Home l Gift Certificates l Medical Conditions & Massage Benefits l Animal Massage

Insurance Questionnaire l Our Food & Clothing Drive l Recommended Reading l Newsletters

About Our Therapists l About Our Practice l Contact Us l Site Directory

___________________________________________________________________________________________

If I can stop one Heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one Life the Aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting Robin

Unto his Nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

-- Emily Dickinson

 Who We Are

Jamie & Jenn

Below are articles we wrote for our local newspaper describing a bit about ourselves and our journey to becoming massage therapists.

- Jamie -

It is said that a thousand-mile journey begins with a single step. For some travelers, the first stride is into a puddle that fills their galoshes with slush. But it’s the soggy-socked that learn the most about the path they’re on, discovering that every moment on the road brings wisdom and each barrier is a treasured lesson.

I’ve loved my journey and who I have become. A massage therapist.

To me, why someone decides to become a healthcare practitioner is the most significant aspect of their profession, and more often than not it was life’s difficulties that gave them direction.

As an overweight child and teen, I was teased, beaten up, and judged because of what people saw with their eyes and tiny minds. I remember teachers telling me that my opinions didn’t matter and that I would fail in life because of my poor grades and enthusiastic sense of humor. They couldn’t understand that I was desperately trying to be accepted and liked, not make the honor roll. Maybe they forgot what it was like to be a child or never really understood that kind of loneliness and pain.

Now, I cherish those days because they taught me the true meaning of Beauty and Worth, which are never seen with our eyes. True beauty lies so much deeper and is only seen with the heart. And there is Worth in everything and everyone; we just need love to accept what it is and wisdom to tell us what it could become.

Another one of life’s lessons began in 1990 when I developed severe panic disorder and ultimately became housebound with agoraphobia. It was the loneliest, most frightening time in my life. Panic attacks mimic the mental and physical sensations of dying, and I felt as if every day was my last. I stopped dreaming because the thought of another life seemed impossible. During the worst of those times what I needed most was just one person to understand and care; for even though I saw various doctors and therapists, they had no idea what it felt like to live with this illness.

That was when I realized I needed to help others heal. No one who suffers from any condition, whether it’s cancer or just a bad day, should feel scared and alone. I felt just how valuable that kind of contact can be when I found the warm arms of a support group and discovered that the best medicine in the world is friendship and love.

Gestures like reaching out, touching a person’s life, and holding someone who’s sick or frightened have been with us forever. But how many of us have overlooked their value? Five years ago I couldn’t even tell you what therapeutic massage was. After a professional session, Open House at The Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy, sixteen months of study and training, and over 2 years practicing in the field, I’ve seen just how vital nurturing touch is to our lives.

If you think about it, we know how special therapeutic touch can be. When a child, or anyone, skins their knee the first thing they do is place their hands on the pain. Parents rub away the hurt on a bumped head or elbow, and when we were sick or upset, a soothing back rub always calmed us down and put us to sleep. It’s not chance but very real physiological and emotional effects on the body, mind, and spirit that make this kind of relief possible.

Therapeutic massage promotes healing, enhances medical treatment, and can relieve the stress, anxiety, pain, and isolation that accompany nearly all medical conditions or even daily life. And on top of that, it feels good! Tired workers, expectant parents, newborns, elderly, disabled, athletes, and those seeking healthier lifestyles are benefiting from this time-honored profession.

Massage therapy has given me a way to reach out to the world and make a difference, like I’d always dreamed. The peace, happiness, and love I’ve found within myself and the soul of my best friend/wife has made every step of the journey worthwhile. I wouldn’t trade my puddles for gold.

- Jenn -

How is it that we spend most of our lives immersed in busy-ness and never seem to accomplish anything meaningful? We work hard, and yet we never get closer to where we want to be.

This was how I always felt. I grew up watching my mom work from eight o’clock in the morning until eight or nine at night as an insurance underwriter, never finding and ounce of happiness or fulfillment with what she was doing (though I hear if you can find happiness and fulfillment as an insurance underwriter you get a coupon for a free desert at Denny's). She would always come home so full of stress and loathing for her job that I promised myself to find a career which would bring me joy. Not everyone is able to find their dream jobs, but I was at least going to try.

The hardest part was discovering what I was meant to do. When I was young, my family and friends encouraged me to become a veterinarian. I love animals, but I knew I couldn’t achieve the clinical detachment necessary to be a happy vet—when they hurt, I hurt. As I entered college, I explored numerous other avenues from creative writing to archaeology, but none of them filled a basic need I had to work with and help people and/or animals.

When I fell in love with a Connecticut boy and moved from California to here, I found myself working in an office, the exact place I had hoped I would never go. I did my job well, but I was always eager to go home at the end of the day. I knew that I was failing myself and my dreams to be something better, so I continued to search. That was when my soulmate, Jamie, and I attended an open house at The Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy (CCMT) in Newington.

Jamie already knew he was born to be a massage therapist, and since his job was making him more unhappy than mine, he enrolled at CCMT first. Yet in the course of watching him learn and receiving most of his practice hours, my dreams of a meaningful career were revived and I grew more and more excited by the personal fulfillment massage therapy offered. As a massage therapist, I could work with people from all walks of life, helping them live more healthfully and happily through the simple yet precious gift of compassionate, nurturing, healing touch.

In January 1999, it was finally my turn to attend CCMT. The time I spent there changed the way I viewed healthcare and life itself. I absorbed everything the school taught, and when I returned home, observed the beautiful way Jamie communicated with his clients, all the while learning how to be the best massage therapist possible. Through my 638 hours of schooling at CCMT, field trips to New Horizons Village (a community for physically challenged adults) and Avery Heights (an assisted-living community), and my externship at the Sexual Assault Crisis Service in Middletown, I was able to share therapeutic massage and safe, compassionate touch with many courageous people.

Now that I have graduated, I am eager to join Peaceful Healing Therapeutic Massage, the practice Jamie and I started almost two years ago. Despite the fact that we attended the same school, our massage styles are unique and I know my skills will only enhance the benefits our practice already brings to the community, as well as offer our clients a second massage therapist to choose from.

While I know I have much more to experience in life, I have learned a great deal from the pain and obstacles I’ve overcome. As a massage therapist, I bring that added strength, sensitivity, and understanding to every session and allow my clients the room to be comfortable with who they are and what they are going through.

Our society is going through many changes now, but not all of them are for the better. We shy away from each other. Afraid. Personal contact is almost taboo. It is practically a sin to hug one another to express our friendship. We are told to communicate using "safe", "correct", and specially chosen words which ultimately mean nothing. We have gotten so far away from one another that we are all practically dying of loneliness. Therapeutic massage breaks through that fear and distance and gives us a safe place to open up our hearts again, allowing us to be unique and beautiful, to be ourselves. And with that realization, true healing begins.

I love and care for all creatures and will do my best to express that through therapeutic massage. I have finally found a calling that allows me to be true to myself. And I have learned a secret along the way: Fulfillment and happiness are found only when we find a way to help others.

ã 1999-2006 Peaceful Healing Therapeutic Massage