Cory Tixier

Ayurvedic Doctor • Educator • Healer • Lover of Truth & Life 

I was raised in the high, dry desert of northern New Mexico — a place that is stark, beautiful, and deeply isolating. We were poor. We lived in unfinished homes with little to no plumbing and long winters. There was a lot of silence, a lot of time alone, and very little distraction. That kind of environment either hardens you or teaches you how to listen. For me, it did both.

I spent much of my childhood wandering the mountains around Placitas, learning self-reliance early and finding steadiness in nature when there wasn’t much structure elsewhere. At the same time, my parents and some friends built something unexpected — a sand volleyball court complete with lights and speakers so we could play late into the night. That court became a lifeline. It gave us discipline, community, and an outlet for intensity. We trained hard. We competed. And we got good — good enough that many of us went on to receive full athletic scholarships. I was one of them.

That full ride took me to college in Texas, where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and competed at a national level, winning a championship in 1997. Athletics taught me how to work, how to stay focused under pressure, and how to endure discomfort without flinching.

Biology gave me a framework for understanding the body that would quietly inform everything that came later. Together, they gave me momentum — and a way out.

After college, I moved to New York City and entered the worlds of medical technology and pharmaceuticals. I wasn’t lost — I was curious. I wanted to understand how health operated at scale. What I found was a system that was efficient, profitable, and often deeply disconnected from lived human experience. After several years, I woke up to the cost of that disconnect and chose to step away.

From 2005 to 2012, I founded and ran Pure Habitat, one of New York City’s early eco-conscious cleaning and consulting businesses. We served both residential and commercial clients, offering not only cleaning services but assessments and guidance for healthier, more environmentally responsible ways of living and working. The business was successful, and it taught me how to lead, how to translate values into action, and how to create something sustainable without sacrificing integrity.

Sprituality by way of Buddhism, Yoga and Ayurveda all entered my life during those years — not as a career move, but as a grounding and awakening force. Through my practice and inquiery something began to reorganize internally. I went on to complete my initial yoga and Ayurveda trainings training at the Yogaville Ashram in Virginia. Many years later through that relationship, I would be invited to serve as the Ayurveda point person for IYINYC. 

LIVING THE PHILOSOPHY

Another invitation from Dr. Lad followed, and India came next, and it became one of the most profound chapters of my Ayurvedic journey. I helped develop and lead an immersive Panchakarma Therapist Training near Pune, guiding students from around the world, overseeing client care, and ensuring continuity and integrity in every treatment. Each day was a masterclass in responsibility, presence, and precision — balancing the needs of students learning, clients receiving care, and the rhythms of a traditional Ayurvedic clinic.

HOW LIFE ALIGNS

At the same time, I maintained strong ties to New York and my yoga family at Integral Yoga Institute NYC. Through workshops, retreats, and visiting practitioner work at the IYI Wellness Center, I was able to share Ayurveda with the community that had first nurtured my practice. This work eventually led to the founding of New Moon Ayurveda, an Ayurveda school rooted in classical teachings and accessible, community-based education, which I co-founded with my husband and our friend Jennifer Ayres.

Through our outreach initiative, Ayurveda for the People, my husband Danny and I were awarded an artist residency at the Andrew Freedman House in the Bronx, where we were given living space, clinic space, and a large gathering room to offer consultations, classes, and ceremonies to the local community. That chapter was vibrant, relational, and deeply human — and, unbeknownst to us at the time, the closing of a long traveling arc.

From 2016 onward, Danny and I lived lightly and taught widely — across India, New York City, New Mexico, Mexico City, and Hawai‘i. We gave up our house, kept one car and a small container of meaningful belongings, and followed the work. In 2020, after returning from our final India training, we landed in Hawai‘i to teach — and stayed. What we didn’t yet know was that this return would become our beginning.

Today, we live on the North Shore of O‘ahu, where we’ve transformed a humble plantation-style farmhouse into an Ayurveda Hale — a place of healing, education, and community. I have always chosen to practice Ayurveda from home. It feels honest. Personal. Traditional. This is the kind of Ayurveda I believe in — relational, educational, and grounded in daily life.

I am a Licensed Massage Therapist, and after the pandemic, I was invited by NAMA to sit for the inaugural NAMACB Ayurvedic Doctor-level board examinations. Preparing for that exam was a joy — another deep dive into a system that continues to teach me. After a long waiting period, I learned I had passed, becoming one of the first practitioners in the United States to hold this certification.

These days, you’ll find me crafting herbal formulations, medicated oils, ghees, and honeys; guiding clients through deeply personalized care; hosting private Panchakarma immersions; teaching students; and living a life that includes surfing, hiking, dirt under my fingernails, and our dog Frankie close by.

I’ve lived many lifetimes in one. I believe healing is practical, earned, and relational. I believe education is a form of care. And I believe a meaningful life is built by listening — again and again — to what’s true.