testimonials
"Katy has the sensitivity of a poet, the passion of an artist, the trained intellect of a scholar. She is a wonderfully warm and generous soul. Her teaching is in all ways a delight."
- David Teutsch, Ph.D, Director for the Center of Ethics
"If you want to become a whole person, come to Shiné. Katy trains your body, engages your mind, and benefits your spirit. Each of her classes is built around a theme, and her teaching, music, and readings are connected parts of that theme forming a complete experience. She teaches you what given movements can mean to your body. The music and readings she chooses from a wide variety of sources encourage you to become more peaceful, more curious, more tolerant, and stronger. She has a wonderful sense of humor and a seemingly endless supply of patience. Her class has changed my life for the better." - Linda Walters-Page
Katy is an amazing spiritual teacher. She integrates poetry, music and spiritual insight seamlessly into the practice. It is a joy and a privilege to learn with Katy."
- Rabbi Julie Greenberg, Senior Rabbi at Congregation Leyv Ha-Ir~Heart of the City, Philadelphia
"Katy is all intelligence, unpretentious charisma, and pigtails with a wink. She transmutes a fascination with the everyday that encompasses deep and ancient wisdom and no-bullshit gritty contemporaneity." - Lee Polychron, Co-Director, Kudzu Research and Insights
"In my 10 years of practice, I have never had a better teacher than Katy Hawkins. In each class, whether it be with 5 or 40 people, she has shown an uncanny ability to sense both what my body needs to feel and my soul needs to be fed. She is funny, smart and one of the most authentic people I know. I feel blessed to have her guidance in my life." - Becca Dhondt, Educator
"Katy is the ultimate teacher...smart, sensitive, thoughtful, and spiritual. Her love of teaching comes through in every moment of the practice. She knows each of her students, and senses their needs and place in the class. The poetry she infuses into each class adds to the beauty and serenity of the practice. One must get to class early to find a spot in Katy's class because she is so well thought of, respected and loved as a teacher."
- Ellie Seif, Photographer and Elementary School Principal
"Katy's classes are exhilarating. Her movement sequencing is creative and dynamic, with no two classes ever the same. As an athlete I appreciate the physical challenge her classes bring, but as someone who is recovering from a serious injury (fractured spine), Katy's spiritual teaching is what helps me focus on the internal work. Her language is infused with knowledge of poetry about the natural world, queer theory, Quaker philosophy, and Buddhist meditation training. Her beautiful use of language shows all her years as a college professor of literature. With wonderful music and chanting, lots of hands-on work, and time to meditate on her offerings, Katy's classes are a delight for the senses, as well as a treat for the spirit!"
- Lizzy Schmidt, Director of the Jonathan Lax Center Women's Program, Philadelphia FIGHT
"Katy is present and teaches to the people who are in the room. I think I'm especially aware of those times when I feel either more invisible or more visible because its something I've navigated in so many areas of my life as a queer trans person. I always feel seen during her classes." - D.C., Psychotherapist
"Katy Hawkins is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. Her pace, poetry and joyous presence are contagious and irresistible!" - Gina Gruenberg, Artist + Bodyworker
"Katy’s classes are always an exotic adventure. I find it best to go with no expectations and an open mind to see where she will take me. I return having been somewhere I have never been before, aware of some places I did not know existed... refreshed." - Julie Markovitz, Danca Travel
"Katy encourages you to take care of yourself first. She honors and celebrates her students, then gently challenges them. She is wise, kind, respectful. Her intertwining of poetry and philosophy through the class make it much more than a physical practice. She is a spiritual teacher and healer. There have been many times when I have left her class with tears of gratitude in my eyes. I always leave feeling better, comforted, stretched and open to the world."
- Grace Gonglewski, Four-Time Barrymore Award Winning Theatre Artist
"Bright, creative, crisp, clear and profoundly giving, Katy is real and raw, and she makes it safe for her students to be wherever and however they need to be. Through my practice with Katy I have been learning to expand and fall apart and become more self aware, lighting my light just a bit brighter. Katy has taught by example. I am so lucky to be her student."
- Susan Rosen Faden, Caregiver at Visiting Angels
"Katy's classes sustain me in a truly holistic way. I love that she brings new things to class all the time, creative movement as well as poetry, and yet her voice is constant; she is unwavering in her acceptance of whatever is available to any one at any moment. Her teaching of spiritual practice, whether it is Quaker or Buddhist, is refreshing and purposeful. Most of all she brings wonder and joy to my life."
