Sophia Wood Massicotte is a free spirit. Her Soul is here to live, learn and love with an open heart.
Sophia has devoted her life to explore, express and embody her Divine Feminine Essence through a mixture of movement, sound, breath and stillness.
Her “raison d’être” is to serve and restore harmony, balance, wholeness and healing to humanity and Mother Earth.
She is the founder of The Art of Being Well, a holistic healing space which provides her the opportunity to connect with inspiring women, create empowering content, and facilitate powerful women’s circles and wellness workshops.
Sophia Wood Massicotte, Holistic Healer
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
Let’s do it! My name is Sophia Wood Massicotte, I am Canadian, born and raised in Ottawa, daughter to a very independent Mother, self-sacrificing Father and sister to a caring brother. Growing up, I never quite felt as though I fit in. Many people knew me (and liked me I think), but I never really felt that I had “my gang” that I could trust and fully be myself with. I also realized that I wasn’t making a lot of effort to integrate myself into already formed groups, and that this actually was the beginning of me carving my own path. But at the time, I just wanted to feel as though I belonged somewhere (more than my biological family).
Inspired by a boyfriend at the time, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and go solo traveling at around 20 years old. Little did I know that this very act was the beginning of a journey to rediscover my true essence and cultivate self-belief and self-worth. I spent most of my 20s traveling, working and studying abroad, meeting kindred-spirits along the way, facing all the challenges that arise from leaving your nest, and dealing with relationship ups and downs. Traveling and meeting people from different walks of life expanded my view of what is possible and inspired me to continue focusing in on my unique story and gift to share.
My passion lies within the realm of holistic wellness, stemming from a fascination of the deep mystery of our human experience and our ability to create heaven or hell on Earth. Self-expression, creativity and relationships are the spice to my life. I love to dance wildly, sing imperfectly, listen to the birds, invent new recipes in the kitchen, observe Nature in its magnificence, converse with friends over delicious coffee, swim in any body of water and wake up before the sunrise.
I consider myself both an introvert and extrovert (more on the introverted side). My “me” time is precious and I honor it with my sacred morning ritual, as is my time mingling at community events and with friends.
What makes me unique is my dedication and devotion to show up each day for myself, my business, and my students, and to pour my heart and soul into my craft. I also have a natural ability to set strong, healthy boundaries, respecting the limits of my body and energy. If you met me randomly on the street, you may think, “Wow, she looks like a confident, strong, self-assured woman”. This was not always the case. I’ve been cultivating my confidence and self-worth for years. I am actually a highly sensitive person and have had to navigate my own sea of emotions and inner turmoil in order to surface with renewed strength and power - A deeper connection to my Heart’s longing and truth.
What inspired the creation of The Art of Being Well, and how does your platform aim to promote wellness and personal growth?
The Art of Being Well was birthed from my own healing journey, recovering with an emotional eating disorder, heartbreak with the man I thought I was going to marry, and underlying feeling of “not being enough”.
It provides me the space to share the whole spectrum of my human experiences, as well as the wisdom that is downloaded and integrated along the way.
It is a platform to express my truth in a way that feels authentic and real, and to connect with other women who may also be facing similar struggles.
Suffice to say, the birthing of The Art of Being Well is a space where we harness the wisdom of our hearts, we unleash our authentic self-expression, and empower our actions through the energy of Love.
What role does community play in The Art of Being Well, and how do you foster connections and support among your audience?
I love this question. Growing up, I never felt as though I really belonged anywhere. During my travels I really loved the community of people I was meeting, yet it was never sustainable as I was always leaving to come home to Ottawa. It’s as if I was searching for a group of people that “understood me” and would accept me as I am. Yet in spending so much energy trying to find my community “out there”, the answer all along was in my Heart. By being more of me, and allowing myself to be seen for who I truly am and not as someone I think I need to be in order to be loved.
So, instead of running away, I chose to stay and attract a community of women from a place of deep self-love and acceptance. And that is what I hope to inspire in others through The Art of Being Well. It’s not about molding yourself to fit into what society wants you to be, it’s about you accepting who you are and choosing how you want to show up and how you want to feel. This is why a lot of what I teach revolves around self-acceptance, self-love, self-worth. It’s the foundation on which we build a life that feels authentic and fulfilling.
You need to be able to be comfortable with who you are. With your imperfections, with your quirks, with your emotions. And as you accept yourself in all your beautiful humanness, you allow others to accept themselves for who they are. And that start breaking down the barriers of separation that we’ve unconsciously put up around our heart.
Right now I’m really focused on growing my in-person community through teaching yoga classes, wellness program, facilitated women’s circles, hosting potlucks and going to community events. In growing a business, what has been confirmed is the importance of building trust and rapport with the people who want to partner with you. And I take that very seriously!
Another powerful aspect of the safe containers I create is bringing people together. The women that meet at the circles, workshops or even in the weekly yoga classes all are inspiring and supporting each other and me! It’s such a beautiful reminder that we don’t need to journey alone. We do have support! It’s a matter of feeling safe to express your truth, being witnessed in your vulnerability, and receiving love and support. Everyone benefits as we share our stories, challenges and successes. This is the power of community, and what I felt was the missing piece in my upbringing and for part of my healing journey.
Looking ahead, what are your plans for expanding or enhancing The Art of Being Well to further empower individuals on their wellness journeys?
