Beneath the 2015 incarnation of this bohemian neighborhood lies a storied past. What is now Flat Shoals Avenue—home to craft-beer bars, intimate music venues, and inventive restaurants—used to be the Sandtown Trail, a Creek Indian trading route. And where now Craftsman bungalows dot the residential streets, cannons and rifles once roared among the old-growth oaks during the Battle of Atlanta. Situated three miles east of downtown, East Atlanta melds the historic and the contemporary with a dose of independent-minded swagger, appealing equally to the weekend party crowd, 30-something professionals, families with kids, and long-time residents who still tend their gardens and water their lawns, watching the ebbs and flows of the diverse and dynamic neighborhood they all call home.
Sacred Thread started in Old Fourth Ward, and the East Atlanta outpost offers the same classes—beginner flow, bhakti flow, vinyasa, yin, and morning sunrise—and adheres to the same philosophy as its older sibling: namely that “sacredness” is implied, never imposed. While urban, Sacred Thread occupies a warm and light-filled space that encourages all participants to breathe easy. Grounded in aspects of yoga tradition including pranayama, meditation, occasional chanting (bhakti), and elements of discipline, Sacred Sweat challenges yogis to go beyond their concept of normal and the limitations of the mind.
