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Our Awesome Team!
Practitioners with a Regular Schedule
Sarah-Anne Ragon
Pronouns: She/Her
NC LMBT #22526
Sarah-Anne brings a diverse background to her practice and is personally familiar with navigating different needs of the body through seasons of life. She teaches and performs circus arts and gymnastics, has worked years in the food service industry, and spent a few years with a corporate desk job. Her own diverse experiences led her to massage where she is able to synthesize her skills in support of others. She enjoys treating each body with the individualized care it deserves and weaves her years of working with body mechanics and movement practices into her massage and client recommendations. She believes that everyone deserves to feel at home within their body and loves working with active bodies as well as those looking to support more activity in their life. Her approach focuses on helping clients meet their goals - whether it's getting back to activities they love, maintenance treatments, relaxation, or other specified outcomes.
Sarah Gay
Pronouns: She/Her
NC LMBT #20000
Sarah came to massage out of desperation, looking for a solution to chronic migraines. It provided one of the first experiences of relief from years of pain that she thought could possibly never be overcome. After realizing what a powerful resource massage is, she went on to study at the Center for Massage and Natural health in Asheville. While attending school she was able to fulfill her deep curiosity about the function of the human body and when it goes awry. Her goal in practicing massage is to be part of a network of health resources for her community. She believes that when a community network is strong, healthy, and supported it will thrive-- much in the same way the network of the human body thrives when it is given the resources it needs. Sarah's massage approach is to create an environment of deep relaxation and healing through slow, intentional, integrated massage, and deep breathing. She enjoys working on shoulder and upper back tension and always works to keep her clients direct goals and needs a highlight of the session.
Mary Shamburger
Pronouns: She/Her
NC LMBT #21202
After years of raising her four children and working in the world of corporate America, Mary was ready for a change. She followed her belief in the healing power of touch to massage school. Her greatest desire is to make a positive impact on the overall mind, body, and spirit of people in need. She loves customizing sessions and meeting people where they are. Upon graduation from the Center for Massage & Natural Health, she gained additional experience in Neuromuscular Therapy and Trigger Point Release techniques which she enjoys integrating into her sessions. She comes to BMMW offering her knowledge and skills to help provide healing.
Lizzy Turner
Pronouns: She/Her
NC LMBT #20692
Lizzy was drawn to the healing arts as a teenager, setting her on a path of self discovery that landed her at the Center for Massage and Natural Health to study massage. She believes in whole body health and going within to heal. Her own experiences of receiving relief from physical discomfort and pain inform her practice and are part of what drew her to supporting others on their journey for answers and a better understanding of their body. In her sessions, she enjoys offering a space for all her clients to let go and receive. She loves incorporating deeper therapeutic work with Swedish massage foundations and is always looking to bring new tools and techniques to her practice.
Christina Cunningham
Pronouns: She/Her
NC LMBT #19869
As a trauma-sensitive bodyworker with 24+ years of experience in the field, Christina assists her clients in feeling more comfortable in their own bodies & empowered to take deep care of themselves. Christina had her first episode of deep burnout at 18 & experienced being deeply disconnected from her body. Receiving regular bodywork & cultivating personalized self-care was instrumental in helping her feel safe and heal this disconnection, which allowed her to respond to the stress of life with more energy, courage, self-compassion and wisdom, which is the healing she strives to offer her clients now. In her integrated sessions, she uses an embodied and customized approach that may include Swedish massage, deep tissue, joint mobility, facilitated stretching, myofascial release, trigger point therapy and BodyMind awareness techniques. Additionally, she uses her advanced training in Bioenergetic Shen Touch, (a trauma sensitive bodywork designed to reset your nervous system, restore your energy & revive your hope) as the foundational piece for her Reconnection Sessions - a blend of coaching & massage designed to reconnect mind/body.
Amanda Bedard
Pronouns: She/Her
Certified Reiki Master & Coach
With a background in the corporate world, Amanda first started exploring energy work as a way to help alleviate stress, manage chronic pain and heal unwanted patterns stemming from trauma. The healing she encountered was life changing and opened up a deep calling inside her to change careers and help others in the same way. She is a certified Reiki Master Teacher, Psychic Medium, and Professional Life Coach with multiple sub-set certifications in coaching and psychology. Amanda uses her training in a multitude of modalities to help her clients with stress, anxiety, pain management and challenges related to trauma. Her goal is to facilitate a safe space where she is able to support her clients healing from the inside out.
Katie Walters
Pronouns: She/Her
NC LMBT #22555
Katie was born and raised here in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains and feels a deep connection with this land and its natural rhythms. The mountains have and will continue to shape her path. A graduate of the Center for Massage and Natural Health, her work is rooted in the belief that healing happens through presence, intention, and a deep respect for the body’s wisdom. In addition to more traditional full-body treatments, she also enjoys helping clients with a specific focal issue, injury or problem area. Before becoming a licensed massage therapist, Katie spent years in the service industry, nurturing others through food and hospitality. This experience shaped her understanding of how we connect, comfort, and nourish each other in both subtle and powerful ways. She is committed to offering a safe, inclusive space for everybody, where clients can reconnect with themselves and the wisdom of their own bodies.
'Aina Rapoza
Pronouns: He/Him
NC LMBT #20366
'Aina is returning to his home of Hawaii following an unexpected cancer diagnosis. We already miss him immensely and are in fully support of his highest good through this unexpected turn of events in his life. He recommends that his current or returning clients try booking with Mary, Lizzy or Sarah-Anne for a massage that is most similar to his therapeutic, deep tissue, NMT style of work.
He deeply appreciates all the love, care and support that his BMMW clients have offered through this time and is doing his best to follow his own intuition and guidance through this next chapter.
Sean Mack
Pronouns: He/Him
NC LMBT #22176
Sean recently stepped away from the practice to both support his wife in a major career advancement opportunity and to attend to an old back injury that has recently flared up and needs some rehab and time off.
He recommends Christina, Mary or Sarah-Anne for clients looking for a slightly similar style. Mary is the best fit for those wanting a more deep tissue, NMT focused session. Christina and Sarah-Anne are ideal fits for that therapeutic focus and release with a little less emphasis on "Deep Tissue."
Caroline Hulsey
Pronouns: She/They
NC LMBT #20480
At the beginning of April, Caroline moved back to NYC - a place she has called home for years prior to her Asheville adventure. Many of her clients are finding a good fit with Christina, Sarah or Sarah-Anne.
Rachel Lynes
Pronouns: She/Her
As an avid over-thinker, Rachel fell in love with massage for its ability to help her get out of her head, relaxed and into her body. She graduated from the Center for Massage and Natural Health and enjoys mixing and matching techniques from Swedish massage, neuromuscular trigger point therapy, deep tissue, and sports for a customized client experience. She brings these techniques together with an embodied flow that she borrows from her passion and practice of creative movement like yoga and dancing (which you'll often find her doing when she's not working). As a second generation massage therapist, she is honored to follow in the footsteps of her mother and is grateful to be working in such a fulfilling environment. She looks forward to being part of your massage story and learning from every client she meets!
Our Awesome Team!
Practitioners who fill in or work with us intermittently
Dawn Zielger
Pronouns: She/They
NC LMBT #20730
Dawn graduated from the Center for Massage & Natural Health in Asheville, NC. She specializes in a blend of therapeutic and integrative massage therapy. Her goal is to discover the root cause of chronic issues & help people feel better in their bodies by creating a customized therapeutic experience with each session. Her style of massage may include modalities such as Thai yoga, therapeutic Swedish, deep tissue and myofascial massage. When she is not massaging you will find her creating art, writing, playing in the woods, contemplating life’s meaning and taking short travel adventures of all sorts