Meet our practitioner, massage therapist Sarah Bellino!
1. What do you do at Element and how long have you been there?
I work as a massage therapist at Element, and I have been here for a full two years as of this past October.
2. Tell us a little bit about your background… and how you came to do what you do at Element.
I knew that I wanted to be a massage therapist a long time before I finally went to school for it. When I was sixteen, I came across a book about bodywork for non-professionals. It was written in the seventies, so of course it included lots of long-haired men and women giving each other massages outdoors (and in the nude), but the nature of the book was completely non-sexual (okay, except for the one short chapter at the very end that dealt with sensual massage between partners). As an awkward teenager who never knew quite what to say when my friends needed emotional support, I was really taken with the idea of being able to provide them with a healing physical connection. So my best friend and I started at the beginning of the book by practicing face and scalp massages on each other whenever one of us had a headache. I discovered that I enjoyed GIVING massages as much as receiving them.
When I finished high school, it never occurred to me that I could go straight into massage school training. Instead, I pursued an undergraduate degree, because that is what I thought I was “supposed” to do. In college, I hopped from major to major, eventually settling on English/Theater only because that’s what would get me out of there the fastest. A few years afterward, when I was still struggling to pay the bills with low-paying jobs in between my crappy acting gigs, I finally allowed myself to pursue the massage career I had always wanted. I thought it would be a much better way to make a living in between auditions. Turns out that once I finished school, I never wanted to go back to performing. I’d never realized how unhappy I had been with that lifestyle until I had a chance to do something that I found so much more fulfilling.
3. What makes your practice satisfying/fulfilling for you? What is the most misunderstood aspect of what you do?
I feel really grateful to be able to do what I do for so many reasons. I LOVE helping people feel good, even if it’s just for the one hour that they are able to relax on the table and allow themselves to be taken care of. I feel like when I massage somebody, they go out into the world better able to be nurturing to themselves and to others, which means that my work is reverberating in a positive way. I also like how physical the job is and that I’m not stuck behind a desk. And of course, getting to work in a low-stress environment has the added benefit to my own sense of well-being.
4. If you could tell a prospective/new client one or two things that are crucial to know about your practice, what would they be
Because there is so much scientific evidence backing up the often touted benefits of massage, many people come in thinking of massage as an exact science. For example, they’ll have a particular complaint and want us to diagnosis what it is, which is definitely beyond our scope of practice. The same people are also looking for a prognosis. They want to know “how long before it’s fixed?” but the reality is that we can’t tell you for certain that “x number of massages within x amount of time will resolve this issue.” It is an incredibly effective but also organic process, unique to each person and each issue, so there is no way to guarantee timing or precise results.
5. What do you like do when you’re not at Element?
I really like walking for long stretches of time, often with no destination, but always in some sort of a loop whenever possible–it just doesn’t feel right to me to arrive somewhere and then turn right around to proceed down the exact same path. I also like coloring. I find it really soothing to fill in simple mandalas or flower patterns. I enjoy crossword puzzles too. I’ll attempt any difficulty level, but I’ve yet to FINISH anything harder than the Wednesday version of the New York Times’ by myself. Recently I’ve picked up another “guilty pleasure.” It’s an app called Dragonvale (think FarmVille, but in the fantasy realm). I’ve definitely spent way too many hours playing this game.
About Sarah:
In 2008, Sarah finally decided to pursue the massage training that she had been seriously contemplating since high school, where she had first learned about our bodies’ physical need for touch. She completed the program at the Finger Lakes School of Massage (Mount Kisco) in the spring of 2009, and that fall, she became a New York State Licensed Massage Therapist. Her career has taken her to a variety of settings, from upscale spas to fitness facilities, but Element’s comprehensive wellness environment has been her favorite place by far!
Sarah integrates the most popular massage modalities (Swedish, deep tissue, sports, prenatal) to create a session that is unique to each client’s needs. She incorporates certain aspects of reflexology, aromatherapy, myofascial work, table shiatsu, geriatric massage, and manual lymphatic drainage (level 1-basics) as well. Many clients come to her for intensely deep and focused work, but she is equally capable of providing a more soothing approach when someone is looking to relax and rejuvenate. Her overall goal is to provide an experience that is both physically and mentally therapeutic.