Photography by Brandi Stage Portraiture | Makeup/hair: Bria Fowler, Elle Louise, LLC
When Jackie Castro-Cooper enters a room, you feel it — the natural warmth and spiritual clarity of a woman who’s living her calling.
A renowned speaker, author, retreat leader and owner of Gulf Coast Myofascial Release Physical Therapy in Ocean Springs, Castro-Cooper is the kind of energetic presenter who gets her audience on their feet and dancing before breakfast. She’s a woman who believes that the secret to longevity lies not in modern medicine, but in laughter, nature, service, connection to one another and breathing deeply in solitude.
“My greatest, biggest mission is to bring joy and an awareness that we are spiritual beings having a human experience,” she says. “Our possibilities of healing and ending personal suffering are limitless.”
‘HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU DON’T TRY?’
When Castro-Cooper talks about self-healing, she speaks with the authority of experience. Once a 19-year-old professional ballerina in New York City, she sustained multiple ankle injuries and sought help from a physical therapist.
“She said, ‘You can heal Jackie,’” Castro-Cooper recalls. “At that moment, I knew I wanted to be a physical therapist. But, with my next breath, I said to myself, ‘I’m not smart, and I hate school.’”
Fast-forward to Castro-Cooper at age 36, when she was journaling and felt a divine nudge to continue her education and become a physical therapist. When she balked, she heard God reply, “How do you know if you don’t try?”
And try she did, spending five years retaking courses part time while raising three children. After taking the graduate record examination (GRE) twice and passing an intense interview, she was accepted into the University of South Alabama master’s program for physical therapy — graduating in 2004.
‘TIME TO FLY, LITTLE BUTTERFLY’
A year after Hurricane Katrina, Castro-Cooper was working at Gulf Coast Medical Center and learned that the hospital was shutting down.
“That’s when a voice in my head (God) said, ‘It’s time to fly, little butterfly,’” she recalls. “At this moment, I decided to open up my holistic, alternative physical-therapy practice.”
Old injuries had led Castro-Cooper to take her first John F. Barnes myofascial release course in 2006, which other therapists had recommended because no one else was doing this type of manual therapy in south Mississippi. Myofascial release is a technique that targets the fascial system, a web of dense connective tissue that surrounds and supports muscles, bones, nerves and organs.
“I figured if I’m going to spend this amount of money on a course, then let’s see if it will help me heal,” she says. “Well, it did, and I have continued to practice and advance my studies for the benefit of my patients ever since.”
Colleagues had predicted that Castro-Cooper’s practice wouldn’t last six months. Nineteen years later, Gulf Coast Myofascial Release is still going strong.
GETTING TO THE ROOT CAUSE
Most clients come to Castro-Cooper with severe chronic pain — everything from migraines to women’s health issues that may require internal pelvic work. She even treats babies and children who have tongue ties, lip ties and digestive or neurological problems.
What makes Castro-Cooper unique is that she listens intently during a two-hour consultation — all while paying close attention to what the hands, legs, feet and other cues tell her about a patient’s circulatory and skeletal system. She shows them how to self-treat at home, and during subsequent visits, they receive an hour of hands-on, manual therapy.
“Our mission is to get to the root cause of your dis-ease and bring awareness to your own ability to heal,” she says. “Your body has its own innate wisdom. We are here to connect you back to your own power.”
WISDOM FOR WOMEN
Women tend to neglect their own wellbeing in favor of helping others, and Castro-Cooper has some advice for finding rest, relaxation and restoration: Wake up 20-30 minutes before everyone else, find a quiet place and breathe deeply for one to five minutes.
“This calms the nervous system and places you in rest and digest instead of starting the day rushing and immediately going into fight/flight/freeze,” she says. “The rest of your day will go miraculously smoother and calmer. “
At about 9 p.m., she suggests stepping away from electronics and transitioning into sleep hygiene by brushing your teeth, attending to skin care, stretching, breathing, reading and writing things down — whether it’s tasks you forgot to do that day or blessings you’re grateful for. During her wellness retreats, she hands out a nighttime meditation meant to quiet the heart and mind.
“Seven to eight hours of sleep is optimal for brain health,” Castro-Cooper notes.
‘THERE ARE NO DRESS REHEARSALS’
Ask her what she’s most proud of, and Castro-Cooper’s answer may surprise you. Yes, her book, “The Power Of Self Care/Self Love: A Physical Therapist’s Guide To Evolving Into Your Higher Self” is a best-seller on Amazon. Last year, she received the Lighthouse Business and Professional Women Woman of Achievement Award in the medical category. She has skills and qualifications in numerous areas — including pediatric myofascial release and the emotional freedom technique (EFT), which benefits patients who suffer from anxiety and pain. Most recently, she became a certified yoga teacher, allowing her to add the practice to her healing repertoire.
While these professional accomplishments matter deeply to her, she’s personally most gratified by three things: keeping her marriage to her husband, Scott Cooper, vibrant and strong for 36 years; successfully raising their children, Alyssa, Logan and Sofia; and “my ability to create what God tells me to create.”
“No matter how much fear rises up in my mind, my heart reminds me that this is one life I’ve been given, so there are no dress rehearsals,” Castro-Cooper says. “In this life, you must be willing to serve others.”
A LIFE OF SERVICE
Castro-Cooper’s commitment to service extends far beyond her practice. She was a youth minister for 10 years and has worked with DREAMERS since 2011, helping change state policy to allow undocumented students to attend community college. She also founded the Alliance for the Education of Undocumented Youth to provide scholarships for DACA recipients.
Additionally, Castro-Cooper has been a board member of STEPS Coalition since 2014, which focuses on community development, environmental justice and human rights, and she serves as an ambassador for Mississippi Heroes and the Million Dollar Club. As a member of Mississippi Business Women, she raises funds for non-traditional students attending college and supports CASA, Sue’s Home and the Women’s Resource Center.
Inspired by Willow Cannan, a patient she treated for eight years, Castro-Cooper also remains dedicated to finding a cure for multiple sulfate deficiency, a rare disease, and continues to support the cause’s Zebra Run fundraiser.
“By uplifting each other, creating, remaining focused on our health, joy, service and inner and outer beauty, we can see the world’s beauty even more clearly for 2026,” she says.
‘THERE IS SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO’
In the year ahead, Castro-Cooper aims to create more women’s health forum events, sharing vital information that is not widely known. The next forum will be in New Orleans at the Power Up: Women’s Leadership Conference on March 13, and she’s planning the next women’s retreat as well with a date to be announced.
Meanwhile, her schedule of speaking engagements is filling up.
“There is so much to look forward to,” she says, citing one of her mantras. “This is something I repeat to myself every day, and it’s on my coffee cup.”
Believing that the best is yet to come, she adds, immediately opens people up to receive the infinite abundance that is waiting for them.
“If we live with the energy of consciously receiving all that is good, then guess what happens?” Castro-Cooper asks. “All the good comes rushing toward you.”