May 23, 2012



It is with a bittersweet heart that I make this announcement. My husband Joe has been scouted to be a professor at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. I am extremely proud of the fact that he has been asked to join this world renowned faculty, yet I am sad to announce that this means I will be moving my private practice to Florida. 

Each and everyone one of my clients has made Mending Hands in Brooklyn one of the most rewarding and engaging experiences of my life. I have learned so much from each of you. I hope to take what I have learned as a business owner, massage therapist and person with me to our new home. 

Now, there is still time to see you before I go, so here are some of the details!

1. Starting now, I will not be taking any new clients. I want to make my current clients a priority and hope this makes the time and space to see all of you!

2. I will no longer be offering gift certificates or packages. I also encourage those who have packages or gift certificates (or have purchased as gifts for others) to make sure we find the time to complete those sessions! 

3. I will be offering a whole new day of availability and taking appointments 6 days a week!  Sessions will be available Monday - Saturday.  Conversely, I will no longer be able to take 10am sessions. So the new hours will be:

Monday - Friday: 12pm - 6pm
Saturday: 11am - 5pm

Mending Hands will be open for appointments through July 11th: melissa@mendinghands.com

Finally - I will be rebuilding my mailing list to make sure my newsletter stays relevant. I also want to make sure that none of you feel spammed.  If you would like to stay on my mailing list, please just let me know! You are also more than welcome to keep up on my new adventures  on the clear beaches of Florida (as well as massage, health and wellness info) by following the Mending Hands blog or on Facebook

As far as where to get your future massages, I would love to recommend my friends and fellow Massage Therapists: Agnes and Megan.

If you are ever in Sarasota or have any family or friends in the area, please pass my information along!

It has been a beautiful honor to be your massage therapist.

You have made my life better. 

I will miss every single one of you.

May 17, 2012

Lavender Aromatherapy Reduces Stress and Pain

Choose Lavender as your complimentary aromatherapy during your next Mending Hands Massage!



Aromatherapy is an effective complement to a massage therapy session. New research indicates lavender aromatherapy provides a significant decrease both stress and pain.


Investigators at the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University , Daegu, Korea, set out to measure the effects of lavender aromatherapy on 30 healthy volunteers, according to an abstract published on www.pubmed.gov.


The subjects were randomly allocated to two groups: the experimental group received oxygen with a face mask coated with lavender oil for five minutes, and the control group received oxygen through a face mask with no lavender oil for five minutes, the abstract noted.


Stress level, and pain intensity of needle insertion before aromatherapy were similar between the two groups; however, the stress values and pain intensity of needle insertion were significantly reduced compared with the control.
The research was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.


Email: melissa@mendinghands.com