Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Katcher.
Hi Julia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, let’s briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My journey started when I was very young. At the age of five, I began learning and comprehending technical dancing, and by the age of fourteen, I was dancing on large stages with well-known people in the industry. This was the start of understanding the true nature of discipline. While still in high school, I made a two-hour trip almost weekly to invest in a more professional learning environment for dancing to expand and improve my dance career and dance locally for another studio. A person can only get so far with limited knowledge. Though many my age were invested in the doings and understanding of what it is like to be a high school teenager, I was generally always instead displaced because if you want something bad enough, you must meet yourself in the determination, devotion, and discipline to get that thing.
At that moment, I did not care for anything but dance and all it had to teach me. To this day, dance is my bhakti, devotion, and elevation of self. Dance took me to college to get my BFA in dance and brought me to California to pursue a career. I ultimately danced for a company in San Diego called Axxiom Dance Collective, where I performed under the direction of Joei Waldron, choreographed, and showed my pieces around California. In life, paths do alter and change. One cannot understand the challenges of trying to live in California financially while also wanting to pursue a dream. Oddly enough, this dream shot me in multiple directions.
I have always worked in a career that has utilized all the things I acquired through my dance discipline. Most cannot even fathom how disciplined dancers are, as well as how athletic they are. That being said, that is what I pursued. I went into a career of personal training, studying bodybuilding and body sculpting, and understanding the technical disciplines of martial arts such as Muay Thai, kickboxing, and boxing. I loved understanding the body in all the ways it moves and can be manipulated. Martial arts were similar to dance, involving beautiful movements such as kicking and throwing punches. It truly was an art form for me to learn the deep, in-depth ways of doing this movement. Martial arts are a form of aggressive dancing. This can also be said of learning personal training. I was quite curious and went through a lot of study and self-study to fully understand how my body moves and how I could get other people to move their bodies in a way that benefited them. This all ties back to my dance background. I can honorably say I have danced onstage in front of thousands; I have boxed in a ring in Tijuana, Mexico, and got to train under one of the most profound humans I have ever met (Librado Andrade). He carries incredible weight in my heart, and I have competed on two separate stages for NPC bodybuilding. It does not matter what you wish to do; the objective is to go out, pursue, and do it.
During this time, I was also deeply invested in healing. I was healing from the inside out. During college, I was unfortunate and had a profound loss of my father. My father was everything to me. I went on a soul-searching journey when I arrived in California, and it led me down several spiritual pathways. I was ultimately searching for God’s meaning and what that meant to me. The grand question of “who am I.” This allowed me to truly understand what meditation was and how to utilize it to benefit the whole. With this, I found Ayurvedic Medicine, which I chose to study, and I graduated from Southern California University of Health Sciences for my practitionership in this healing modality. I expanded upon this by going deeper into the understanding of obstetrics and gynecology as a specialty in Ayurveda. I also started to study the yogic sciences deeply, from which I obtained my five hundred-hour registered yoga credentials. Every form of healing leads to other forms of healing, so understanding and appreciating them all is a blessing. This healing journey also led me to dive into energy healing, in which I have studied the mastership of Usui Reiki and subtle learning in metaphysics and Qigong.
Today, I am utilizing everything that I have studied. What you study should benefit not only those you wish to teach but also your life and expand you. I am currently studying for my Doctorate in Naturopathic Animal Sciences so that I may bring holistic healing not only to people but also to animals. I want to continue to aid humanity by treating and helping as many as I can to rise in this life. My next goal is to pursue my PhD in Eastern Psychology. One of my dreams from childhood to now is to own a farm on which my husband and I currently reside (so that came to fruition) as well as run my gym ‘W’holeistic Athletics, as well as my Ayurvedic practice, The Practice: An Ayurvedic and Healing company, along with giving Satsang and yoga in my yoga studio. One must always understand that any step in a growth direction could lead you down a path you must be aware of. My dance career and dedication to that path have led me to all these other ways of creating and showing up in this life. I am truly always grateful for the path. Trust it.
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The most interesting thing about life is that with every up, there are also many downs. This is why it is so important never to assume anything about anyone. You will never know the steps each person took to get to where they are. A lot of my triumphs came from deep downfalls. The entire reason I decided to dive deep into spirituality and the understanding of God was the loss of my father. The loss of my father shifted many things in my life. This happened at the age of eighteen, so I was already in trauma at a very young age. Knowing the root cause of everything in the body is rewarding later in life because you can heal from all of life’s struggles. The main reason I started martial arts was from the many abusive and aggressive relationships that I had been in. My abuse was physical, mental, and emotional from various partners. I was never one to ask for help, so I just let this trauma and neglect build up over years of abuse. I became a workaholic and merely shoved everything down. I barely slept and was constantly volleying between uppers and downers to function. Though this was the case when I got myself out of these situations and rebuilt, I was stronger because of them. I am always a huge speaker on it, no matter how hard you get knocked down, but can you stand back up and fight again?
