Bethany is a yoga practitioner with deep appreciation of the transformative power of body, mind and spirit - for anyone and everyone. She has a rich background in movement, with a degree in theater, years of experience in coaching children's gymnastics as well as work with people with intellectual and cognitive disabilities here and abroad. 

Her yoga practice was sparked by her pre-natal classes in anticipation of her first child  and has continued through her personal practice and 230 and 500 hour teacher training with Tanya Boigenzahn at Devanadi Yoga. She  completed several restorative teacher trainings, Mind Body Solutions Level 1 and 2, Advanced Studies and the Opening Yoga Instructor program. 

She aspires to provide a class experience that is rooted in the idea that mindfulness, collaboration, community and self-care are the seeds to living a more compassionate and purposeful life.

Miechelle Juul Hwang is a Certified Lymphedema Therapist (CLT). She finished her training in "Complete Decongestive Therapy" (CDT) and the advanced head and neck class at Norton School of Lymphedema Therapy.

She received the NCBTMB Oncology massage certificate, the highest and most rigorous course of study and has been awarded this significant specialty achievement. In addition to running her own practice in Carmichael CA, she works for Dignity Health, Mercy San Juan, and Mercy C Street Infusion Centers, in Sacramento, where she provides massages to patients receiving chemo and other infusions. She also works with Plastic Surgery Recovery and reconstructive recovery as it has direct links to MLD and oncology massage.

Winning the Performance Health and National Holistic Institute Scholarship propelled her career, and she is a specialist in Oncology Massage trained at the Institute of Integrative Oncology (IIO) under Greet the Day in L.A.

She is certified under the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC), certification number #72480. She has been trained in several modalities including myofascial release, Swedish, deep tissue, shiatsu, and sport massage at the National Holistic Institute in Sacramento.

She is a proud member of the American Massage TherapyAssociation (AMTA) and the Society for Oncology Massage (S4OM).

Spring Saldana has been both a massage therapist and a certified neuromuscular therapist for 16 years, a Reiki Master for 7 years, a massage therapy educator for 12 years, and a massage therapy program chair for 6.5 years. She travels around the country teaching continuing education for massage professionals. She is the Massage Therapy Program Chair and a faculty member at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minnesota. Massage education has been an important part of her life, and she believes in its ability to spark a person's innate healing.

Quote: "A healer does not heal you. A healer is someone who holds space for you while you awaken your inner healer, so that you may heal yourself." - Maryam Hasnaa

Kathleen Lisson has a Bachelors of Applied Science degree in Massage Therapy, is board certified in therapeutic massage and bodywork and is a Certified Lymphedema Therapist. She is also an ACE certified health coach and MMI certified meditation teacher. 

She has spoken at the American Venous and Lymphatic Society (AVLS), Fat Disorders Resource Society (FDRS), MLD UK, and National Lymphedema Network (NLN) conferences. 

She is the author of Swollen, Bloated and Puffy, Lipedema Treatment Guide, Plastic Surgery Recovery Handbook and Southern California Plastic Surgery Cookbook.

Jill Cole is a 1998 graduate of the Boulder College of Massage Therapyin Boulder, Colorado, and has worked in the field of massage therapy as aclinician, educator, presenter and researcher ever since. 

Jill has served onprofessional boards for the American Massage Therapy Association KentuckyChapter, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Society forOncology Massage. 

Additionally, Jill is licensed by the Kentucky Board ofMassage Therapy, Board Certified by the National Certification Board ofTherapeutic Massage and Bodywork, and holds a Master of Arts in HigherEducation Leadership from Siena Heights University. 

Jill is currently workingtoward a PhD in Rehabilitative Science at the University of Kentucky and is theMassage Therapy Coordinator for the University of Kentucky HealthCareIntegrative Medicine and Health. 

Niki Munk, PhD, LMT is Interim Chair and Associate Professor of Health Sciences in Indiana University's School of Health and Human Sciences at IUPUI, a non-practicing Kentucky licensed massage therapist, and Massage Therapy Foundation Trustee.

Dr. Munk is one of 13 international Fellows in ARCCIM's International Complementary Medicine Research Leadership Program and co-investigator on the VA TOMCATT study which examines therapist applied and care-ally assisted massage therapy for Veterans with chronic neck pain.

