BUCKHANNON – Chrissy Sandy is wearing a black tank top with the words, ‘Muscle Whisperer’ printed on them in white lettering. Her smile is easy and natural, and her laugh like rushing water over smooth pebbles.
The Buckhannon native and newly minted Reiki teacher and massage therapist sips her coffee at an outdoor table that lines Buckhannon’s West Main Street and says at 40 years old, she’s finally found her calling.
Sandy, who opened Wellness Haven West Virginia in mid-June in the Wellness room of Wild Vinyasa Yoga Studio, says she has a lot to smile about these days; she’s recently moved back to West Virginia and subsequently graduated from the Clarksburg Beauty Academy as a licensed massage therapist in March.
She’s also a Reiki master, having studied both Western and traditional Japanese techniques.
Sandy had moved away from her hometown of Buckhannon for about a year to Illinois, where she fell in love with Reiki, which she describes as a Japanese technique for relaxation that also promotes healing.
“It’s done through touch,” she explains. “A warm and soothing energy flows from the hands onto the client.”
Reiki, she reflects, is more of a calling than a career for her, and once she learned she had to obtain her massage therapy license to practice Reiki, she was on board with both.
“It was more of a calling for me,” she said. “I tried Reiki first, and it was one of those things where you just know, ‘I have to do this,’ and in Illinois I learned I needed to have a massage therapy license to practice Reiki, so I went to massage therapy school and loved it. There’s no liking it – I loved it. I found what I am meant to do with my life.”
But the path to her calling wasn’t an unmarred one. From the age of about 14 to 37, Sandy said she regularly coped with a lot of anger.
“My own personal trauma led me down this path,” Sandy says. “If it wasn’t for all those events, I wouldn’t be where I am.”
Sandy wants to return the favor to the universe – her business’s motto is ‘healing hands change the world’ – through massage therapy, which she says offers pain relief; combats stress and anxiety; soothes inflammation; and promotes relaxation and healing. She describes herself as an “intuitive” massage therapist.
“I’m an intuitive massage therapist – so I find the pain, I find the knots, I find where there are tight muscle fibers,” she says. “It might be a knot or it might be a tender spot; it just depends on the client.”
“Every single client is different,” she adds, “and I never do the same massage twice. You flush toxins out of the muscle tissue and the lymphatic system, and it helps the immune system.”
Sandy is additionally a certified infant massage therapist instructor, and will soon be conducting classes to teach parents those skills.
Massages at Wellness Haven West Virginia are 60 minutes long, and Sandy plans to add cannabidiol, or CBD, oil massages soon. Reiki sessions span 30 minutes to an hour and deal with energy flow, spiritual health and emotional processing.
“I would say 97 or 98 percent of the population has residual negative energy that causes your body and muscles to contract,” she explains. “Women trap it in their hips. If you have pain in your neck, it may be related to not telling someone something you really needed to tell them 10 years ago.”
During Reiki sessions, Sandy employs two techniques, using her hands and checking a client’s chakras, or energy focal points, with a pendulum made of rose quartz.
“There are seven main chakras, and each control a different part of the body,” she said. “One might be your connection to God or a Higher Power. In order for the body to be in homeostasis, chakras need to be flowing freely. If one is blocked, and they’re not working together, you’re going to have issues.”
So, how does one know if she or he could benefit from Reiki?
As it turns out, you just know, Sandy says.
“It’s more of a spiritual calling,” she said. “When you know you need Reiki, you’re led to it for a reason. Most people are told about it or they read about it, but it comes into their lives for a reason. However, anybody can try it, and it’s really great for digestive issues and processing emotions.”
Sandy said she’s doing her best to ensure clients feel comfortable in a sanitized environment during the COVID-19 pandemic by double cleaning the sheets and blankets and changing them entirely between clients. Temperature checks and facemasks are also a must, she said, but not while clients are lying face down.
Located in Wild Vinyasa Yoga Studio at 5 West Main St., Suite 201, Wellness Haven West Virginia is open Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to allow working people ample time to schedule appointments.
To schedule an appointment or learn more, call 304-516-9481 or email wellnesshavenwv@icloud.com. You can also find Sandy’s Facebook page by clicking here.
