Check Out Caressa Joyce’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caressa Joyce.

Hi Caressa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m Caressa Joyce, a Yoga-Massage-Energy Therapist, Life Cycles Celebrant, Artist, Activist, Mom, Life Partner, and Somatic Coach.

I live on the unceded territory of the Erie People, now known as Cleveland, Ohio and I am a grateful steward and protector of this land.
I was born in Cleveland, OH in 1980 to a dad of West African-American and Mexican descent and a mom of Northwestern European descent. My parents raised me to be proud of my multi-racial ancestry, to be a curious learner of the various cultures of the world, and to be active in making my community a place that supports all of its inhabitants.
I attended a Christian church in my youth and it inspired within me the awe of knowing that there is a Creator which we all come from and return to.
When I was 16, I went to my first yoga class with some friends and there began the daily practice that I have continued for almost thirty years.
At 17, I was introduced to the practice of reiki when a friend gave me a book about it. I read it cover to cover, fascinated by the mind-expanding possibilities. Yoga and reiki have since sustained me throughout the ups and downs of my life and the more I practiced yoga, the more I came to understand the ideas and embodied experiences of reiki.

When I was 18 I graduated from Westlake High School, began college at Kent State University, and met my mentor, Margot Milcetich, who taught me yoga and how to be a yoga teacher, as well as Chi Gung and Jin Shin – which are healing practices that harness and connect us to the energy of the Earth and the cosmos. I continue to learn yoga philosophy from Margot and her husband Bill and to donate to the school in India that they founded as my way of reciprocating the gift of yoga that I, as a Westerner, feel honored and humbled to share.
During my college years, I lived in Portland, OR for a while to continue my reiki studies; I traveled to Bali, Indonesia, where I learned the art of silk painting and how to create offerings to the deities; and I returned to Kent to earn my Bachelors degree in Fine Art, with a focus on Fiber and Sculpture.
Post-college, I moved to New York for an internship at the Women’s Studio Workshop where I created a body of work that was exhibited in galleries in New York and Chicago.
Upon returning to the Cleveland area, I became a Reverend of the Universal Life Church to offer guidance on life’s rites of passage. In addition, I began activism work by producing and acting in theater productions that raised money for abuse survivors in Summit county, and led to a job working for non-profit arts organizations on their fund-raising campaigns. I began raising money for the Cleveland Orchestra and 8 months later, moved out to San Francisco to fund raise for the SF Ballet.
I lived in San Francisco for a few years – teaching yoga in community centers and shelters, offering massage and energy work, and visiting the redwoods and ocean to meditate with the Earth as much as possible. I also earned my certificate to teach yoga at the 500 hour level and to be a Yoga Therapist. I currently teach yoga workshops at Abide Yoga and work with clients one-on-one.
In early 2010 I traveled to Thailand to study and earn certification in Traditional Thai Yoga Massage. I went on to complete a 2 year training in Western massage from The Harmony Path School of Massage and I’ve been a licensed Massage Therapist since 2013. I specialize in Prenatal, Thai Yoga, and Sports massage, having worked over the years on the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers teams, along with my private practice.

In April of 2010, my mom passed away suddenly and I moved from San Francisco back to Cleveland to take on the role of primary care giver for my dad. In processing our grief, we created the weekly ritual of gathering with my sister for breakfast and taking flowers to my mom’s grave. This practice provided the foundation for some of the work I now do as a certified Life Cycles Celebrant, where I offer guidance through life’s rites of passage.
I began this work in earnest in 2020 after training in the Reclaiming and Curandisma traditions as a way to unite the folks in my community around the cycles of the seasons and to celebrate the turning of the wheel of the year. Since then it has evolved into the Seasonal Herb blends ceremonies that I hold every 6 weeks and in creating unique ceremonies for a wide range of people for the life transitions of: birth, coming of age, acceptance of Self/coming out, marriage, divorce/dissolution, surgery, moving to a new home, parent’s blessing, a new business, menopause, retirement, and death.

