You'll want to sit down for this!
Hi! Welcome to the new #blog! #BodyworkWithAera was meant to be much more than a #service. I wanted to create an #educational #platform as well as participate in #community wide efforts within the #covidsafe crowd!
Aside from being the first #massagetherapist listed on #CleanAirStars in North America and adhering to higher standards for disease control within my clinic, I also want to bring together other covid safe #smallbusinesses in the Pacific Northwest to support one another.
It may come as a shock to you, but I'm way out of my comfort zone with all of this. So I suppose you can say we're learning and growing together? :)
Anyway, creating a blog is a huge step towards finding and bringing together more people in our community. It is a great undertaking, and I'm glad to have you along!
So, you might be wondering, what's the big announcement? Was it just the blog?
No! I have something else to tell you, and I hope you'll remain sitting, because it completely goes against what everyone tells you that you should do if you're a service provider. I dare say it might even get me some flack among my peers, but you know what? I have always followed my heart.
First, before I tell you, I want to share a little bit about me. Are you comfy in your seat? I sure hope so!
Before becoming a massage therapist, I had finished a year #meditation training in #QueenAnne, #Seattle. This was in 2013. I had absolutely no idea that I would end up returning to Queen Anne to work, let alone move here and start my own practice! I had absolutely no direction in my life after I graduated from the program in 2013. I got some support to start looking at career options. Becoming a #spiritualhealer wasn't my calling, after all. What I learned in the program helped me personally, and I became a much more grounded and insightful (self aware, even!) person. I'm very grateful for my time there.
Alas, I did not feel that my heart was leading me to hold meditation circles. Ultimately I had a pressing instinct to go to massage school. It was like a little voice inside of me was telling me to just go. I was not getting anywhere with the support I had, and my heart wasn't in the things I was trying.
I was confused by my internal compass. Why massage school? I didn't know anything about massage, aside from the show #FRIENDS. You know the character Phoebe? Everyone knows Phoebe! She was the singer and song writer for Smelly Cat, afterall!
Whatever led me there, I found so many treasures in massage school. I learned so much more about myself, and I was so grateful to have completed my meditation training before hand. I really needed it, with the kind of traumas that were stored in my body, and how sensitive my #nervoussystem really was. I struggled with everything from body coordination to #dissociation while receiving bodywork.
In spite of all that struggle, I nearly graduated with honors for the year, in 2016. I also took an opportunity to do a massage internship, which was optional, at the Jubilee Women's Center on Capitol Hill. I started working early with people who found it difficult to receive therapeutic massage due to their own #PTSD or #Neurodivergence.
I found myself very drawn to the work of being a massage therapist. It literally saved my life. I could not imagine doing anything else!
Two years after graduation, I began working in Queen Anne, literally next door to the meditation training house I went to in 2012 to 2013. I walked by that house every day I went to work, and I walked past it again, every time I went home to take the bus. Queen Anne became my second home. I loved having quick access to eat at #SeattleCenter and I got to know some of the employees at the Metropolitan Market.
Everything was going well and was routine, until March 2020.
I took a year off and returned to work in 2021, and found myself needing a change. I was finally ready at all levels (emotional, spiritual, and mental) to have my own practice. I was no longer content working for other employers. Infact, I felt that working for others at this time was now getting in the way of me being able to provide my best care. I could not make all the decisions I wanted (and needed) to make, in order to give my best service.
At some point during that year, I also ended up moving to queen Anne! Now I was at the top of the hill. It made getting to work incredibly easy.
In August of 2022, however, I stopped working for others and I put my deposit down on the space that would soon transform into my first clinic! I signed my first 6 month lease and I went to town outfitting the room and setting up my business. I was always meant to be an #entrepreneur! I had a blast narrowing down how I would communicate my niche, picking out blankets, finding where I would get my supplies. All of it.
All of that work was to help me be anchored so I could provide the best possible service to you. I'm so happy to finally tell you what my big announcement is. Hopefully it won't be the last!
Now for the big announcement:
I have LOWERED my prices! That's right, you read that correctly. Read it again and smile!
As a medically-focused #specialist in massage therapy, I have quite a bit of education and experience. I originally priced myself to factor all that in, and to be honest with you, I didn't feel so great about the prices. We all know the cost of living in #Seattle is high, and I wasn't sure how it would go my first year in business.
I'm so pleased to be able to lower my rates to make access to my level of care more affordable!
It is very important to me that I destroy barriers of access as much as possible. From having a #scentfree practice within a fairly #accessible building to now lowering my prices you can rest assured I am doing everything possible to provide the best level of service possible.
When I started my practice, my initial visit was $180! Now it's $160! I was able to lower it by $20. All of my other services have been lowered by $5, and I have added #telehealth options as well with reduced rates.
My #Payitforward program is still in action. We have generated over $600 in gratuities to fund the program in the first 6 months. I am now offering PIF initial visits at 50% off to those in need who are in the #LGBTQIA and #BIPOC #Disability communities.
How wonderful is that? If I could reduce my rates even more, I would. Alas, I must keep my oxygen mask on, so I can continue to be of service.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read a little more about me and I hope you'll find the rate decrease to make care more accessible to you!
If you would like to learn more about the program and my services, you can go to my website here. Be sure to check out my testimonials on the homepage!
If you're interested in booking a session with me, you can request an appointment on my contact form.
Take care out there,
Aera Barnette, LMT
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