Practitioner Bios

Janie Kientzy

Hailing from the East Coast originally, I am a new and eager addition to Santa Cruz. I came into this world with a love of adventure, nature, dance and MOVEMENT. The human body fascinates me – particularly how all of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and connective fascia work together to create movement. I am equally fascinated with the mind-body connection and the potential of achieving peace and resilience in the mind and ease, health, and resilience in the body. Living with a profound EASE in the mind, body and spirit being the name of the game. With these areas of interest and a background in dance and holistic nutrition/wellness, massage school was the natural next step for me…

In 2015 I answered the call and moved to Asheville, NC (an alternative health Mecca) to attend the Center for Massage and Natural Health. Immersed into a comprehensive curriculum of anatomy and kinesiology, we were able to explore many massage and energetic healing modalities and learn the inner workings of the muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems. I was on top of the world, learning how to help folks live and move through their worlds optimally and pain-free. Since attending massage school, I have had the opportunity to work with many clients from all kinds of backgrounds in Asheville, NC, as well as Park City, Utah, for the last couple of years.

My massage style is integrative. I like to incorporate long, connective strokes to help my clients sink into the parasympathetic state of true relaxation, then go deep with effective therapeutic work that incites the body to heal itself. I incorporate neuromuscular therapy, deep tissue and passive stretching to create SPACE for the body to heal and the mind to regulate. My hope and intention is that you will leave feeling more ease in your body and mind, more grounded, more integrated, lighter, brighter, and ready to face the world with your best foot forward. It’s my passion to help you achieve and maintain an active and vibrant quality of life. 

Jason Mandell

Jason Mandell has been offering massage to the world since 1995.  Initially trained in Swedish and Polarity, Jason has gone on to study and incorporate into his own unique style other various modalities including Shiatsu, Thai massage and Phenomenal Touch. He views his mission in massage as a way to locate holding patterns held in the nexus of the physical, mental/emotional and spiritual body. Once found, an invitation is given to redirect the energy of these holding patterns, offering a release of tension and an opportunity to find more groundation in one’s body and one’s sense of self. All is connected. The less tension in the body, the less tension in the world.  The less tension in the world, the less tension in the body.

Jennifer Gordon

Jennifer has been practicing massage for 24 years and is nationally certified. With over 2000 hours of training in a variety of modalities and experience working on many types of clients, she customizes each session based on client goals and feedback. Jennifer draws mainly from Swedish, deep tissue, Thai and cranial sacral techniques. Her goal for each session is that you leave with more awareness of your body, breathing deeper and feeling refreshed. 

Jeremy Kotenburg

Trained in Swedish, Thai, Reiki, Acupressure, Chakra balancing and deep tissue massage techniques.

Jessa Steinman

Jessa studied massage at Cypress Health Institute and the Monterey Institute of Touch. She specializes in deep tissue and myofascial release and draws upon the foundations of cranial sacral to calm the nervous system and invite the client into deep relaxation. Her study and practice of Yoga & Ayurveda initially inspired her to become a massage therapist — as a path to continue learning about the human body and expanding within the field of Healing Arts. Jessa enjoys integrating her education in movement therapy with massage in order to guide clients in caring for their own bodies.

Julienne English

Holding space for relaxation and recovery for 16 years. Jules offers a combination of modalities in every massage. Pulling from her tool box of massage techniques to fit everyone’s specific needs, incorporating intuitive Swedish, Thai, Acupressure, specialty Pre-natal, rocking and stretching.

Karen Ahn Ruiz

Karen Ahn has been practicing massage therapy since 2002. She specializes in Swedish, Deep Tissue, Polarity, Acupressure, Thai, Reiki, Energy, Aromatherapy, and most recently Lomi Lomi. She has studied at both Cypress Health Institute and Southern California School of Massage where she obtained her Therapeutic Massage Certificate and her Holistic Health Certification. Her philosophy is to cherish yourself always, keep your heart open, and reflect and grow.