- Amma Napier, President and Founder, ANA Consulting
- David Teutsch, Ph.D, Director for the Center of Ethics
"If you want to become a whole person, come to Shiné. Katy trains your body, engages your mind, and benefits your spirit. Each of her classes is built around a theme, and her teaching, music, and readings are connected parts of that theme forming a complete experience. She teaches you what given movements can mean to your body. The music and readings she chooses from a wide variety of sources encourage you to become more peaceful, more curious, more tolerant, and stronger. She has a wonderful sense of humor and a seemingly endless supply of patience. Her class has changed my life for the better." - Linda Walters-Page
Katy is an amazing spiritual teacher. She integrates poetry, music and spiritual insight seamlessly into the practice. It is a joy and a privilege to learn with Katy."
- Rabbi Julie Greenberg, Senior Rabbi at Congregation Leyv Ha-Ir~Heart of the City, Philadelphia
"Katy is all intelligence, unpretentious charisma, and pigtails with a wink. She transmutes a fascination with the everyday that encompasses deep and ancient wisdom and no-bullshit gritty contemporaneity." - Lee Polychron, Co-Director, Kudzu Research and Insights
"In my 10 years of practice, I have never had a better teacher than Katy Hawkins. In each class, whether it be with 5 or 40 people, she has shown an uncanny ability to sense both what my body needs to feel and my soul needs to be fed. She is funny, smart and one of the most authentic people I know. I feel blessed to have her guidance in my life." - Becca Dhondt, Educator
"Katy is the ultimate teacher...smart, sensitive, thoughtful, and spiritual. Her love of teaching comes through in every moment of the practice. She knows each of her students, and senses their needs and place in the class. The poetry she infuses into each class adds to the beauty and serenity of the practice. One must get to class early to find a spot in Katy's class because she is so well thought of, respected and loved as a teacher."
- Ellie Seif, Photographer and Elementary School Principal
"Katy's classes are exhilarating. Her movement sequencing is creative and dynamic, with no two classes ever the same. As an athlete I appreciate the physical challenge her classes bring, but as someone who is recovering from a serious injury (fractured spine), Katy's spiritual teaching is what helps me focus on the internal work. Her language is infused with knowledge of poetry about the natural world, queer theory, Quaker philosophy, and Buddhist meditation training. Her beautiful use of language shows all her years as a college professor of literature. With wonderful music and chanting, lots of hands-on work, and time to meditate on her offerings, Katy's classes are a delight for the senses, as well as a treat for the spirit!"
- Lizzy Schmidt, Director of the Jonathan Lax Center Women's Program, Philadelphia FIGHT
"Katy is present and teaches to the people who are in the room. I think I'm especially aware of those times when I feel either more invisible or more visible because its something I've navigated in so many areas of my life as a queer trans person. I always feel seen during her classes." - D.C., Psychotherapist
"Katy Hawkins is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. Her pace, poetry and joyous presence are contagious and irresistible!" - Gina Gruenberg, Artist + Bodyworker
"Katy’s classes are always an exotic adventure. I find it best to go with no expectations and an open mind to see where she will take me. I return having been somewhere I have never been before, aware of some places I did not know existed... refreshed." - Julie Markovitz, Danca Travel
"Katy encourages you to take care of yourself first. She honors and celebrates her students, then gently challenges them. She is wise, kind, respectful. Her intertwining of poetry and philosophy through the class make it much more than a physical practice. She is a spiritual teacher and healer. There have been many times when I have left her class with tears of gratitude in my eyes. I always leave feeling better, comforted, stretched and open to the world."
- Grace Gonglewski, Four-Time Barrymore Award Winning Theatre Artist
"Bright, creative, crisp, clear and profoundly giving, Katy is real and raw, and she makes it safe for her students to be wherever and however they need to be. Through my practice with Katy I have been learning to expand and fall apart and become more self aware, lighting my light just a bit brighter. Katy has taught by example. I am so lucky to be her student."
- Susan Rosen Faden, Caregiver at Visiting Angels
"Katy's classes sustain me in a truly holistic way. I love that she brings new things to class all the time, creative movement as well as poetry, and yet her voice is constant; she is unwavering in her acceptance of whatever is available to any one at any moment. Her teaching of spiritual practice, whether it is Quaker or Buddhist, is refreshing and purposeful. Most of all she brings wonder and joy to my life."
- Amma Napier, President and Founder, ANA Consulting