We were lucky to catch up with Misty Green recently and have shared our conversation below.
Misty, so great to have you sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our readers and so let’s jump right into one of our favorite topics – empathy. We think a lack of empathy is at the heart of so many issues the world is struggling with and so our hope is to contribute to an environment that fosters the development of empathy. Along those lines, we’d love to hear your thoughts around where your empathy comes from?
Through my experience of pain, my capacity for empathy has and infinitely continues to grow. Through the inevitable suffering of this human experience, my light expands from the inside out.
What were the conditions that allowed you to develop your empathy?
This is a big question. One I could write a book on.
And I may one of these days.
I could speak of my childhood and how I carried a ‘mother wound’ with me for many years that directly affected not only myself but those around me.
I could speak on sexual assault [a total violation of the physical, mental, and emotional body], sleepless nights, medications, and a lot of group and solo therapy.
I could speak on a few major bicycle accidents, one including a pretty scary brain injury and a punctured lung.
I could speak of age [46 this year] and how, at this stage of life, I have come to a place where so much of what mattered in my 20s or 30s seems lifeless & trivial. I recognize the richness in presence, the delicacy and fleetingness of time… or rather the expansion of time when spent in genuine connection with people and the world around me.
I could speak of the time I am fortunate to spend with my clients (or friends, family, strangers) and how my life experiences are intertwined through their stories. They show me a mirror reflection of what I have already gone through, or sometimes, what I am currently going through. In those moments, I know we both feel truly seen. It also reminds me, again and again, of our interconnectedness and how service with heart is undoubtedly full circle.
I could speak at great lengths of the true heart of yoga and how, over the last 15 years of practicing and leading, it has been an ever-evolving doorway to spiritual growth, oneness, and many good helpings of humility.
I can speak of the unfathomable kindness so many people have gifted me. People who may have very little…. whether monetarily or in spirit. People who display sparks of love contrary to any darkness I have been dealt. People who, conscious or not, are guides to inspire my/our highest good.
So, whether empathy was curated within me through the effects of ‘survival mode’ and via a series of unfortunate events where I acquired the tools to tune in and distinctly aware of subtle things many may miss… or perhaps some supernatural close-to-death experience [anything is possible, right?], or a direct link to another’s heart- it’s many paths to one field. Love.
One thing is sure: I have my weary moments, my times where it has felt like I am moving through a dark night of the soul, but It has not annihilated my spirit.
Perhaps I could be thankful for the side of me that, in the past, was labeled stubborn.
Perhaps it is that excruciating inner longing for wholeness… and in the deep knowing that ultimately we are all ONE, that I heal and bring myself to wholeness through the web of serving others in that capacity.
When I see, hear, and feel the suffering in another, it tells a story of the same pilgrimage of my soul. I cannot help but have compassion permeate my being and extend my heart’s presence. Through my own embodied experience, I know how the prerequisite to healing is feeling truly seen & heard.
To share something I just recently posted on my social media page:
“When my heart breaks, it breaks open… not closed.
Heartbreak can reveal our exquisitely imperfect wholeness- 𝑖𝑓 we allow it.
I hope to inspire your own breaking open through my heart’s broken openness.
Through the pain and suffering of the world, my arms extend longer, and my heart unplumbed. Through every tear shed, a symbol of widening- and of my capacity to love fervently.
This is my true nature. This is Gaia.”
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I have been guiding Yoga for folks since 2010, both privately and in various group settings: From yoga studios, recreation centers, rehabilitation facilities, military bases, kids’ art camps, and schools to corporate offices. My yoga training includes trauma-informed therapy as well.
I taught multiple weekly classes for nearly eight years while living in Dallas, Texas.
In 2013, my initial Reiki training & attunement opened me up to a vast & ever-evolving energy work practice over the last ten years.
In 2014, I was introduced to the art of Vedic Thai yoga bodywork. I fell in love, and soon after, I enrolled in my first training with Mukti Buck and followed up with many more hours of certification later on with my teacher, Shama, who was out of Thailand.
Somewhere in there, I became an ordained minister with the church of Life and officiated three ceremonies.
In 2018, I relocated to Fort Worth. I decided the timing was advantageous to take a break from group yoga (outside of a handful of donation-based pop-up sessions) to focus on furthering my bodywork education and building a Fort Worth clientele. I maintained my one-on-one yoga sessions the whole time.
I was certified in Cognitive behavioral therapy in 2019/20 and am continuously progressing with my CBT education at a turtle’s pace.
Around that same time, I found resonance for Acutonics healing and bio-tuning. I have trained in and begun developing a relationship with sound and frequency medicine for the last five years, using tuning forks and hand chimes.
After years of offering Thai bodywork, moving from the Thai floor mat to the massage table was a natural evolution of my somatic health and wellness work. I became a licensed massage therapist in 2020, ten years after the initial thought seed was planted. My path came full circle and expands from here. What a gift!
And, of course, I am always a student: I am currently in classes studying the nervous system/Vagus nerve in much greater breadth than I have for years prior via solo internet pocket searching.
Please take a look at my offerings page located on my website.
**Since November 2022, I have offered Seva (free) classes right next to my suite at Raja Yoga Fort Worth.
These classes are every Wednesday at 7:30 pm.
A description of these classes is located on my website as well.
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?
Whew!
I would say my resilience, trauma awareness, and the more profound teachings of yoga have been the most impactful. Although, I could have a different answer tomorrow *wink*
Any advice I would give to folks who want to develop any skill further is to move toward what speaks to your heart. Not what folks ‘should’ all over you. Allow the body to speak to you in sensation, too. There is a lot of untapped wisdom there.
It’s easy to stay present and curious if you are following that instinct, which could change and not always be so linear in fashion.
I would also suggest finding good teachers and mentors. It’s not just the folks who have thousands of followers who have massive wisdom to share.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
I love working with folks who recognize and value massage therapy as a potent & therapeutic modality for thriving wellness, as opposed to just a luxury or frivolous ‘rub down.’
I love working with folks who may have had below-mediocre experiences of massage therapy/bodywork but decided to give it another go anyway and come out to have a new perspective afterward.
I love collaborating with clients, where they feel safe communicating and trusting me to do my work. I have a specific way of working, and it is ineffective for me to be micro-managed. Fortunately, I haven’t had many of these experiences.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/heartoftaowellness
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartoftaowellness/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MistykatGreen/
Image Credits
Photographer: Debra Gloria Photography Model: coliedoesmywaxes
