While majoring in Studio Art during my undergraduate term at UC Santa Cruz, I also took Swedish Massage Therapy classes as a recreational hobby, one which I thought could be both beneficial to myself and to others as well. Over the years, I continued my studies in different areas of holistic health and healing, and completed my Masters in Art Therapy / Marital Family Therapy in 2003. As a therapist, I worked with families, severely emotionally disturbed teens and children, and very economically challenged communities locally and abroad. 

While volunteering for a Ghandi-inspired NGO in Ahmedabad, Gujurat - India, I became truly inspired by the hard-working, friendly and joyous women whom I met living under some of the harshest conditions I had ever witnessed.  Within a couple of weeks, our team opened up a healing center in the heart of their slum city (500,000 inhabitants), where I offered massage therapy sessions to any and all of the women living there; each day was specifically catered to a different age-group. 

This profound and energizing experience I had in India led me to pursue a California Certification in massage therapy so that I am able to continue to help others physically and emotionally close to my home.  I am now just shy one month before graduating from my 900 hour Massage Therapy Program at the National Holistic Institute.   

In my private massage therapy practice, I believe that it is essential to create a safe, warm, non-judgmental environment where you can openly express your personal issues regarding your body, and be able release those emotions that may have been held unconsciously for years.