Christina Polnyj
Christina is a Clinical Aromatherapist and Massage Therapist in private practice in Gainesville, Florida. Since 1993 she has been teaching classes in Massage to health care professionals and the public. She is passionate about Aromatherapy, offering workshops and seminars to massage therapists, health professionals and the general public. She is an educator and consultant, providing people with the skills to use essential oils at home and professionally. She founded Essential Education International in 2008.
Dominique Warfield
“I reside in the Appalachia mountains in a magical city called Asheville. I am a fire-starter for bringing community together through movement arts, music and earth based ceremonies. I am a yoga facilitator, integrative massage therapist, sound alchemist & a ritual performance artist. I graduated from Prescott College with a degree in Expressive Healing Arts and Florida School of Massage with a focus on Thai-massage and Earth based healing modalities.
I feel passionate towards creating experiences which influences people to radically love themselves. Some of my offerings include sound healings with the drum, movement rituals, original songs and storytelling. I feel the most alive when we can come together through our creativity for the purposes of cultural peace, authentic expression and honoring our beautiful planet.”
-Dominique Warfield
He Lanah
”Hello Helanah! is the creative mind behind the live event experience and workshop series Yogetree™. She is a creative entrepreneur, traveling yogini and lover of all things community. An educator and writer in spirit, Helanah teaches from the heart with love and positive intention.
It only seemed right that all her favorite things come together in the service of self-care.”
Caroline Williams
“Practicing Thai Massage in the Tampa Bay area since early 2012, I graduated with a Certification of Massage & Hydrotherapy from the Florida School of Massage in July 2009. While there, I studied techniques such as Swedish Massage, Connective Tissue, Polarity Therapy, Reflexology & Neuromuscular Therapy. Additionally, I’ve dedicated over 160 hours of training to specialize in the art of Thai Massage, including completion of Ariela Grodners 90 hour Thai Massage Certification, Thai Foot Reflexology Certification, and other advanced Thai Massage trainings with other practitioners from across the world. All of my sessions are an intuitive & integrative blend of these healing techniques, designed to fit each clients’ individual needs.
In addition to being a Licensed Massage Therapist, I am a Registered Yoga Instructor. In 2015, I completed Ally Ford’s Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training, and am Registered as a 200-hour Level Teacher. In 2016, I completed Phase 1 of David Kyle’s Rocket Yoga Training, a 50-hour courseintroducing this Progressive Ashtanga method. I am honored for all of the teachers that have guided me to where I am today, and for all of those to come.
I have wonderful clients from all over Tampa Bay, and love practicing in Historic Seminole Heights, a beautiful community steeped with history, culture, and arts. When I am not in the office, I can most likely be found enjoying the outdoors, spending time in the ocean, traveling, and honoring my personal yoga practice.“
– Caroline Williams
Andy Blum
Andy is a certified and licensed massage therapist specializing in pain relief through therapeutic massage, structural bodywork and trigger point therapy at her private practice in San Francisco, CA.
Andy’s intrigue and passion for massage is rooted in her fundamental curiosity about the human body and how things manifest somatically, her education from the Florida School of Massage in 2005 and her continued education, with many reknowned and prestigious teachers, in a variety of massage modalities including injury specific myofascial release and trigger point therapy, postural analysis as well as subtle modalities like ortho-bionomy, craniosacral therapy, reiki & Ayurveda.
“By releasing holding patterns that are no longer serving us, we can expand and reach our full potential.” – Andy Blum
Jacqui Ferber
Jacqui opened Advanced Massage Professionals in 1994 to provide a warm, friendly therapeutic environment for therapists to work together in a group practice focused on giving clients an opportunity to enjoy a positive healthcare approach.
Jacqueline Landis Ferber was trained at the highly reputable Florida School of Massage here in Gainesville, FL graduating in 1986. She then went on to complete over 1000 hours of advanced training in sports massage, injury evaluation, treatment and recovery.
