Shakti Yoga Instructors

All of our instructors are certified yoga teachers, committed to offering a comprehensive practice as consciously as possible.

Sofia Artola

Sofia Artola began her journey in 2000, and has since dedicated her time to explore, learn and share her experiences of the practice. She opened Shakti Yoga in 2005, with a vision to offer a peaceful, happy & relaxed space for all to come & practice.

She has studied with world renowned teachers, has traveled to Nepal, India, to explore the true essence of yoga and Thailand, where she studied Thai yoga massage. She is currently attending Sai Ayurvedic College to deepen her knowledge in Ayurvedic studies.

For Sofia, the joys of teaching have been in witnessing the progression of someone in their practice, to see and experience the change in their attitude towards life, changes in their body, & the connection that she has with every single person that comes to the studio. For Sofia’s students, the laughter found in her classes is equal to the challenge of the practice. Both are resounding, clear, & complete.

Tara McCabe

Tara McCabe began exploring Yoga in 2001 when pregnant with her first child. Both Kundalini and Hatha yoga were very helpful in creating a joyful journey as her body and mind were preparing for childbirth. Her practice continued after her son was born and she found both the physical and mental benefits to aid her as she took on the new role of becoming a mother. When she returned to Key West in 2007, she began teaching Hatha, prenatal, and kids yoga. Her career at Shakti began in 2008, and in 2009 she partnered up with Lazy Dog to start Key West Paddle Board Yoga.

Tara trained with Yogi Hari and is a 200 hr Yogi Shiromani of Sampoorna Yoga. She has also completed a second 200 hour training in the Yogic Arts System specializing in Krama Vinyasa. All her classes begin with chanting and pranayama, and are followed by a playful flow sequence. Tara encourages her yogis to practice with humor, non judgement and compassion. Come out and play!

Carl Ferrette

Carl Ferrette has a degenerative rheumatological condition and had been threatening to start doing yoga for years. He was tricked into his first class here in Key West by a friend and never looked back. He has been deepening his practice ever since, returning to the studio where he first started yoga to receive his teacher training certification five years ago.

Carl now studies Purna Yoga with Aadil Palkhivala. Purna Yoga is a system of transformation and healing based on Iyengar yoga and the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo.

Margit Bisztray

Margit Bisztray has been living in Key West since 1994. She works full time as a freelance writer, host, and producer, as well as a mother of two. She lives by the words, “yoga does not make life easier, yoga makes us easier with life,” because they keep proving themselves true.

Cricket Desmarais

Cricket Desmarais found yoga in her early 20s while studying modern dance and has since explored the mind/body/spirit connection through its practice while becoming a massage therapist in Santa Barbara, earning an MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry from NYU and a captain’s license in Key West, where she delights and learns much from the conscious breathing creatures that frolic in the surrounding sea.

She has taught dance and writing workshops for more than a decade, studied Tibetan Buddhism with the Key West Tara Mandala Sangha and completed the Krama Vinyasa Yogic Arts System 200 hour training in the Spring of 2011. She loves learning and is grateful for the opportunity to offer to others as she and her students expand their personal practices and lean into their true lights within.

“If you are in peace, then others around you will feel peace, so your best effort should be to work on yourself.”