Life & Work with Corissa Bragg of East

Today we’d like to introduce you to Corissa Bragg.

Alright, thank you for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us how you got started?
My story starts with trauma. My childhood was very traumatic in many ways, and as I entered adulthood, I tried to find ways to escape the pain of my trauma. I drank a lot, used drugs, had casual sex, and placed myself in dangerous but exhilarating situations. I just wanted to escape the pain I was in temporarily. Eventually, I found my way to a job that regularly helped me escape and made me feel very powerful. I became an exotic dancer. Using my sensuality to have power over men and getting paid for it made me feel strong. It made me feel like I was taking the reins after being a victim of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of men. Every night after my shift ended, I felt empty again. The power was gone. I didn’t have any power in my life outside of stripping.

One day I was sitting around the strip club, waiting for my shift to start. My friend who I worked with had brought in a hippie magazine. The magazine had articles about mindfulness and yoga with tons of advertisements for tarot card readers and acupuncture practitioners. I laughed at my friend for reading something like that in the strip club, but the magazine cover caught my eye. The woman on the cover looked beautiful, with her flowing dress and body bending into a yoga pose. She looked free but also sensual and powerful. I read the magazine article about her, and it was all about how she had transformed her life with Tantra, a practice that unites awareness and energy. So much of her story reminded me of mine, and I wanted what she had. I wanted to feel like I could overcome the pain I’d experienced in life. I quit stripping and drinking that night and started to meditate. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to feel better.

Every month I would pick up that magazine, hoping to find another article or interview that inspired me, but that never happened. One month, as I picked up the magazine, I noticed the same woman on the back cover. The woman who had inspired me so much, and on that back cover, it said that she was coming to town to do a tantra yoga teacher training. I knew, at that moment, I needed to do that training.

The moment I met her, I felt this deep stirring in my body. Standing next to her made me feel like we were connected in the deepest places I had ever felt inside myself, the depth that transcended any pain or love I had ever experienced. I trusted that feeling and started learning from her.

I spent the next 6 years studying with my teacher, Psalm Isadora. I traveled with her to India to study with her guru, Sri Amritananda, and to become initiated into the tantric lineage, Sri Vidya.

Things started to happen to me that amazed me. Through the tantric practices, I started to feel the physical release of trauma from my body. I would spend long periods practicing with my teacher and just burst out crying, feeling the place in my body where I was holding onto the abuse and then allowing myself to let it go. Having a practice that helped me move through my trauma was so liberating. It felt good, but it also gave me an incredible understanding of myself and those who have experienced trauma and how it plays out in the cycles of our lives. I was doing so many things over and over again. That came from the unconscious cycle of trauma that was always playing in the background of my mind. I realized that when working with trauma, we must bring the body into the healing process. The body is where trauma is stored, and to move through it, I had to move it through the body.

I started ritualistically putting this energy of love and devotion into my body. I also started to learn practices around body worship. Through these practices, I started to let go of the shame and hatred I had for my body. I felt like I was always at war with my body, constantly trying to lose weight and improve it instead of just loving it for all the amazing things it does. Moving into love and gratitude for my body offered me another layer of freedom.

Eventually, my teacher permitted me to teach others what I’d learned. It took me a long time to feel confident enough to teach. Now I work with individuals and couples regularly, helping them to find the liberation I found. It is incredibly rewarding to watch people move from pain to pleasure. I get to witness couples walk into my studio stressed and disconnected and walk out with love and connection. I get to watch individuals allow themselves to cry and scream through the things they’ve held in their bodies and then feel peace after they’ve let them go.

Teaching helps me love and accept the complexity of our humanity more, and it anchors me in my Tantric practice. I not only experience the beauty of Tantra on my own but also watch and facilitate healing in others through Tantra.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think my road has ever been smooth, but that’s life, right? I have more peace now than ever, but there will be obstacles as long as I live a human life. My biggest lesson was not running from it, not trying to escape my pain with things that would make me feel worse. The difference between now and when I was younger is that I have a deep sense of trust that I am fully capable of moving through what life throws at me. Part of that is the acceptance that life is painful, there is no way around that, but if I can fully feel the pain, I get to feel all the pleasure too.

Sometimes when I’m practicing Tantra, I become MORE aware of the pain and suffering I’m experiencing. That doesn’t always feel good, but bringing awareness to my pain is the first step in letting it go and moving through it. I welcome the bumps in the road now; they are teachers and carve out more depth and understanding of what it means to be human.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in teaching tantric techniques to couples, individuals, and groups. My most frequent bookings are with couples. I encourage all the couples I work with to go to therapy because therapy is a super important part of the healing process. What I offer is like couples therapy, but instead of talking, I work with the body.

A lot of couples, logically and mentally, know they love each other and want to connect, but something stands in the way. Because of trauma or general life stress, people sometimes block themselves from connecting, even with the people they love the most, and desire this connection. Sometimes couples need to help their bodies remember why they love their partner so much. This is where I come in to help couples feel safe with each other, to help move stress and tension out of the body, and help couples find each other again. Some couples I see are already very happy but want to add to the depth of their connection by adding an element of mindfulness to their physical expression of love together.

My other specialty is shamanic sexual healing sessions with individuals. These sessions are similar to general energy healing sessions but come from the tantric lineage, so sexual energy is involved. I use hands-on and hands-free techniques to generate and move sexual energy through a person’s body. This can be very intense for individuals but also illuminating for them. It’s usually a great display of what we are capable of as human beings. We are so much more than just the physical body. We are energetic beings as well. It’s beautiful to see people wake up and start using this energy to fuel and heal their life.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
When people hear ‘Shamanic Sexual Tantra Healer,’ all sorts of images pop into their minds. I think people are surprised that I’m a pretty normal person! If people catch me on the weekend, I’m taking my kids to the park or going to see a concert with friends. I lead a pretty normal life despite how unique my job is.

Another thing that may surprise people is that I still get nervous before the sessions and classes I teach. I think it’s important to know that although I’ve gone through the fire and done a lot of healing work on myself, that journey never ends. There is never a perfect ending, and I am not a perfect human. I still get nervous and insecure. I still doubt myself and struggle in many different ways. I think sometimes we expect our teachers and guides to living a charmed and holier-than-thou existence, but everyone on this planet is just a human being, and we all have different skills to offer the world. I’m a regular mom who has followed my passion for healing and empowering others.

Pricing:

• Couples Session 1.5 Hours: $200
• Individual Tantric Healing Session 1 hour: $100
• Private Group Tantra Instruction (3 person minimum): $44 per person
• Full Day Tantric Retreat 8 hours: $1000 This option is generally for couples who want to spend a whole day deep dive into Tantra, learning how to use energy healing with each other and learning Tantric ritual to help with connection.
• Tantric Pleasure Coaching Party 3 Hours: $500 This option is for large parties who want to play with Tantra. I teach the practices and instruction on mindful self pleasure and tantric sex.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.corissabragg.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/corissabragg
• Facebook: facebook.com/corissabraggtantra

Image Credits
My main personal photo was shot by Courtney Cheek Green. The action shots of me teaching were also shot by Courtney Cheek Green. The images with the rose and rose petals, as well as the image of me in the field were shot by Julianne Reynolds.