Raised on a palm tree farm in Jupiter, Florida, Nicole Bechill was on a creative path from early on. After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Savannah College of Art and Design, Nicole explored the United States, living in Nevada and Hawaii along the way. She finally landed in Athens with her then-boyfriend, now husband, Jason, who she founded the band Shehehe with alongside Noelle Shuck in 2011. 

 

A punk rocker by night, Nicole lives a quieter life by day, teaching mindfulness through yoga and meditation. She manages Revolution Therapy and Yoga, a multipurpose mind-body wellness studio in the historic Leathers Building off Pulaski street. Outside of Revolution, Nicole teaches various mindfulness classes around town, including meditation at the Georgia Museum of Art. At Revolution she offers both private sessions and community classes, which are donation-based. 

 

Nicole also teaches drawing, which she sees as a mindfulness practice of its own. She is currently leading a botanical art sketching class at the Winterville Cultural Center. She continues to perform with Shehehe often– the band released their latest album Namedroppers in August 2024. 

 

Nicole lives east of Downtown with Jason, their 8-year-old daughter Ramona, and their dog, Mr. Dogalina.

 

What do you love most about the work you do?

Being in the community. Being able to work in a helping profession and share the things that have helped me to find my center and be able to relax in the moment. Our world can be stressful and I love to help build a space for people to come and relieve that pressure. That goes for music too– I’d say being in a band and performing for people is also mindfulness. You’re sharing this moment of release after a long work week or something, and you go out and switch your mindset to just enjoy this thing you’re listening to and watching. Even if you don’t know the lyrics or anything, you can just move your body and enjoy. 

 

When you’re not working, what do you like to do in and around Athens?

We love Sandy Creek, swimming there or hiking, and going to the Nature Center. We visit playgrounds a lot because I have an 8-year-old. We’re still touring the town in playground form. We’re into riding bikes right now. My husband and I are both from Florida and grew up swimming all the time, so we try to swim in the summer as much as we can. Going to the movies at Ciné is really nice. And we go to the library a lot. 

 

If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?

I want to say we’d go somewhere different, but last year we left the country for the first time in a really long time. We went to Sweden and stayed in Stockholm, and it was in November so it was really cold. It was awesome. It wasn’t like any other vacation we would normally take because we’d generally want to go to tropical places. I’ve been thinking about how I’d like to go back there and enjoy that holiday vibe, where it was all snowy and cold but everyone was having fun with it still. It was just kind of part of their lives, which is really different from what I’m used to. We’ve also been thinking about going to Québec. I think it would be really cool to go there.

 

If you could see any musician or band, anywhere, at any time, who would it be and where?

I just missed the opportunity to see Cyndi Lauper, but when she came through I was thinking of this concert I went to see with my mom in maybe ‘99– it was Tina Turner and Cyndi Lauper together. It was awesome. I can remember that Cyndi was super pregnant, and had purple hair and was running all over the stage, and I thought that was really cool. It made a huge impression on me. But I can’t remember the show itself at all anymore after 25 years. I really just want to see that show again. I guess I could go sit and listen to classical music in a beautiful setting somewhere as well. Going to the Monterey Pop Festival back in the ‘60s would be awesome, too.

 

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Spend more time with your grandparents. 

 

Do you have a favorite book, or one you often reread, reference, or gift?

Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh. 

 

Do you have a favorite movie?

Anything by John Hughes. Any ‘80s movie. Home Alone. And Ghostbusters

 

If you could put any message on a billboard, what would it be?

Be kind.

 

If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and where?

I think I’d have lunch with Thich Nhat Hanh in his monastery. About 10 years ago the Georgia Museum of Art had a group of monks from one of the Plum Village monasteries, and we had a whole day of mindfulness, and then had a silent lunch together. It was very silly. I thought it would be stoic or something, eating in silence. But people from the monastery were giggling and kind of pushing buttons with their eyes. It was very fun. There were 10 round tables of like eight people each, and people were all just kind of giggling and trying not to talk. I thought it would be fun to do again. It’s funny, I’m finding there are just certain things from the past that I want to do again!

 

What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word home?

The ocean, sticky pine trees, and being in quietness with just the sounds of crickets and wind.