It was at the behest of her bodywork clients that she began teaching Yoga to small groups and individuals in 2001. She can teach Yoga and Yoga Therapy sessions, and Vedic Chant sessions both in groups and one-to-one individual sessions. Joy offers adaptations suitable for each individual with yoga postures, breath exercises, mantra, affirmations, chant, visualizations, and meditation in the practices. These types of accomodations are most favorable to promote well-being and balance to the whole being. Because of the pandemic, she has recently only been teaching online courses in Vedic Chant.
Joy first went to India in 1979, and has been practicing Yoga ever since. She has visited India 6 times, studying and paying homage. She started with meditation, studying scriptures and the wonderful epic writings of India. Joy has studied the physical Yoga exercises in the US beginning in 1989 with Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty, Richard Freeman, David Swenson, Lisa Walford, Erich Schiffman, Rod Stryker, John Friend, Paul Grilley, and others in the styles of Astanga, Viniyasa, Yinyoga, Hatha Yoga, ViniYoga,and Iyengar.
Not completely satisfied with what she had experienced, she bought the book: "The Heart Of Yoga" by TKV Desikachar, and this led her to take more courses from different teachers in that lineage. Joy has a 200 hr certification from Samata Yoga with Larry Payne, Ph.D., a 500 hr certification from Healing Yoga Foundation with Kate Holcomb, Chase Bossart, and Todd Stellfox, following this lineage of Srī T Krsnamācārya and his son TKV Desikachar. She has studied Yoga Therapy with Chase Bossart, Kate Holcombe, Mirka Salco Kraftsow, Richard Miller, AG Mohan and family, and Kausthub Desikachar.
She first learned the Gāyatrī Mantra and a Mahā Vākya when she visited India in the 70’s and 80’s but did not pursue Vedic Chant at that time. She began studying Vedic Chant more earnestly in 2009, with various teachers: Chase Bossart, Menaka Desikachar, and Sonia Nelson. In 2016, she began studying much more extensively and seriously (weekly classes) with Radha Sundararajan from Chennai, India who had been head of the Vedic Chant Department at the Krsnamacarya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) in Chennai, India. Joy received her Certification as a Vedic Chant Teacher in 2019, under the sponsorship of the TSYP in the United Kingdom, led by Radha Sundararajan, Helen McPherson, and Gill Lloyd. She continued studying once weekly with Mrs. Sundararajan. Unfortunately, Radha Sundararajan passed away with her husband from Covid-19 in Chennai, India on May 14, 2021. She now studies with another teacher from the Vedic chant department of the KYM in Chennai. She is studying Sanskrit and chants from the Devanāgarī which is the official script for Sanskrit.
Joy was in private practice as a certified Bodywork Therapist for 35 years. She employed Shiatsu, Polarity, Trigger Point Therapy, Myofascial Release, Connective Tissue Integration, Acupressure, Lymphatic Drainage, Swedish, Sports Massage, Visceral Manipulation, and Cranial Sacral Therapy. Joy studied IdeoKinesis with Irene Dowd who was an assistant to Lulu E. Sweigard at Juilliard School in NYC. She also studied and taught Body Mind Centering with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, and studied Myofascial Release and Cranial Sacral Therapy with Michael Shea, Ph.D.. She is a certified Aromatherapist, and translated (French to English) Aromatherapy classes in France. She was also a certified Practitioner for the Church of Religious Science, now known as Centers for Spiritual Life, and was affiliated with Agape, under the leadership of the sublime Reverend Michael Bernard Beckwith.
Testimonial:
“Joy is a wonderful Vedic Chanting Teacher. I have had the pleasure of knowing Joy since 2017 when we studied together. Joy has a beautiful, clear and precise Vedic Chanting voice. Her knowledge of the Vedic mantras is rich- she brings them alive and relevant to our times with her beautiful descriptions. Her warm, caring and kind nature shine through her voice, her wisdom and her personality. I would highly recommend her teaching to anyone.” Elaine Ewens, Yoga Teacher, TSYP Vedic Chant Teacher.
Joy now lives in Portland, Oregon.
Logos designed by Marguerite Schumm of Portland, OR.