My vision from the beginning has always been to create a hybrid model for my business. Along with continuing to nurture my in-person community, I am more consciously shifting my focus to grow my online audience and enhance my virtual offerings.
I’m on a committed path of creating a sustainable business model, one that allows me the freedom to create the life I wish to live, spending more time with friends and family, and to serve my students in a more powerful way.
I’m planning on hosting yearly retreats, which really provide an immersive, holistic and deeply transformative experience for the participant. Venturing outside your comfort zone and into a different space can be scary. With the right support and through building that trust and rapport, openness to new possibilities emerges, and magic is created.
I’m also currently working on an online course that I hope to launch next year in 2025, along with one shorter self-paced program that will be available on my website. I will continue to post blogs on my website and upload podcast episodes weekly on Spotify, as well as create meditations on Insight Timer and Youtube.
I’m calling in more collaboration opportunities and partnerships especially for wellness events and festivals, spaces that I would love to get more involved in.
As an eternal student of life, I am continuously deepening my own practice, diving into books, training, and topics that captivate me and are supporting my own journey. For now, I’ve been deepening my knowledge of Tantra Yoga, Astrology and Ayurveda, embodying its teachings in my daily life. As I expand my repertoire of tools and resources, I also share them with my community where I see it may be useful.
All in all, 2024/2025 is the year of stepping in and leveling up. I’m focusing on creating more systems and structure in my business so that I can spend more time engaging with and building strong connections with women who resonate with my vibe and message.
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far?
Building a business and watching it grow. I’m still in the process, of course, and very humbled with the process of birthing something that stemmed from a simple thought into the 3D world. It’s fascinating the power we have when we empower ourselves through our thoughts, beliefs and actions, and allow ourselves to try and make mistakes. The tears I’ve shed, moments I’ve felt like giving up, and feelings of “not being or knowing enough” are numerous… I stay in those moments long enough now to see myself through. From pain to power, wounds to wisdom.
Every obstacle I face I turn it into an opportunity to learn more about myself. To me, that’s empowerment. I don’t let my inner critic/saboteur stop me from going for what feels right on a soul level. I have to intentionally take the time to pat myself on the back and notice how far I’ve come, and to remind myself to never give up on my dream.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?
Empowering the individual. With so much information out there it gets confusing to know what is the truth and what will work. The answer I would give if someone asked me “what should I eat?” or “how long should I sleep for?” is: it depends.
This is why I studied Ayurveda, as it brings an individual approach to your healing journey. It states that everyone is made up of the 5 elements, yet each person has some elements that are more pronounced then other people.
This is what makes you different from me. Your sleep needs, diet needs, energy needs.
Yet we are all going toward the same destination – being able to live in a body that is energized and grounded, a mind that is clear, calm, and discerning, senses that are awakening and alive, and emotions that are stable.
To what end? To be able to show up as the fullest expression of our natural essence.
Whether you long to be a stay-at-home mom and cook all day, take care of your kids, or you want to start your own business and grow an empire, or you want to be a travel nomad, free to be wherever you are, or a bit of everything! You are the creator of your life and you get to choose how you want to feel in your mind and body.
The key here is our power of choice. That is empowerment. To me, that is the missing piece.
No longer will you need to look “out there” for solutions and the magic formula (or compare yourself with others).
We have our greatest inner compass and guide at our disposition for free – our bodies, an extension of Nature.
And within our bodies is our heart – the seat of our Soul. And as we learn to purify our body, calm our mind and withdraw from all the stimuli and noise around us, we can enter into the realm of our heart, where the answers to the questions we seek become clear.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
Let’s go back in time when it all started…from my first heartbreak at the age of 18.
This led to a downward spiral of over-controlling what I ate (binge eating and under-nourishing my body with poor food quality and quantity) and over-exercising.
The pattern would be as follows: I would eat way too much at night and feel guilty, then wake up the next day, run a half marathon, maybe swim for 30 minutes, do a HIIT workout, and eat a substantial breakfast.
Of course, the munchies would hit at night, and I would binge on the sweets…A whole 8x8 brownie pirex? Yes…Whole Nutella container? Yes…And then the cycle would repeat.
This lasted for about 6 years.
The worst of it all is that I lost my period, and have sadly not been able to regain it naturally for 10 years (yet). This just goes to show the amount of stress I put my body through for so many years, it literally shut down the part of me that connects me to my creative life force, pleasure, sensuality and sexuality – all vital elements for my wholeness and health!
I had lost so much weight that I was brought into the hospital with two very worried and helpless parents and I was told by the doctor that I had two choices: either I changed my lifestyle and habits, or I will have to be hospitalized.
That was the moment something in me shifted.
My upward journey was not a straight line. The step backs were plentiful, I was resistant of opening up to any sort of help as my ego was too big.
A beautiful relationship I had during the last 6 years really opened the doors wide open to all the areas of myself that have been shamed for so long that I didn’t even realize.
That is when I started doing the deeper work, and where my curiosity and (slightly) obsessive tendency worked in service of my healing and growth.
I got absorbed and determined to find the root cause of my dis-ease, which ultimately brought me to become a yoga teacher, discovering holistic healing modalities such as Ayurveda, Tantra Yoga, ecstatic dances, voice activation, learning about the moon cycles and dabbling into the world psilocybin mushrooms.
Now, even though I am still not where I’d like to be, I find myself more vibrant and alive than ever.
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