I have always been fascinated with healing.
I’m also a Gemini. I used to hate being a Gemini - people would always say, “oh, so you have a dark side” or “so, you’re flakey”. Right.
Until, I met Angela Nelson.
We are both Gemini’s and I learned from her that we are incredibly smart (true), witty (also true), sociable (sometimes true), adventurous (true!) and love to travel (very true!). Yes, we can also be indecisive, anxious and stray from our desired path, but that’s beside the point.
I was fascinated with Angie. First, of all, she’s gorgeous. She has a modern elegance that is rare in a woman these days. And second of all, she’s a healer. She’s a massage therapist who specializes Structural Integration which is type of massage that is known for getting the body proper in alignment as well as a Reiki Master.
Plus, she’s a pole dancer. Like a legit, won 2nd place at the most recent National Championships, type pole dancer.
Like I said: Fascinating and elegant.
Years ago, Angie and I used to stand for hours in the mall selling makeup to people. We were “Beauty Ambassadors” trying to spread the good word of beauty in the form of mineral makeup. Really, we were just trying to make a buck supporting our true passions: being artists.
What I never considered before was the artistic, creative process of being a healer.
Angie, explained to me recently that with each client who comes to her with a certain issue, she has the opportunity to be creative in how she navigates her treatment.
For instance, when she meets a client she knows how each type of massage technique will affect a person’s body but that there is also an intuition in knowing what someone's body will need that she has developed over the years.
She explained to me that “everything is a form of energy” and as a Reiki Master she is able to pull “more universal light energy through [her] body, through [her] hands” and that a “person’s body will respond to that energy and know what to do”. She further explained that it’s similar to a loving mother comforting her child, but as a trained Reiki Master she has more awareness and more access to that energy.
Angie told me that one of the most profound things she learned while becoming a therapist was that “our bodies, our emotions, our minds are not separate. They’re 100% integrated with each other”.
This resonates so deeply with me because as an actor, I use my body to access my emotions and vice versa I also use my emotions to create a physical reality in my body.
This mind-body connection goes even deeper than we think. She said, “Brain nervous tissue is found throughout your whole body even if it’s microscopic. And it’s very concentrated in a sac around your heart called the pericardeum and also in your solar plexus. So, when you have very real feelings in your heart, or knowings in your heart, there’s brain tissue talking to you.” Mind. Blown.
Finally, I wanted to know how her work made her happier in everyday life. She quoted Dr. Ida Rolf who said, “Movement is Life."
She continued, "I grew up dancing. I still dance. It’s how I best express myself, how I honestly express who I am. Anytime I’m not dancing or moving, I get grouchy. With my work doing massage, people come in and they have pain - [I'm] moving the actual energy through their body, increasing that blood and circulation through their body. If you’re body is moving you’ll always be processing your emotions and working through things and so that’s what I do--- I want people to be able to move and function so that they can live more life."
So dance, move, get massaged . . . for Movement is Life.
Angela Nelson, LMT can be contacted at:
801-864-2814 or nelson.angie@hotmail.com or at:
