OUR FOUNDERS
Chris Joy
My name is Chris Joy, my wife Kate and I are the founders of FLOP. We met in 1998 and both experienced love at first sight. We have grown exponentiality together, while also supporting each other’s individual journey.. something I believe gives us a wealth of peace and happiness.
Today, we have four amazing boys/young men, who keep us active and make life exciting! Our family has been on this healing journey together and our children have been extremely instrumental in our spiritual development. As a family of six, it blesses me to say: We are all healthy. We are all happy. We are all growing. And we are thriving!
Background. I began my adult life as a printer, following my love for art, earning a scholarship and an associate’s degree in graphic production and management. While working in the printing industry for 20 years, I volunteered as a street minister, served at our local missions and churches as an elder and youth pastor. After a divine sense of calling in my life in 2007, I went to Multnomah University and Western Seminary for preparation and training.
After I graduated seminary in 2015, I chose to devote the time to my own personal healing and emotional health, and time rebuilding our family. I wrote about this time in detail in a writing project you can find here.
In 2019, I began my specialized training as a chaplain and worked for three years in local hospitals, hospices, and the Behavioral Health Unit. I have attended far over 1000 deaths, provided care in almost every unit in the hospital, and I have had the privilege of meeting hundreds of absolutely beautiful people.
I learned more than ever before how many people are honestly suffering through life alone, with a strong desire for God or the Holy, but with so much religious oppression or spiritual abuse in their past, they have been unable to receive spiritual care.
Then I discovered something absolutely amazing. Every single person I have been able to equip and empower with the tools of spiritual health has seen their lives change drastically! Their strength is regained, a sense of agency is restored, and hope is renewed!
This is not a “one size fits all” model. Instead, I provide guidance and expertise in developing a customized spiritual health and personal development plan that will make a difference.
As an interfaith practitioner, I draw from a variety of sacred traditions to design a set of spiritual practices that honor your preferences and experiences, while abundantly expanding your awareness and your own capacity for growth and spiritual maturity.
I look forward to the opportunity to work with you and grow with you. Reach out soon to set up a consultation and Spiritual Assessment and let’s begin the next phase of your Spiritual Development. Contact Chris at: chris@weareflop.org.
Kate Joy
My name is Kate Joy. I began this journey of health and wellness in 1998. I was a Physical education assistant at Guajome Park Academy. Here I was given the opportunity to develop a course, for Jr. High girls, for yoga and aerobics. I loved teaching the girls how to move with confidence. I believed I would be teaching there until retirement!
Then in 2005, I set sight on my first born son and I knew my goals in life had shifted at that encounter. We uprooted our small family from a palm tree lined, fast-paced, high cost of living lifestyle, and settled north in the lush green forests of the Willamette Valley. Here we have grown into a family of 6.
I attempted to work the 9-5 with my then 2 young boys and pregnant with our 3rd, but felt in my heart a heaviness that the money we thought we needed to provide security to our children was literally pulling me away from providing them the physical security their developing bodies needed.
We made the decision together, made financial shifts, and made staying home to raise the boys a priority. This shift created the freedom and desire to be available to play a key role in the care of my step-father, who suffered a massive stroke, through his hospice care and eventual passing.
Directly after his death, I was given an opportunity of being the dual care-giver to my grandmother where I learned the process of compassionate care as we trailed down the long road of dementia to transcendence. It was during these years that I felt a deep calling to begin living a more disciplined life. I started with yoga videos on YouTube and moved Insight Timer, an application for classes and lessons, to go further in my practice.
I discovered many variations of yoga I enjoyed; hatha yoga, hot yoga, yin yoga and others, but chose kundalini yoga as my course for teaching and became certified through KRI (Kundalini Research Institute) taught at Satya Yoga Academy.
I value the teaching of Kundalini yoga because it supplies me with a “medicine cabinet” of Kriyas (cleansing movements), mudras, mantras, meditations and postures to physically move and heal the emotional bonds we hold deep in our bodies and provides breathing techniques to “burn away” or move any emotional garbage that is currently causing disease “dis ease” to our internal organs and bones.
I can attest to my own health journey with my sadhana (personal practice) that I have experienced physical healing. As I cleanse myself of years of negative thoughts, learned behaviors and pent up emotions, my external ailments have lessened if not completely dissipated.
It is with this passion to health and wellness and the full support of my family, I am ready to share this gift with anyone who is ready to explore this way to self mastery. I am eager to hold a space for you to heal and grow. Contact Kate at: kate@weareflop.org.