her journeys of music, yoga, chickens, bees and life on her facebook page and personal website. https://www.facebook.com/susan.tomkiewicz  http://susantomkiewicz.wixsite.com/home

Elise Feinberg

Elise has been practicing yoga for over 15 years, attending classes at several local studios. For three years she studied with Sarah Nordin, a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher. Elise has attended yoga workshops with Eddy Marks, Mary Obendorfer and Livia Shapiro-Cohen. In February 2017 at the age of 70, Elise completed her 200-hour teacher certification at Yogafly in Auburn, Alabama. Practicing and teaching yoga is one of her life passions. Elise and Bob, her husband of 54 years, own Feinberg Center for Well-Being since 1982. Their passion is to teach people to live a balanced lifestyle and eat healthfully. They have two children and five grandchildren. Elise believes you can do yoga and benefit at any age.

Yogi Aftab

​​Yogi Aftab is an eRYT-500 teacher specializing in Kundalini Yoga. His teaching career spans for more than 46 years of inspiring students to go pass their limitations in Europe, Australia, South America, the US and the Caribbean.
At eleven years old he discovered Yoga, and under the guidance of Yogi Bhajan he completed his teacher training in 1972 at one of his Ashrams in Arizona. He is a strict vegetarian, likes to make herbal tinctures, does energetic healing, enjoys chanting, and loves cold showers.
He is here now with us in Columbus, and is looking forward to meeting you!

Judy Barnett 

Yoga has been part of my life for 18 years. After spinal surgery in 2001, I started practicing at Art of Yoga to deal with continuing neck pain. When I retired from my job as a Nurse Anesthetist, I completed a 200 hour teacher training at Tallapoosa Center for Inner Arts in Carrollton, Ga.
In my gentle yoga classes, I combine breath work, meditation, and asanas to help nurture body, mind and spirit. These classes are free to cancer survivors. My hope is that my students step off their mat feeling relaxed, nourished, and balanced.