Journey to Healing and Community – Exclusive Interview with Candace Machado

Candace Machado is a Spiritual Thought Leader and Holistic Social Worker. Her work in the mental health field led her to deepen her own spiritual and thought-provoking path to heal herself while emphasizing helping others along the way. Candace has created a Community of like-minded people who want to heal and grow together. From her humble beginnings, to the mental health field, to holistic practices, and landing herself as a Mayor, she comes with a diverse background. Her OM Mental Health app is available in 176 countries worldwide on Apple and Google stores. Her mission is to help others one moment at a time.

Candace Machado, Theraexpressions Meditation

Introduce yourself.

Candace Machado is the owner of Theraexpressions Meditation LLC. She is a Holistic Social Worker and Spiritual Practitioner fusing Mental Health, Meditation, Yoga, and Ayurveda practices together. Her purpose is to walk alongside others while they believe in themselves once again. Candace’s orange journey started over 10 years ago when she was 10 years into her traditional clinical career working at a Psychiatric hospital. She experienced a breakdown in her life and began the spiritual journey within. Finding unhappiness in the traditional sense, she found herself in a Buddhist Monastery and retreat center to deepen her own understanding. Through that experience, she continued on the Dharma Path and started her true passion. Theraexpressions was born, and the adventure of reinventing herself and helping others reinvent themselves became a full-time magical passion. Life for Candace growing up was met with challenges in friendships and feeling good enough. Although she excelled in many areas professionally, the one area she needed the most was acceptance from herself. She found her sense of worth through spirituality and the sacred moments she gets to spend with others. Spiritual work, for Candace, is about that moment where she holds space for another person while they find themselves. That moment where they realize “Who I am beyond the labels, titles, and roles”. In Candace’s experience, the moment her community realizes who they are, everything else unravels in a beautiful, confident orange space. Candace has enjoyed her love for family, travel, nature, bulldogs, and the occasional adventure or two. Her true calling is to help others heal themselves while having fun along the way. Oh, and did we mention her favorite color is Orange?

What inspired you to create Theraexpressions, and how does it reflect your personal journey?

I was in my 10^th year of doing social work, clinical practice, and traditional therapy in prisons, substance use facilities, and psychiatric hospitals when everything in my world was slowly falling apart. I was burnt out, stressed out, and felt like I was missing something in my life. I just didn’t know what it was at the time. I knew I wasn’t on the right path I just didn’t know what the path was yet. I decided to leave the Psychiatric hospital I was working in and waved goodbye as I left. There was no going back. I found myself at a Buddhist Monastery and retreat center at a silent women’s retreat for a whole week. It was an awe-inspiring, life-altering experience. I had never felt that level of peace, that level of contentment. After that week, I dove headfirst into my own spiritual deconstruction for the next year to unravel parts of my life and rebuild the relationship with who I was in that moment. I was a woman searching for something I didn’t understand, but I knew I wanted a different life. You could say I had a whole Eat, Pray, Love moment and changed my entire life. Theraexpressions was born out of my need to continue helping others, but from a deeper place of understanding and guidance. I didn’t just want to help people with their minds; I wanted to show them where their trauma exists in their bodies and how to release that suffering. The traditional route never worked for me and I have found that everyone who has been a part of the TheraCommunity has felt the same way. That is how they ended up at Thera. We are all looking for a deeper truth, an authentic connection, a meaningful community. That is what we provide at Theraexpressions. A place of support, guidance, and honest conversations with lasting relationships.

Can you elaborate on how your four pillars, Meditation, Mental Health, Yoga, and Ayurveda, intersect in your programs?

Our four pillars are the cornerstone of everything we do in therapy. We incorporate a holistic lifestyle in every class, every seminar, every session, every retreat that we provide. Meditation and spiritual practices are the foundation of the company. Asking the deep and meaningful questions that we wouldn’t normally ask ourselves while sitting in silence. In silence, we have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide; we have to meet ourselves where we are at in that moment. Mental health practices are infused in our retreats, spiritual seminars, and our 1:1 sessions, where we provide spiritual deconstruction of the mind, body, and spirit. We focus on the Buddhist teachings. We walk alongside others while they ask themselves the difficult questions. Yoga is the body’s movement to connect with the breath. We focus on trauma-informed care yoga with an emphasis on somatics and polyvagal work. Ayurveda is incorporated in our sessions and classes to build self-care practices, healthy lifestyle choices, and routines. Everything has a lovely way of interweaving itself together in everything we do.

What role does community play in Theraexpressions, and how do you cultivate a supportive environment for your clients?

Our TheraCommunity is the foundation that keeps all four of our pillars moving. Without our growing community, we wouldn’t be who we are as a company or a community. One of my folks always says, “It’s more like a family than a community”. The beautiful thing is you can choose how connected you want to be in the community and how many activities, events, classes, and retreats you want to attend. Our community extends all over the world, whether it be online or in person, there is a sense that everyone is working on themselves. We have three areas in TheraCommunity that we instill in all interactions: Emotional safety, Emotional Security, and Emotional Settling. We strive to create a warm and supportive environment from the moment a person enters our digital world or the in-person world. We also have ambassadors who help our community thrive. Our activities stem beyond our four pillars to include: outdoor adventures, dinners, lunches, get-togethers, and shared moments. The community is our home away from home. Everyone I come into contact with in the community has left a beautiful fingerprint on my life.

With the launch of your 'OM your Mental Health' app, what impact do you hope to achieve in the digital wellness space?

I hope that we can build a happier, healthier, spiritual space in the digital world. A space where people feel safe, supportive, and secure. I am hoping to reach people near and far and remind them that they are not alone and they have a community that is ready to embrace them with open arms and open hearts. I am also hopeful that we can start to build a larger discussion around expanding our understanding of different ways we can shine light on mental health resources. Our OM your Mental Health app is free to download, and when you sign up for our membership, you get access to our TheraCommunity world. Join the TheraCommunity today and let’s get started on your healing. The impact is what we make of it and we have an opportunity to embrace people from all walks of life.

Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for Theraexpressions, and how do you envision its growth in the coming years?

I would say my aspirations are to continue to grow the TheraCommunity and to continue to meet new people and have shared experiences. I plan in the next 10 years to book larger speaking engagements worldwide, expand the OM your Mental Health app to wider audiences, build a retreat center abroad where people can come to unwind, and continue to have a vibrant company that is rooted and regulated in authenticity and contentment. Chasing after my dreams is just the beginning. There are so many adventures that await us.

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Read more from Candace Machado