In her nearly 30 years of practice, Jacqui has specialized in and had wonderful success in treating sports injuries and soreness as well as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and chronic muscle tension patterns.
Jacqui has worked with the University of Florida swim, gymnastics, and track teams as well as professional triathletes, runners and local tennis players. As a former triathlete and current tennis player Jacqui is able to relate to the athlete from her own personal experience.
Andrea Butje
Andrea is an internationally recognized Aromatherapist who is changing the educational paradigm through her inspired approach to teaching and creating community.
Andrea spent the first decade of her career working in private practice as a massage therapist and studying plants and natural medicine. She and Cindy Black joined together in 1994 and founded the acclaimed Finger Lakes School of Massage in Ithaca, New York.
It was during this time in Andrea’s career that her lifelong interest in plant medicine really began to take shape as she began incorporating herbal and essential oils into the school’s curriculum.
Andrea’s commitment to the intensive study of plants and aromatherapy led her to Europe in 1995. During the course of her studies, she discovered the book Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit. So inspired by its teachings, Andrea contacted the author Gabriel Mojay who encouraged her to visit Rhiannon Lewis in France and to experience the essential oil distillation process firsthand.
During a trip with Rhiannon in the south of France in 1995, Andrea witnessed the craftsmanship involved in the distilling process. This ignited Andrea’s passion and commitment to source all of her essential oils directly from distillers, to ensure quality and purity. She formed the popular essential oil website Aromatics International and over the years has traveled the world developing relationships with small, organic artisan distillers in England, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Morocco, Italy, Corsica, Canada, Seychelle Islands, South Africa, The United Arab Emirates, Grenada and the United States.
Andrea went on to teach her first Aromatherapy Certification Program in 1998, which established the beginning of Aromahead Institute. In 2003 she and Cindy transferred ownership of the massage school and in 2010 they sold Aromatics International in order to focus full time on building the online school at Aromahead Institute.
Andrea continues to travel the world working with independent essential oil distillers and regularly serves as a guest lecturer at Aromatherapy conferences.
Her first book Essential Living: Aromatherapy Recipes for Health and Home was published in 2012. Her second book, The Heart of Aromatherapy, was published in January, 2017. She is a contributing writer for several aromatherapy journals, and writes her own blog, newsletter and eBooks.
Cindy Black
Cindy Black is the founder of Big Tree School of Natural Healing. She is an Acupuncturist and a Massage Therapist with more than twenty years of experience as a teacher and hands-on practitioner.
She integrates Classical Chinese medicine and Western massage therapy into a unique approach to balance mind, body, and spirit – a practice known as Meridian Massage.
She is also the author of Meridian Massage, Opening Pathways to Vitality.
More from Cindy…
“All of my life I have been on a quest to understand my place in this vast universe of mysteries, miracles, suffering and thriving. I have been supported on my path by the practices of Massage Therapy and Chinese Medicine. It is my greatest pleasure to pass along that which has moved me so deeply toward my own inner harmony and happiness.
I began studying Massage Therapy in 1990. In 1994, I co-founded the Finger Lakes School of Massage in Ithaca, NY, where I taught anatomy and sports massage. I continued my studies in alternative medicine by completing a Master’s degree in Chinese Medicine in 2007. I have continued to study Maya Abdominal Massage, Chi Nei Tsang, Qi Gong, the I Ching and Yoga. I use the term “meridian massage” to describe my hands-on practice of Chinese Medicine.
I developed this approach by combining modern massage techniques, abdominal massage and Chinese Medical theory. Qi flows within us all. By bringing our awareness to Qi, we learn directly from Qi and build our own living knowledge. I encourage my students to find their own internal connection with Qi. As this happens, I watch their work unfold in new and creative ways. I am always inspired by the unique applications created by students of this work.”
