Sissa is a place to slow down and return to the body.
There are many ways to gather here. Through classes, circles, workshops, one-on-one sessions, or a quiet moment in the shop. Whatever brings you through the door, the invitation is the same- to slow down, listen, and be present with yourself and others.
This work is rooted in connection to the body, to one another, and to the stories we carry. It's less about fixing what's broken and more about remembering what has always been there.
The Meaning of Sissa
Some decisions in life take me forever. I spent months deciding on the paint color for the walls.
Choosing the name wasn't one of them.
When my husband and I first looked at the building that would become Sissa, we weren't looking for an embodiment space. We were looking for a workshop for his construction business, with an apartment upstairs. I wasn't looking for my next chapter.
Then we walked in through the back door.
I can still remember standing there and seeing it before it existed. A studio in the back. Shelves in the front filled with books and goods that made you feel good and did good. Furniture that could be moved for workshops, conversations, or gathering together. It wasn't something I'd been planning. It just appeared.
I turned to Gregg and said, "Oh... by the way, I suddenly have a business plan, and I'm incredibly passionate about it."
Thankfully, he didn't laugh.
The night we made an offer on the building, I lay in bed wondering what I would even call a place like this. As I drifted off to sleep, I saw the storefront in my mind. It was cobalt blue, my mom's favorite color. Across the front was one word.
Sissa. My mom's beloved nickname, given to her by family and lifelong friends.
Sissa had a way of bringing people together. She listened without judgment and made it easy to open up. She was someone you could count on. Whether you were family, an old friend, or a new acquaintance, she made you feel seen, heard, and like you belonged.
At first, I resisted the name. It felt too personal, too feminine. I kept trying to come up with something inspired by nature or the seasons. But none of the other names fit.
Everything kept leading me back to Sissa.
Looking back, it makes perfect sense. Of course a place built around welcome, connection, and community would carry her name.
She embodied those qualities so naturally for everyone else. But like so many of us, she struggled to extend that same grace to herself. She longed for a community that would hold her, yet never quite knew how to find it.
Maybe that's one of the deepest lessons she left me. Community isn't just something we're meant to create for other people. It's something we're meant to receive, too.
I'd like to think the heart of this place embodies her spirit, because we all need places where we don't have to earn our belonging, where we can show up exactly as we are
Meet Katie
Hi, I'm Katie, founder of Sissa.
Sissa grew out of my own search for healing.
For years, I was looking for ways to feel better in my own body. Living with autoimmune disease led me to explore yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, sound, Reiki, and other healing practices. I wasn't looking for a new career. I was just trying to understand myself a little better.
What I discovered changed more than my health. It changed the way I listened to myself.
Over time, I realized that none of those practices were about finding someone else with all the answers. They gave me the space to slow down, pay attention, and reconnect with my own inner wisdom. That experience shapes everything I offer at Sissa.
I don't think healing only happens in solitude. Sometimes it happens in conversation. Sometimes through movement or sound. Sometimes by realizing the story you've been carrying isn't yours alone.
Whether I'm teaching yoga, holding space in a one-on-one sound session, or chatting with someone who wandered into the shop, my hope is always the same. That people leave feeling held and seen. That they recognize a piece of themselves in someone else's story and remember that we're more alike than we often realize.
My yoga classes are guided through the seasonal lens of Ayurveda and the rhythms of nature, but also by the seasons we move through as people. Sometimes we're beginning something new. Sometimes we're letting go. Sometimes we're finding our footing again. Every season asks something different of us, and I try to meet people exactly where they are.
In one-on-one sessions, I weave together sound, Reiki, meditation, and intuitive guidance. No two sessions are ever the same because no two people arrive with the same story. Rather than following a script, I listen to the person in front of me and what feels most supportive in that moment.
I'm a lifelong student. I'm a certified yoga teacher, Reiki practitioner, and sound healing practitioner, with additional training in meditation, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Ayurveda, and embodiment practices.
All of these practices are simply different ways of creating a place where people feel welcome, held, and connected. A place where healing has room to unfold.