One of the most commonly taught and well-known massage techniques, Swedish massage is a vigorous system of treatment designed to energize the body by stimulating circulation. Five basic strokes, all flowing toward the heart, are used to manipulate the soft tissues of the body. The disrobed client is covered by a sheet, with only the area being worked on exposed. Therapists use a combination of kneading, rolling, vibrational, percussive, and tapping movements, with the application of oil, to reduce friction on the skin. The many benefits of Swedish massage may include generalized relaxation, dissolution of scar tissue adhesions, and improved circulation, which may speed healing and reduce swelling from injury.
Swedish Massage
Chris Hutcherson
Chris studied at Mueller College of Holistic Health in San Diego, where he focused on Shiatsu, Tuina and Chinese Meridian Theory. He incorporates this into Myofascial, Deep Tissue and Sports massage, helping to facilitate muscle relaxation, stress relief and calming of the mind. He is also trained in Craniosacral Therapy. Chris has been a Certified Massage Therapist since 2005.
Dan Gill
Dan was first drawn to becoming a bodyworker as a result of a Reiki session he received shortly after moving to the Bay Area in 2015. This session filled his entire being with an inner joy, and he immediately knew that he wanted to share this feeling with the people around him. He was inspired to know that he had found his true calling in life.
Dan has over 1500 hours of massage and bodywork training from McKinnon Body Therapy Center in Oakland, California, and continuing education programs. While the focus of his training and his specialties are Tui Na, Shiatsu, Acupressure and Craniosacral Therapy, he has also studied Thai, Reiki, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Manual Lymphat Drainage, Deep Tissue and Swedish massage. He has a strong commitment to continuing education and believes that all bodywork study, inside and outside the primary modalities of his practice, add a depth and richness to his work.
Dom Romano
Dom is a graduate of Cypress Health Institute in Santa Cruz, where he trained extensively in a variety of modalities: primarily Swedish Massage, Deep Tissue, Polarity Therapy, and Craniosacral Therapy. His unique style of bodywork combines these modalities to cultivate meaningful and reflective experiences for his clients.
After witnessing the capacity of bodywork to manifest healing in his own life, Dom decided to follow his passion and pursue Massage Therapy as a career. He feels privileged to hold space for his clients and to be part of their respective healing journeys as well.
Elissa Cardin
Elissa was inspired to become a massage therapist during the hospice period of her grandfathers passing. He was suffering from bone cancer and she would massage him to help relieve pain. She has been practicing now for 20 years. She graduated with 750 hours from Trinity Massage School in San Jose. She is deeply intuitive and will find the places needed of tissue work and energy movement. She specializes in Swedish, Pinpoint trigger therapy, Prenatal, Reiki, and Chakra balancing. She enjoys the peaceful autonomy that the Well Within provides and has never been happier to work here. She hopes to provide you with utmost care and therapeutic healing time.
Felicity McKnight
Felicity tailors each session to meet your particular bodywork needs and wants. Felicity has been a practicing massage therapist for the past thirty years along with eleven years of teaching massage therapy throughout the country. Through this experience, Felicity has developed a deep confidence and a compassion filled intuitive approach to her work. Felicity’s modalities include Swedish, Deep Tissue, Shiatsu, NMT, Lymphatic Drainage, Pre and Postnatal massage, Kripalu bodywork, Reiki, and other various energetic approaches.
Hunter Villa Gawboy
Hunter is a trans, non-binary, 2nd generation intuitive massage therapist.
As a 2nd generation therapist, their work is influenced by a lifetime of familiarity with the practice. As a kid they learned to understand what a deep support for wellness massage can offer. Through first-hand experience as an active child they directly felt what relief it so often brought to their own aches and pains and restless legs. Growing up they started to integrate the practice into their own life, at first more casually trading with friends and family for many years as they developed a closer and closer relationship with the art.
Eventually, they began to note a certain lack of accessibility for many folks in their own communities who don’t always feel comfortable in mainstream settings of Wellness and they developed a drive to finally become professionally certified so they could use their skill set as a professional trade and offer more access to the benefits the work provides as such. As they continued their journey, they received affirming feedback from peers that their massage made a difference for those in their community who were able to receive it, and that their goals resonated with many.
A graduate from Cypress Health institute in Santa Cruz, they were formally trained in elements of primarily Swedish Massage, Deep Tissue, Polarity, and Craniosacral in 2019.
While Hunter’s background supports a certain comfortability in providing a firm hand with some pressure if desired in the work, they find a special joy and satisfaction in being able to listen to the client and meet them wherever they are at.
They love learning and understanding how each bodies’ needs are so unique and different from one another, and figuring out how to meet those needs and how they change over time. Their utmost passion is to help one’s body feel more fully integrated so we can all feel more wholly embodied and connected to the inherent resources inside of us.
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.