Ariela Grodner
Ariela Grodner is the founder and lead instructor and practitioner at the Bodhi Sangha School of Thai Massage. She began her teaching career in 1992 in the south of India educating prisoners and tribal villagers in the benefits and practice of Shivananda Yoga. Then she spent many years cultivating the Buddhist meditation technique known as Vipassana. Later in following her Tao she discovered the joys of improvisational contact dance. After graduating from Florida School of Massage she discovered Thai Massage the perfect fusion of these techniques and practices. She is a certified Lotus Palm Practitioner (as taught by Kam Thye Chow) and has taught Thai Massage at the Florida School of Massage since 2004.
Ariela has developed over 300 hours of curriculum has published 8 books on this subject and travels nationally and internationally sharing her love of this art.
Claudia Milz
Founder of Neutrally Boyant.
Company Overview:
Fully customized wellness sessions and programs with the goal to guide and assist clients that seek to improve their health and quality of life. Clients from various walks of life, including endurance athletes, aquatic enthusiasts such as divers, and anyone wanting to get back to activities after chronic and acute injuries, surgeries and trauma.
“Benefit from the attitude of an eternal student, always wanting to understand what something is supposed to do, or could ideally do, why it does not function that way, and figuring out how to help change that. YOU do all the healing. I just help along, artfully, ever in awe of the healing body. I only recommend and use with my clients what I have experienced as beneficial myself. High quality for the client commited to their health at a great price.“
-Claudia Milz
Claudia also offers business and tech consulting.
Bruno Ferreira
“My interest and studies of the subtler realms have led me to be a craniosacral therapist; my strong curiosity for studying the world led be to be an astrophysicist (Earth & Solar System & Universe); I am a yogi because the body is my first tool, I woke up in it and I everything I do involves it, and so I study it; and I am an educator because I love to teach! I teach what I learn, what I study and what I understand, so I teach physics, tennis, climbing, yoga, swimming, working with the craniosacral system, meditation, massage, astronomy, and I love talking about how all of these come together, how they are all the same.
My bodywork passion is working with people who have an interest in deeply knowing and healing themselves. I love working with athletes because they tend to have an intimate relationship with their physical body. I love working with meditators and artists because they have an intimate relationship with the creative world.
My studies in massage were at the Florida School of Massage, in Gainesville, from 2007 to early 2008. The Florida School of Massage is an amazing place!! During the 6 month course at the FSM I learned Swedish massage, reflexology, connective tissue massage, polarity therapy, and hydrotherapy.”
– Bruno Ferreira
Tia Ma
Since 1988, Tia Ma has been a practitioner in the holistic arts. A licensed Massage therapist, painter, and a synesthesia intuitive, many of her clients consider her a holistic artist.
Specializing in MLD, (Manual lymphatic drainage) many people find this an excellent treatment for healing acute injuries, boosting the immune system and dealing with the side effects of surgery.
“The body is full of personal messages and stories. When we listen attentively, we can find specific ways to unwind pain patterns, the goal being to restore your internal life-force flow and experience life happy, balanced and healthy!” -Tia Ma
JesSay Negron
“My career in massage started when I noticed a strong draw to support and nurture others. I would find myself rubbing the necks backs and shoulders of my coworkers to escape the meaningless rush of turning tables at a popular restaurant in town. I knew I was blessed with the ability of healing touch and wanted to share it with others. I knew that by cultivating my gifts I would be able to serve my community in a real meaningful way. Today I am happy to be doing this work and have eternal gratitude for my clients. You are the foundation stone of my practice and give my life meaning.
On my way here I’ve been fortunate to have discovered the path of Yoga. The power of the mind, body and spirit connection has given me great insight into understanding the needs of my clients. That coupled with therapeutic centered training at the renowned Florida School of Massage I have developed great skill in facilitating healing and helping my clients increase their well being.”
– JesSay Negron
Tjasa Cerovsek Landes
Tjasa was born and raised in Celje, Slovenia (a country in the former Yugoslavia) just south of the Alps. She took early interest in yoga and studied Sanskrit even before she started high school. Always a self motivated student of languages and yoga practices Tjasa traveled through Europe and India learning cultures and healing practices. Her first massage in a village in India changed her body about her mind.
