Melissa's Journey
To make a long story (I'm 55 years old) short ----
I've been a Registered Nurse for 23 years working in different facets of health care and employed at a local hospital for the last 20 years. I currently work part-time in Outpatient Surgery, preparing patients for surgery and on most days caring for them during their post-operative phase prior to discharge home.
I'm a Yoga Instructor and received my Teacher Training though Asheville Yoga Center. I completed my 200 hour training and am currently working towards completing an additional 300 hours. It's a wonderful journey that will most likely take a few more years to complete.
In my early twenties, still living in Florida I started to receive massage therapy on an occasional basis. It wasn't my priority at the time although I was fortunate enough to have a Massage school in my area that offered student massages at a very reduced rate. I was curious and intrigued by the way the students and staff moved while offering various modalities of body work. The seed was planted although I wasn't aware of it at the time. At the age of thirty I enrolled in Nursing School.
At 26, I began competing in mountain bike, triathlon and running races. I loved being an athlete and loved the commitment to training and racing that came with it. Fast forward to 2015 when I trained for my second Ironman distance triathlon. I'd always considered myself "smart" at training and succumbed to very few injuries along the way but after 25+ years of pounding the pavement and trails, it's bound to take a toll on your joints and structural base. I developed a chronic foot injury that led me to not being able to tow the line of the race and forced me to rethink how I was going about my health and fitness.
I LOVE being a nurse and caring for people experiencing what I've witnessed to be a very real threat to their body and feeling of helplessness as they are placed under anesthesia. I plan to continue nursing as long as I'm able. Nursing care and the atmosphere at the hospital is changing dramatically in the ways and time that a nurse has to nurture the patients she is caring for.
In 2017 I began what might be the richest experience of my life - attending massage school at Asheville School of Massage and Yoga! I embraced every single moment of it; soaking up the professional, strict, loving instruction of the school's very talented instructors. After graduating and receiving my license I was fortunate to stay on at the school and hone my skills as a massage therapist to the public visiting their very popular student/graduate massage clinic. I am currently building my own clientele and invite you to visit my home studio!
As a Massage and Bodywork therapist, it is my intention to offer you a gentle (even if you are receiving deep tissue or trigger point release work) massage experience that will leave you feeling longer, more spacious, grounded and at the very least extremely relaxed.
