Meet Christy Desko

We were lucky to catch up with Christy Desko recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Christy , so excited to have you with us today and we are really interested in hearing your thoughts about how folks can develop their empathy? In our experience, most folks want to be empathic towards others, but in a world where we are often only surrounded by people who are very similar to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to develop empathy for others who might not be as similar to us. Any thoughts or advice?

I remember being 6 or 7 years old when I recognized that all people are experiencing pain at some point in their lives and are capable of experiencing great suffering. These may seem like big thought for a little girl at that age but it made me want to help relieve this pain and suffering in my life. I was lucky that I knew that I wanted to help people in some capacity at a young age.

I grew up in an abusive household so it was a real decision I made to not be like my caregivers and to get away from them as soon as I was old enough to do so.

I have always believed in God. Through my tough childhood experiences it was always me and God. It was the only constant. My church was outside underneath the big, blue skies of the American Southwest. The land raised me. Among the creosote and sage I played with plants and flowers of the deserts I loved. I explored and vibed with the creatures and nature all around. To me, the pink clouds embroidered with outlines of golden light and the blazing red sunsets were God.

For me, compassion and empathy come easily. I choose a career that would allow me to use my natural abilities of care along with the remedial benefits of plants and flowers. I became an herbalist and an Ayurveda bodywork practitioner/coach.

When I was a homeless teen at 15 years old panhandling for food money I was invited to an Indian temple by a Hare Krishna. After an hour of listening to them read from the Bhagavad Gita and chanting with them I ate the most wonderful vegetarian Indian food. All of these flavors were what I had been craving my whole life.

I didn’t vibe with their specific religious ways but I found meditation, Kriya and Bhakti yoga through them.

I became a devotee of a saint in India whose name is Sri Sri Sri Karunamayi who teaches us to be kind, compassionate and good to others and the World. She is an embodiment of the Goddess Saraswati and I consider her my spiritual Mother. My love for the Goddess is what drives me to help others.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My business is called Cazimi Spa and it’s located in Portland, Oregon. A cazimi is an astrological term (in Arabic) that means that when a celestial body is close to the Sun, the Sun illuminates the best qualities of that particular celestial body. It translates as ‘Illuminated as in in the heart of the Sun’. This is the root of my brand. I wish for all of my clients to shine their best selves; as when we feel pain free and free of suffering, we are at our best.

It’s an Ayurveda based spa studio where I provide massage therapy, facials and body treatments from an Ayurvedic way using herbal oils and botanical elements in the treatments. I am very excited to be growing my business every day and to be able to help people feel better and to be happy. Supporting people through loving kindness and Ayurveda also makes me very happy.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I never went to business school or took any classes in college on how to run a business. I really learned the hard way! I have now had 5 business throughout the last 20 years and have learned so much! Firstly I think I learned the hard way to be very careful when partnering with anyone and to not do it ideally. Included in that is that nobody is going to care about the health of your business as much as you do so choose who you bring in carefully. Tenacity is another quality that is important. One thing I always tell people is to believe in yourself and your dreams. Don’t let anyone take your dreams away from you, there is always a way. You can create or destroy anything, choose wisely.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

My biggest challenge is managing a chronic, incurable disease that I have called Multiple Sclerosis. I was diagnosed about 4 years ago. This illness causes me fatigue, pain, mobility issues and is slowly disabling me. It’s a neurological and autoimmune disease that progresses over time. The severity of it varies from person to person but it is highly challenging and sometimes very scary and depressing. Being that I use my body for my work this is one of the hardest things to manage due to its complexity and unpredictability. I have been discriminated against in jobs because of it and wrongly fired. This is ironic because all it did was make me work harder to create a better business model and made me more successful.

I manage my illness with Ayurveda and herbal remedies. I don’t take disease modifying medications as they are very inflammatory for my body and cause me more problems. Natural and holistic medicine is what works for me. Doing bodywork and massage therapy for the last 23 years has kept me strong and doing better than I think I would be if I had a different profession. I give myself grace and take one day at a time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cazimispa.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cazimispapdx

Image Credits

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