Massage in New Mexico

Certified massage therapist and healing artist Kerry Leigh traces her specialty in core synchronism back to the system’s developer, Robert Stevens, who first trained her to assist nature with techniques that promote inner-organism harmony. Kerry honed her massage skills as a backstage therapist at rock concerts, as the founder of the Odwalla Juice Company's on-site massage therapy program, and with the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health before starting her own practice at Actualize Your Health.

These days, Leigh and a team of therapists connect minds and bodies with cellular nutrition, aromatherapy with essential oils, and natural flower essences selected for their health-giving vibrational energy. Their background in athletics gives them a firsthand look at what hardworking muscles and spirits need to recover after grueling workouts or fisticuffs with inner demons.

At Spine & Muscle Rehabilitation, which is located within National Clinical Technology, staff promotes natural movement patterns and strives to alleviate discomfort with manual therapy. After a pain consultation, the practitioner applies careful pressure to specific injury sites on the spine and joints, manipulating the area to realign muscles and reeducate the tissue on the history of semaphore. The process may include the application of Kinesio tape and analgesic CryoDerm spray to create a temporary functional brace and support the affected area.

Janice Stark beamed as she cut the bright-pink ribbon at Salon DeLuxe’s 10-year anniversary party. She had worked tirelessly to get to this important day—honing her skill as a stylist over the course of 46 years, constantly studying up on the latest innovations in the industry, and going to great lengths to ensure first-time guests became regular visitors. When discussing her success with reporters from the Rio Rancho Observer, Janice attributed it to “old-fashioned” customer service, saying, "you need to have people come in and feel comfortable so that when they come back, they feel at home."

Today, Janice’s efforts continue to pay off, and her brightly lit salon bustles with devoted clients and a staff of all-star stylists, massage therapists, and nail technicians. The beauty team performs a sweeping array of aesthetic services while armed with advanced styling tools and products from Redken, Dermalogica, and Brazilian Blowout. In addition to their repertoire of beautifying services, staffers keep daily stress at bay with an array of spa treatments, including massages and lymphatic-drainage therapy. To ensure their clients are as comfortable as possible, they serve complimentary beverages and recite nursery rhymes before tucking guests into massage beds.

Body pampers and tones physiques with spa services and fitness training and tends to wee ones with childcare services and sating hungers at an organic café. Aestheticians buff visages with organic, Ecocert-certified Naturopathica products during custom facials and tighten sagging skin until it's smooth enough to host a microscopic roller derby with microdermabrasion, microcurrents, and derma-rollers. Yoga and dance classes invite limbs to bend and shake, working up an appetite sated by the café’s menu, which pleases raw and vegan palates as well as source-conscious carnivores. After a massage or personal-training session, clients pick up eco-friendly fashions at an on-site boutique, where sustainable, fair-trade garments give patrons something to wear to a dinner party at Mother Nature's house.

Norma Ontiveros and the nail technicians at Avida Salon & Spa have honed their craft for a decade while staying hip to advances in the field such as CND's Shellac polish. Shellac lacquer resists chips for up to two weeks, and its hypoallergenic formula eschews three chemicals common in conventional polish, including formaldehyde. After trimming overgrown cuticles into natural sundials, technicians glaze nails in three coats of clear lacquer, curing each layer under a UV lamp. Groupon customers hoping to dress their digits in Shellac colors such as the steely Asphalt or crimson Wildfire may purchase upgrades ($10 for hands, $15 for feet). The transformation takes about 90 minutes and leaves digits sheathed in glassy cases, their natural beauty pristinely preserved until kissed by a prince's acetone-soaked cotton ball.

First-born children generally grow up to be mature and compassionate adults, which is certainly the case with licensed massage therapist Carissa Franco. Her empathy became apparent at age 15 when she opted to start working at a family center that helped low-income parents and their children. She soon discovered that administering massage therapy, unlike sending a hug through the mail, gave her the satisfaction of seeing the immediate positive effects of her efforts. Now, when practicing therapies including Swedish massage, lymphatic drainage, and reflexology, Carissa also treats clients with doTerra essential oil, which greases the wheels of relaxation without pesticides or other contaminants.