Rising Stars: Meet Joelle of West San Fernando Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joelle.

Hi Joelle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Joelle Nañawa, and I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. After years of training, practice, and mentorship, I founded my business Warrior Healing Arts in 2020. My work explores the intersection of martial arts, mindfulness, myth, and ritual to help people cultivate a more empowering relationship with themselves and the world. I’ve trained in a lot of different modalities, but I think the heart of my work boils down to the three things I’ve struggled with the most and learned immensely from: energy, agency, and power. I’m interested in challenging some of the narratives we’ve inherited about these forces and exploring how we can redefine these concepts in ways that help us live more fully, relate to each other more responsibly, and create a world where we can all thrive.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No smooth roads detected! But honestly, I can’t imagine life any other way. At least not a life of character, growth, and depth. As I mentioned, energy, agency, and power are at the heart of both my personal journey and my business. I’ve spent much of my life painfully fatigued, struggling to understand my own rhythms and forcing myself into societal expectations that weren’t built for me. Learning to cultivate my energy has meant finding practices and resources that actually support me, from kung fu and nutrition to medication and proper medical guidance from qualified professionals. I’ve also given away my agency and sense of identity to people who wanted to shape me into their own image. Reclaiming those parts of myself taught me the value of discernment, which I think is one of the sharpest blades we can wield and a blade I hope to pass on to others. I’ve also had to rethink what power actually means. I’m interested in power that isn’t rooted in dominance, control, or the ability to make others smaller, but in the capacity to protect, create, resist, and make meaningful change. Learning from activists, artists, and warriors has shown me how power can be used to challenge the narratives we’ve inherited, confront the pain of our past, and work toward the liberation of us all. Honestly, I wouldn’t have the philosophy I do or the business I’ve built without these struggles. They’re not just obstacles I’ve had to overcome, they are the foundation of my work.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a movement and martial arts connoisseur who’s a little obsessed with curating my life like an epic montage scene from a Michelle Yeoh movie. I love exploring different disciplines, philosophies, and traditions, finding the threads that connect them, and weaving them into my own tapestry of understanding. In my work, I specialize in making things approachable. Martial arts, mindfulness, and personal development can sometimes feel intimidating or inaccessible, and I want people who work with me to feel capable, competent, seen, and respected. I’m interested in helping people discover what they’re capable of without asking them to fit into someone else’s mold. I’m proud of the relationship I’ve built with my own body and all the things it can do: move, make shapes, protect itself, and defend others. I’m also proud of how I’ve learned to regulate and harness my mind in ways that support my creativity and my business. People tend to know me for traditional weapons training, lazy witchcraft, and my slightly irreverent sense of humor. I think what sets me apart is that I’m always looking for connections between things that might seem unrelated, and finding ways to make those connections useful, meaningful, and fun for other people.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
To me, success is about the quality of our relationships, having a strong sense of identity, and being able to discern truth from distortion. It’s having the freedom and capacity to make our own choices, self-actualize, and contribute something meaningful to the world. Ultimately, it’s about living an intentional, badass, and whimsical life on our own terms.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.warriorhealingarts.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/warriorhealingarts/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/warriorhealingarts
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelle-nanawa-9b0614148/

Image Credits
Nana Gyasi Boateng, Nikki Glassburn, Paul Parrett