My boxing coach, Librado, always used to say, “As in boxing, so is life.” He recently said, “You will never really know yourself until you’ve been in a fight.” I felt my entire existence in California was a fight, and I was constantly getting back up and fighting another day. Even on my first start there, I didn’t have much money; I moved there with about five hundred dollars in my pocket, ended up in a room in someone else’s apartment because that was all I could afford, and slept on the floor for a year to build a life there. I started from nothing there and built myself and my name up with hard work and dedication. True resilience, true perseverance. This is also why I always tell people some of the most beautiful people you meet in life can have a story to tell you that can bring you to your knees. I am grateful I survived and chose to fight in all the circumstances that could have put me in my grave. This is what has humbled me to my core and keeps me humble. In the lowest lows, always know there is a highest high, and you have to keep striving to get back up and fight. This is truly the meaning of you vs you. You are worth it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next time, you can tell us more about your business.
I currently own two separate companies that coexist with each other. My practice, The Practice: An Ayurvedic and Healing Company, offers profound insight into Ayurvedic medicine and allows me to consult with each client on a unique and individual basis. I generally spend one to two hours with each consultation I give as I feel Ayurvedic medicine is not very well known in the States, and it needs time for people to understand and fully embrace it. Ayurveda is a beautiful form of medicine that dates back thousands of years. Treatments, herbs, diet, and lifestyle changes can alter a person’s life. To align every individual with this world’s macrocosm and bioenergy so they can truly heal and feel completely whole. If the person who comes to see me is also interested in spiritual studies, energy healing, or sports medicine, I will give detailed guidance in these arenas. Studies should be expansive when working with someone to heal them from the root cause of ailments. I have always been interested in the production of life and the sustainability of life. I have watched so many women suffer from major conditions involving the reproductive system and have no solution other than having a full hysterectomy. I wanted to dive deeper into how to heal women holistically, so I acquired additional, more in-depth knowledge in obstetrics and gynecology from Arya Ayurveda Panchkarma Clinic and Ayurveda Academia, Pune, India, under the direction of Dr. Amruta Athale. This continued in-depth study has helped me help many women in reproductive cases as well as aid in pregnancy and post-pregnancy. To give life is such a gift.
I am also deeply interested in understanding the mind on multiple platforms, so studying the mind in Ayurveda has been key throughout my practice, as utilizing yogic tools to aid in mental conditions. Ultimately, I will also seek higher education in this area of study.
My other company is ‘W’holeistic Athletics, my gym and fitness center where I train clients privately. I am an anatomical trainer, meaning I look at someone and can understand how to work their body from their anatomy. My gym is quite different from other gyms because I have a professional background in bodybuilding, dancing, boxing, and yoga. It is rare to meet a coach who pursuing multiple sports to a master to teach and give information properly. Everything I do, I like to try it on myself first and then provide information to others as an experience. I truly lead by example.
The two of these combined are the main things that separate me from other people in my industry. There is a minimal amount of Ayurvedic practitioners who also have deep knowledge of training and the physical sciences, and there are few personal trainers with an extensive background in holistic healing. I truly believe in the mind, body, and soul connection, and to understand the totality of this, I had to get educated and then practice both the fitness side of myself in discipline and the holistic healing side in practice. I do not dabble; I go all in. Lead by example. Another massive difference in my practice will occur once I complete my Doctorate in Naturopathic Animal Sciences in 2025. I will open up my holistic practice to include animals. All beings of this life contribute to the whole. All deserve the utmost respect and care. I am most proud that everything I teach is something that once healed me. I know this is a powerful tool for transformation.
I offer one-on-one personal or private group training in the study area the client wants to pursue. I also offer Ayurvedic consultations and treatments, energy healing sessions, yoga classes, study, and spiritual study or guidance on meditation. I am also open to teaching movement in the dance arena and ecstatic movement for healing. I only wish to contribute to the whole.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson on my journey is to keep your head down and do the work. Do not get involved outside of the self too much. When you let others get in your head, you may get defeated. As harsh as it sounds, stay in your lane, be humble, be open, and pursue all that you want to pursue with the intention of seriousness and due diligence. Triumph and success are always in the work. Once you stop learning, growing, changing, and evolving, you stop life from happening. Challenge yourself daily and dedicate your life to devoted discipline. Whenever I have been defeated, I stop listening to myself and what I truly want or believe. You have to trust yourself, your intentions, and your aspirations. Even if no one understands, pursue it anyway. If you truly pursue what makes you feel alive, you truly will be aligned with your purpose and a love of the entirety.
Contact Info:
- Website: ThePract.com
- Instagram: @thepractice_ayurveda
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePract
- Instagram: @whole.istic_athletics
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whole.istic.athletics/
