There are those among us who truly have the gift of healing, and they so rarely get the praise they deserve. These folks aren’t likely to ever have a skincare line or spa empire named after them, but we’d like to give them a big round of applause anyway. We’ll be devoting a corner of our blog to them regularly, and hope that you’ll chime in with your favorites, too.  (Just comment here or send an email to editorial@spamagazine.com.)

First up, Letty Thorbecke, L.M.T., massage therapist at the Holistic Healing Center in Ventura, California. A little back story (excuse the pun):  Although my advice to other people is always to speak up during a massage, I am terrible at following that advice, typically opting instead for a “they’re the experts, they’ll know what’s going on with my back as soon as they see it,” approach. And of course this brilliant strategy has led to many a disappointing massage. But Letty is a mind-reading wonder woman. Before I even got on the table she looked at my shoulders and noticed they were slightly uneven (thanks, heavy purse). Once on the table, she noticed my hips were also off-kilter (the result of an old injury). “Do you sometimes have pain in your ribs?” she asked. I nodded yes, surprised she had been able to suss that one out. “That’s because your shoulders and hips are out of alignment—it happens to a lot of people, and some even say they feel like they’re having a heart attack.” Halleluja, that wasn’t a heart attack, I thought to myself. Working around my body like a tailor approaching a suit, she kneaded here, pulled there, and after 90 minutes I could walk straight and the tension in my neck and shoulders had vanished. I’ll be making a point of going back. For anyone in the Southern California area, Letty’s at the Holistic Healing Center in Ventura, (805) 701-6503; from $65 for a 60-minute massage.

Please let us know of your favorite therapists. Many thanks!

—Amy Westervelt, senior editor

Tags: california, holistic, massage, spa, unsung healers

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 3:28 pm and is filed under health & wellness, spa treatments, tell us!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.