About Us

Support and nurture the creative energy (shakti) in each of us for positive transformation and evolution by growing unconditional love, compassion, intuition, self-empowerment, healing, sustainable living, and sense of unity to all living beings and the environment. We do this through inclusive wellness services, safe space community gatherings, and educational self-growth opportunities. We use eco-friendly, sustainable, vegan, and cruelty-free products. 

In a patriarchal world where the values of competition, greed, selfishness, and blind ambition reign, it is time for the values of the Divine Femme to rise up.  

Allison Constanza, Licensed Massage Therapist (MT-25673), RYT-200, Founder of Shakti in the Desert

Allison believes deeply in the importance of the healing arts for self-care and overall wellness. She has personally experienced and seen loved ones experience profound healing from bodywork, which has led her to study massage therapy at the Arizona School of Integrative Studies (ASIS) in Tucson. She graduated as an Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) from ASIS in January of 2019. At ASIS  she learned a variety of massage modalities including Swedish, Myofascial techniques, connective tissue release, trigger point therapy, prenatal, Thai massage, and  Craniosacral therapy. She has also studied foot reflexology, advanced prenatal, advanced foundations, and hot and cold stone therapy at the Tucson Massage CE Institute, as well as Ashiatsu (barefoot massage) through Step Into SAMBA. 

Allison’s approach is nurturing and holistic. She strives to assist her clients with positively connecting with their bodies and getting into states of deep relaxation. She holds space, and combines fluid movement with intuitive, balancing energetic work. Her study and practice of yoga, along with her Reiki experience also inform her work and help create an individualized experience. 

Allison has been practicing hatha yoga for over 18 years, starting at age 11 with her mother, going to Shanti's classes at Yoga Haven in her hometown of Knoxville, TN. Through yoga and qigong Shanti taught her to feel comfortable in her body, techniques for stress and anxiety management, and practicing using her voice in a safe space of yoga community.

During college at the East Tennessee State University she became passionate about feminism. She minored in Women's Studies, worked in the Women's Studies department, and was active in the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and the Tri-Iota Women's Studies Honor's Society. 

She learned the ways our patriarchal society has oppressed women throughout history and still today, valuing masculine traits and devaluing the feminine.
 

She first became involved in Divine Feminine community during a self-study course in her Women's Studie's program on Women's Spirituality. From there she discovered the then blossoming Shakti in the Mountains community in Johnson City, TN. This community space is for women to cultivate, nurture, and celebrate the feminine. 

She experienced profound self-growth through the new moon circles, community yoga classes, workshops, and various community events. 

Since then Divine Feminine and Goddess-based spirituality has been a central focus for her spiritual practice.  
 

Since living in Tucson she has been active in Tucson's Red Tent community. Red Tent is based off of the concept of moon lodges, an ancient tradition of women gathering on the new moon in sacred space. This community has aided her in finding her passions, feeling more empowered, and connecting further with the Divine Feminine through sacred sisterhood.

In 2017 she graduated from the 200 hour Yoga Alliance certified Yoga Therapy College program in Tucson. 

From there started Shakti in the Desert in Tucson to bring healing practices to her community through honoring the Divine Feminine in all of us to benefit all life.
 

Through the ABRY - All Bodies Rise Yoga (www.allbodiesriseyoga.com) mentorship program she is evolving her understanding of the interconnection of different forms of oppression. 

She has found Divine Feminine-cultivating communities that are women-only to be profoundly and positively life-changing, but has since realized that these spaces are unnecessarily exclusive and is now working to expand her Divine Feminine community to all femme-identifying folks. 

As a queer femme herself, she has found the term "femme" to be incredibly empowering. 

"Femme doesn’t belong to one group of people because femininity isn’t used to oppress only one group of people... femme is about defiance. Femme is the word we have for reclaiming femininity, challenging beauty standards and the ideals of womanhood. Femme is the word we have for remixing femininity and womanhood and reshaping these things so it can hold all of our sexualities, genders, races, cultures, abilities, and bodies." 

Femme is intentional. Femme is not inherently connected to sexuality or the gender binary. Femme is political and radical. Femme is not intended to please the male gaze. Femme is authentic. Femme is rebellion against the patriarchy. Femme is for anyone who connects with the word.

Allison is passionate about ending all oppression in all its many forms. She advocates for compassion for all life and the planet as a whole through social justice activism, spiritual practices, and sustainability.