A Love Note to My Community
I have no plans to return to brick and mortar. If I’m being honest, it never felt like “home.” Someone asked me once if I still practiced yoga since I no longer attended their favorite class…I was bewildered by this question. I finally found my words and said, my body is the yoga mat. I feel the same with our bodywork. A retail space cannot define our scope of work, no more than a yoga class with props defines my yoga practice. It’s much more than that. It no longer fits into a room. We have a beautiful canvas, changing constantly, and we are finally settling into it with more space than ever to make it happen. We broke the model and I’m happy about it.
Many members of our sacred community have been working and growing together since the early days; some are new - Thank you and also, Welcome to our Community! In 2018, I questioned quietly, how sustainable it was to continue with a brick and mortar for a service industry that taps out at a per hour rate, in a one on one industry model, in a real estate market whose rates are sky high? In hindsight, I was correct. But if I’m being honest? There were whispers in my soul that more was evolving out of the myriad waves of consciousness that were casting the framework for a better version of our future in working together.
Trends I noticed…A desperation for clients pushed many of my peers to poach clients from their peers and submit themselves to a business model that promoted more convenience, wellness fads, and quick billings. The big consequence was this approach would fall short on the discovery process, inherent to an organic approach for a truly authentic and more profound healing experience in the end. In an age of convenience, our collective retail model, that was always the expected way of working by our customers, had been nudged and further wielded by client needs to accommodate short attention spans, quick bandaid fixes and last minute bookings. These are the hallmarks of a society stuck in a chronic fight or flight nervous system. However, a good therapist not operating like their pants are on fire, will guide you through a unique and personal process for your body and soul. But they cannot if they’re in the fire pit with the client’s fight or flight demands driving the process…Next I happened to learn that competitors were paying doctors for exclusive referrals. This was the tip of the iceberg. It really hit me how bodywork practices had changed in our fast paced community. For several years following the pandemic, I continued to lean into the older model, committed to offering my loyal clients what they were asking for, considering flexibility a strength in a sea of change. That offering maybe helped a few people out.
However, in the end, things just did not reset, and I think that is good. So, I chose to simplify, and get back to just focusing on two things: great specialty work and building community. It led me to releasing the former brick and mortar because it no longer proved to be feasible economically, and the retail model community was not what I set out to build at all. It did not align with my heart.
Many of my peers, without dual income households, have left Central Texas. I choose, after settling here for 30 years, to remain here and approach life with an evolved approach. There will always be many spas with underpaid therapists. However, specialists are critical to therapeutic healing and are generally a different niche. By shifting my practice to one that caters to a niche celebrating more privacy, community, and specialty bodywork, I am holding space for a much more intimate and intentional demographic.
Let’s not question the mechanics of our past not aligning with our present. Let’s embrace what’s working. So much love, Thank you!
SPECIAL NOTE: The software companies handling three parts of my online presence have been merging and we have been informed they are merging systems soon. No date is given. Everything should work as normal, however, I may be over-communicating reminders and asking for credit cards to ensure proper details migrated over correctly. I’ll be feeling it out. In my past careers I worked on and oversaw system migrations of donors and customers, so, I’m not completely at a loss. But this is why I anticipate some of this falling off. I’ve already copy and pasted every appointment onto my calendar just in case. Let’s over-communicate just in case. As always, I appreciate you.
The Evolution our community & practice
Today feels a lot lighter in our practice than it has in many years. Given so much in the world today, it is with great relief that I can offer to accommodate you in such loving space, intimately in your home, your friend’s home, or my sanctuary looking out on a beautiful hill country canyon.
Last summer I uprooted my practice of almost 20 years from brick and mortar. Pressure in the Universe nudges Humanity to try something new. I’ve heard the echoes of many taking altering plunges over the last year when everything has seemed so hard, and it becoming their best and most authentic path yet. I’m in that same boat and am grateful to have been called to question the viability and the norms in my industry. It has been a game changer. Thank you for your love andsupport.
AN INVITATION, PRACTICE OFFERINGS NOW
The 4hr+ community blocks - With a minimum of four hours committed in advance, the day is yours and I will not book around you. You have my full attention. Based on commute and volume I will negotiate breaks / special fees to balance our hard work. I encourage communities to come together and book these in a regular spot in advance to take out the guesswork and the stress of scheduling monthly. Advance notice allows me to shape the rest of the scheduler around you and your life balance.
The 2+hour in home blocks have provided a deep well of levity, healing, and connectivity for families and friends exploring bodywork together, as well as, a window in for other family members to finally understand and develop a new respect on the importance of the work that we do. These “anchor” spots can be scheduled monthly in advance to create a ritual supporting your physical health, nervous system, and a net to catch you when something is close to a tipping point. Better for me to find it before you feel it. These spots allow your community to book last minute neighborhood visits too. When you anchor the neighborhood, you take control of my scheduler too.
30, 60, 90, and 2 hour sessions are available at the Wimberley Sanctuary. All options are currently offered M-F based on my prior home and remote commitments. Although I offer these daily, I am spending at least two days a week driving many hours for the above clients too, as well as, conducting remote sessions. However, if I am home and available, I am happy to support you. Currently I am also offering one dedicated Saturday monthly for hands-on in Wimberley.
Remotes are not light energy work ups. I take these as serious as I do hands-on and work with people transitioning through grieving, adult autism, cancer, head injuries, and more. I also organize my weeks, due to their heightened nature, to offer give to accept last minute support around the globe.
EXPERIENCE IS WISDOM
For those of you who do not know much about my background, I’m not new to streamlining businesses, auditing line items, carrying out structure and policy, nor core customer service. I’m also not just starting out as many newcomers think since I am working mobile. I’ve led industry changes, in fact. I was one of the first locally, and nationally to shut down the practice of gratuity. I believe every session is important and authenticity and transparency are the anchors of any successful business. For that reason I also don’t peddle packages. I earn your trust based per session.
My bodywork practice is just shy of 20 years, mostly based out of commercial brick and mortar. I have always been my own boss in my practice, and have had small businesses off and on since my late 20s. Additionally, my experience includes leading a multi-million npo in the red into the black within six months. I have worked at almost every level of luxury and mid-level hospitality, even catering a private event to a world renowned opera singer, and working in a hotel owned by a prince. I have a double degree in International Affairs and French. Although my French ebbs and flows without a lot of regular practice, I still love communication and believe that learning languages opens the door to so many cultures and conversations we would have missed out. Currently I’m learning Korean.
As a teenager into college I worked 20-30 hours a week for Ben & Jerry’s in my hometown. Working hard, leaning into challenges and shapeshifting when the Universe demands big life shifts, can be exhausting on the soul, but it is not new to me. And I know usually it’s for the good, so, I ride the wave. But many things in our lives do not need to carry added stress, which is why I like to work smart, delivering efficient, seamless sessions to my community in a way that offsets and compliments the hard work we do in healing and mind/body support.
Thank you for continuing to support and allow me to support your beautiful life.
Tomorrow is organic. This is where we’ve landed for now. So much love.
