Lesley Neeley was in pain. Despite a rich family life, a meditative yoga practice, and a career as a certified massage therapist, inexplicable aches and fatigue racked her body with ever-increasing frequency and intensity. Her story chronicles six years of affliction and misdiagnosed depression, all of which finally led to her true diagnosis: fibromyalgia.

Now that she has battled the disorder herself, Lesley brings an uncommon empathy to her practice at Living Better Therapeutics, where she helps others cope with pain through her massage services and promotes education about fibromyalgia through presentations, workshops, and support groups. Lesley also supplements her already formidable education with continuing courses on craniosacral therapy, reiki, and Hatha yoga. When she isn’t healing muscles within the serene confines of her own private treatment room, she can travel to clients for an additional fee to soothe their aches amid the comforts of their own homes or batcaves.