The Chocolako Factor
A conversation with Chocolako: global meditation and yoga teacher committed to helping lifelong learners and change-makers create impact without burnout.
Chocolako is committed to working with forward thinking creatives and professionals, yoga teachers and yoga practitioners of all levels, who are open to embrace continuous awakenings, outperform limiting stories and reach more expansive versions of themselves. Her mission is to help people soften into their heart toward greater devotion to The Great Mystery and transformation from pain into power and pleasure.
WE-AR: How did you come by such a delicious name?
CHOCOLAKO: It's actually a pretty interesting story. I'm named after my maternal Grandmother, Olako. It's very common in Nigerian families to be honoured and named after a relative. When I was a child, my Aunts and Uncles would tease me and call me their "chocolate baby", "chocolate candy", "chocolate Olako" and eventually Choc Olako stuck. We are part of a lineage of female warriors, healers, and ground watchers of the soil in Benue State, the breadbasket of Nigeria.
WE-AR: How did your Yoga journey begin?
I started teaching yoga immediately after the completion of my Ashtanga influenced 200-Hour Yoga teacher training in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2010, I moved from Boston to London to complete an MBA. I immediately set up The Yoga Club as a means for students to restore their vitality from within. The success of the first yoga club at Cass Business School in London helped me to feel confident about teaching yoga and meditation in Lagos, Nigeria. While living in Africa for over 6 years, I established a vibrant community of lifelong learners who fuse yoga, meditation, and African art into transformative awakenings. I love Africa, and am very happy to see how the benefits of yoga and meditation are being fully embraced.
WE-AR has a very feminine, gentle, yin-like way of designing clothing for an embodied woman connected to soul energy. I love the softness of each garment and that WE-AR is located in two of my favourite parts of the world to restore and feel the lightness of being - Bali and New Zealand. A huge part of my healing journey has occurred in both of these magical parts of the world.
At Innergy, we specialize in creating bespoke wellness luxury with yoga retreats, teacher trainings, virtual and in-person workshops around the world. Our most popular and sought after offerings are African Drumming Meditation and Chakra Healing Innergy Masterclass. The Innergy Collective is also developing a responsible process for making jewellery, yoga and swimwear.