In 2022, after practicing Reiki for almost a quarter century, I completed my training for the Reiki Master level and I feel blessed to share this healing practice with people. It is a wonderful way to weave the joy and magic of energy work into mundane daily tasks by slowing down, breathing deeply, and noticing the sensations that are present in the body. When we feel the vibrations in our own bodies we become aware that consciousness and beauty are alive in all things.
The major milestone of Reiki Master certification coincided with offering Somatic Coaching. I trained in the ReBloom Somatics program and am excited to support people through gentle invitations that connect them to their ability to feel present and grounded as difficult emotions arise. Weaving this coaching in with reiki helps people to bravely tap into the shadowy places inside, see these places as portals to deeper healing, and opportunities to free up more life force energy. I support people through all of it with tools such as journaling, meditating, and grounding in nature.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The struggles I’ve encountered along the way all seem to center around sustaining a big loss and rebuilding afterwards. Losing my mom in 2010 meant that not only did I lose my closest confidante, but in having to move back to Cleveland to take care of my dad, I lost everything I’d built in San Francisco where I’d lived for years: my job as an office manager, my yoga teaching positions, my best friends, my boyfriend, and a city where I felt most at home. It was a true ego death to go from living the fun, free life of a hip, young woman, zooming around the city on my Vespa to moving into the house I grew up in, driving my mom’s old car to take my dad to his doctor’s visits. It took years to fully revive myself from that journey into grief but I met my life partner six months after moving to Cleveland and we have rebuilt together, with a strong foundation of friendship and love.
I also felt my life turn upside down when I became a mom with my first son and had to navigate my new roles and responsibilities almost completely on my own. Work obligations kept the two most supportive people in my life – my sister and husband – from offering the depth of help they wanted to give so I clawed my way through postpartum depression and anxiety with faith in my Creator and my yoga practice.
Those residual feelings of overwhelm come back up to the surface from time to time, especially when we all got hit with the disaster of the Covid pandemic. I continue to practice surrendering any control I think I have and tap into my resources of yoga, meditation, and connecting to Source.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a multidisciplinary spiritual therapist and teacher, who weaves together the wisdom of ancient ritual arts with modern trauma-informed healing practices to create nurturing spaces that honor and integrate practical, emotional, and ethereal transformations. I offer the services of teaching therapeutic yoga and meditation, as well as leading ceremonies and guiding people in somatic life coaching, along with giving healing massage and intuitive reiki.
My specializations are in treating chronic issues, such as back pain, neck and shoulder tension and anxiety. I meet people where they’re at, so if they’re new to yoga, I don’t introduce advanced poses and expect them to instantly understand. I work with the body that is in front of me and the issues they’re dealing with that day, not whatever plans I may have had going into the session. This means I have to be versatile, flexible, and possess a wide range of knowledge. Whether teaching yoga, offering reiki, or giving massages I start at the surface and work to the deeper layers. I don’t act as a gatekeeper of knowledge – everything I’ve learned, I share. My aim is to empower people through their own self awareness and healing processes to find a deep body, mind, spirit connection. I’m known for guiding people through life’s profound transitions, illuminating paths and offering useful insights to navigate challenging and joyful times with grace and compassion. My offerings arise at the crossroads of my initiations into caregiving and motherhood, my training as an artist and ritualist, and my reverence for the beauty of the natural world.

What are you most proud of?
While I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve received and the credentials I’ve earned, I’m most proud of my efforts of political activism and the funds I’ve raised for organizations I believe in. During my college years, I started a tradition around the holidays in my yoga community of raising money and donating it to Heifer International. That was also around the first time I marched in a protest of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I’ve also raised money for global and local charities through teaching yoga and thousands of dollars for my kids’ schools. Throughout the years, I’ve continued to attend rallies, educate, and donate – and while I can’t always be out in the streets, I tap into the power of the purse by boycotting businesses that don’t align with my beliefs and donating to a myriad of organizations that do.
We can use our voices in a variety of ways and when we center our humanity, our respect for all people, and this blessed land we’re fortunate to live on, we build the communities we want to live and raise our kids in. I’m also proud of the collaborations I’ve built. I’ve created a web of kindred spirits who help and support each other. Our collective efforts make us stronger, kinder, wiser, and able to speak up for those who can’t – which is our responsibility as resourced people.

What sets you apart from others?
One thing that sets me apart from others is my diversity. I offer a wide range of services that complement and support each other and are centered around the unifying focus of holistic health. Health doesn’t come through only one avenue. If we try to address symptoms simply on the physical level, we may miss underlying issues on the mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual levels. My approach aims to foster a relationship between all the parts of ourselves, steeped in acceptance and compassion. What that looks like on a day-to-day perspective is that my massage clients will receive a little reiki energy along with invitations to mindfully breathe and yoga poses to do at home. Clients who come to me to co-curate a ceremony will also learn a bit of yogic philosophy. And if you attend one of my yoga classes, you will get the feel of a ceremony and will reap some of the benefits of a somatic coaching session.
Diversity as one of my strengths also means that my clients range in ages from 18 to 88, they come from a variety of social backgrounds, and many of my clients are members of the BIPOC community. All feel comfortable working with me because of my caring and welcoming nature. This nature developed from the appreciation of diverse cultures that my parents instilled in me and grew through my world travels and studies of ancestral medicine.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as an ongoing, inner feeling of purpose and contentment more than a series of brief benchmarks from an external source. When I help a client realize and process their shadow parts or support a neighbor with my time and energy, I feel that my work and the community I’ve built are sustaining me emotionally and spiritually in a deep, profound way. I didn’t choose my path because I thought it would bring me financial security or notoriety. I chose it because it feels aligned with my personal values and I feel lucky everyday that I get to do the work I do. It feels exciting and enriching to study, to teach, guide, and help people

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.caressajoycenteredlife.com
• Instagram: @caressayoga