How I Discovered Yoga & Ayurveda…
(and how it changed the way I understand healing)
Hey, I’m Cassady… Most people call me Cass.
If you had told me nine years ago that I’d be teaching yoga and speaking about Ayurveda, I probably would’ve laughed. When I first rolled out a yoga mat in college, I was just looking for a workout. I had no idea it would become the thread that wove together so many pieces of my life – my health, my creativity, my relationships, and ultimately, my purpose.
Yoga as a Lifeline
College was a mix of discovery and disorder. I studied abroad, experienced culture shock, and lived in a dorm with black mold. That environment likely planted the seeds of what would later become chronic health issues. In the middle of all that chaos, yoga became my constant.
What started as movement for the body turned into medicine for the mind. I didn’t have the words for it at the time, but yoga was teaching me presence, patience, and the power of simply showing up for myself.
Fast forward a few years to 2020… The world slowed down, and so did I. During the pandemic, I launched two passion-driven businesses rooted in healing and creativity. At the same time, I was balancing a demanding corporate career in HR and Recruiting. Eventually, I had to press pause on my businesses, but the spark never left.
Navigating Autoimmune Challenges
In my early twenties, I began noticing signs that something was off in my body. Flare-ups, fatigue, and inflammation eventually led to an autoimmune diagnosis of psoriasis at age 26. But long before I had a name for it, I turned towards holistic healing – exploring Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tantra, and yoga philosophy.
I attended retreats, met teachers who spoke the same language of both spirit and science, and started realizing that true healing is less about “fixing” and more about remembering who you are beneath the symptoms.
Diving Deeper Into the Studies
In 2022, I decided to formalize what had already been unfolding for years. I completed my 200-hour yoga teacher certification and immediately enrolled in a 600-hour Ayurvedic Health Coach training with The Shakti School.
For the past three years, I’ve been studying under dozens of teachers, learning about Ayurveda, Tantra, and the deeper principles of yogic living. I’ve fallen in love with this work – the way it meets you exactly where you are and gently invites you back home to yourself.
A Life-Changing Injury
In my late twenties, a severe injury changed everything… again. I underwent surgery and spent a year re-learning how to use my arm (still working on it tbh).
It was humbling.
That experience cracked something open in me. I began to understand healing on a deeper level. Not as a checklist, but as a conversation between body and mind. Between what’s painful and what’s possible.
Choosing A Different Path
Shortly after that injury, I made a decision that changed the course of my life. I left my corporate job to focus fully on my studies and build my own business rooted in holistic wellness. It was one of the scariest (and most liberating) choices I’ve ever made.
For years, I had been helping others find alignment in their careers while quietly craving it in my own life. Walking away gave me the space to integrate what I’d been learning, deepen my Ayurvedic studies, and start creating something that felt true to who I am.
Where My Work Lives Now
My healing journey hasn’t been just physical. It’s included grief, loss, relationship challenges, and a deep longing for connection. These moments, though often painful, have been my greatest teachers. They’ve led me back to my art, my spiritual practice, and the natural landscapes that inspire me most.
Today, my mission is to support others who find themselves in that in-between space – between diagnosis and daily life, between knowing something needs to change and figuring out how to begin.
Healing doesn’t stop at the clinic door. It continues in your kitchen, in your breath, in how you move, rest, and relate to others. It lives in the small choices we make every day.
I don’t claim to have it all figured out. But I do believe in walking this path together as students, as teachers, as humans doing our best to heal in a world that often moves too fast.
Because the beauty of the journey isn’t in perfection, it’s in the steps we take toward wholeness.
❤︎
Enlightened Escape 