shabalife

Celestial Massage

Janey Bell is a certified and licensed massage therapist rejuvenating her clients at Celestial Massage, a small business located in Denver. Having finished the 670-hour certification program from the Colorado School of Healing Arts in Lakewood, she now spends her time helping others find a balance in their lives through massage therapy. Bell was a former lawyer who decided it was too much stress saying, “I’ve always wanted to help others. Massage was and is a way to reduce others’ stress, as well as my own.”
Bell has found serenity in her new career and seeing her clients benefit from their sessions only reinforces her decision of the new path she’s taken. “Reduction of stress is one of the main benefits for me,” she says. “I also get an opportunity to serve others in a nurturing, yet therapeutic way; reduce their stress, help with chronic pain and conditions and help them get to a more balanced state.”
Her typical clients come from all walks of life. Bell creates a custom massage for each client varying the pressure, intensity and technique depending on their needs. “We’ve worked with athletes, those suffering from chronic pain and fibromyalgia, people with cancer, elderly folks and those that just need to relax and rejuvenate,” she says.
Bell has at least five days of scheduled massages a week, “so it’s a big part of my life,” she says. “But it also allows me to have a flexible schedule, so I have time to train for triathlons and to do yoga and just have downtime.” Not to worry, she also receives massages with other therapists whom she trades services with. “I end up getting a massage about once a week, which helps keep me feeling good, centered and balanced.”
She’s been practicing massage therapy for more than seven years and runs the business out of her home with her husband, who’s also a massage therapist. They have two treatment spaces so they can do two separate sessions simultaneously. Looking to the future, Bell’s wish is to see Celestial Massage and her clientele grow, “which will allow us to keep our prices low and offer excellent service to our clients.”
Her services include a 60 minute massage for $55, 90 minutes for $75, LaStone therapy for $75, Ear candling for $40 and also pet massage which prices vary depending on travel time and length of the session. Types of massages and services offered are Swedish, Deep Tissue, Sports, Neuromuscular Therapy, Reiki/Healing Touch, Applied Kinesiology, Aromatherapy, and Myofascial Release. Massage by appointment only, Celestial Massage, (303)-477-2780, celestialmassage.com.

posted by erin @ 8:10 PM

Friends are Your Family, Too

A couple weeks ago a few of my friends and I gathered around my TV to watch home movies that I recorded on some of our camping trips from last summer. After the laughter ended and we said our good-byes, I stumbled upon a few videos that I had recorded from when I first moved to Colorado four years ago. On the videos I saw some of my old friends that I no longer have contact with. At that time, they were very important people in my life. Since I had no family out here, my friends became my surrogate family. I videotaped Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas and other random activities that we found amusing enough to film.
Watching the videos sparked memories and feelings that I had completely forgotten about. After discussing my video treasure with my friend Jill, she asked, "Isn't it weird to think that those people played an important role in your life at that time, and now you don't even know where they are?" This question has plagued my mind ever since.
We have friends that fulfill certain needs at specific moments in our life. "Friends are the family you make", so there's no absolute commitment to them. Some people come into our life to teach us something, and I believe that once we are done learning from them, we move on and someone new enters our world.
I am saddened at times thinking about the people in my life whom I considered to be a huge influence on me at some point in my life and realizing that we will (most likely) never speak again. But even through the bad times that I’ve experienced with some of my friends, I still emerge learning a valuable lesson from them. After a while, I tend to forget about the bad and only remember the good, because that's what friendship is all about--having some laughs, sharing some great stories and making memories, regardless of how long you remain in each other’s lives.

posted by erin @ 6:35 PM