Dr. Munk earned her doctorate in Gerontology from the University of Kentucky in 2013 and her research explores real-world massage therapy for chronic pain and associated factors including emotional well-being, trigger point self-care, and accessibility challenges to massage.

Prior to her academic career, Dr. Munk's clinical massage practice focused on older adults, and she was the Program Director and instructor at the Lexington Healing Arts Academy.

Abigail Levinson Marks, PhD is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice in San Francisco, CA, where she works with children, adolescents, and adults, with a particular focus on helping families cope with illness and loss.

Dr. Marks has over 20 years of experience creating collaborative mental health interventions with partners in other disciplines (education, medicine, art). She was the Director of Child and Family Services at Access Institute in San Francisco for 11 years and founded the in-school therapy training program there.

In 2014, after the death of her husband from glioblastoma, she founded the Milton Marks Family Camp for families affected by brain tumors in collaboration with the UCSF neuro-oncology department.

Margaretta Page is a lifelong neuroscience nurse who coordinates the UCSF Neuro-Oncology Gordon Murray Caregiver Program, where she leads the effort to continually improve the quality of life of the neuro-oncology caregiver.

She is an expert neuro-oncology clinician and has over 30 years of experience in neuro-oncology nursing at UCSF, most recently leading the way in developing and managing a program that provides an additional layer of support to the caregiver as part of the care provided to brain tumor patients at UCSF.

She is also the co-founder of Milton Marks Family Camp, a camp for families affected by brain tumors, and serves on its advisory Board.

Ama Greenrose Manasse, CMT, SEP is a 1997 graduate of Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, with a joint major in Psychology-Sociology. She became a Certified Massage Therapist in 2002 through National Holistic Institute (NHI) in Emeryville, CA and a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner in 2019 through Somatic Experiencing International (SEI) in Boulder, CO.

With 17 years of experience in Oncology Massage, she works with clients before, during, and after treatment for cancer. Ama is a Society for Oncology Massage (S4OM) Preferred Practitioner, and the California Regional Champion.

She holds the NCBTMB Oncology Massage Specialty Certificate.  In 2008, Ama completed a 300-hour Oncology Massage Certification course with Isabel Adkins (Oncology Massage Matters) at Massage Therapy Institute (MTI) in Davis, CA, and many other relevant classes including study with Gayle MacDonald, Jamie Elswick, Cal Cates, Sandy Canzone, and many presentations at all but one Oncology Massage Healing Summit. Ama also trained in Manual Lymph Drainage (MLD) with the Dr. Vodder School and Klose Training, as well as Somatic Experiencing (SE?) for trauma resolution.

She offers a holistic approach to Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Most sessions are an integration of various techniques drawn from a vast toolbox, gathered from her plethora of trainings. Primary modalities include Swedish, Reflexology, Acupressure, Myofascial Release, still holds, and guided visualization. Her work is informed by many other modalities.

Additionally, Ama offers Somatic Experiencing with the primary goal of assisting clients in moving through and beyond present symptoms caused by past traumatic, overwhelming, and stressful situations. Clients are witnessed, guided, and accompanied on a gentle journey to help increase self-awareness, move stuck survival energy, re-organize and re-integrate the nervous system, build resilience and capacity to respond appropriately to stressors, and gather coherence to live from their core self and thrive.

Ellen Hufschmidt worked as a Hospice Grief Counselor for ten years at Essentia Hospice in Duluth, Minnesota where she supported dying patients and their families, and conducted funerals. 

She is a Reiki Master and Ritual Consultant helping people of all ages to honor life's passages. In association with Metropolitan State University School of Nursing, as the Founding Director of Honoring Caregivers, Ellen created an annual ceremony in collaboration with cancer resource organizations focused in communities of color. Honoring Caregivers provided cancer survivors the opportunity to publicly honor their caregivers. 

She is the author of "With Our Own Hands: A Ritual Blessing of the Dead". Currently, she is working on a second book entitled, "Contemplations for the Dying and Living".

Brenda Elsagher is an international speaker, author, and comedian and loves to help people laugh! An experience with cancer began a journey of learning to use humor to cope with difficult things. This prompted a career shift from a small business owner to comedian and she learned to talk about taboo subjects that brought out great laughter. 

Not long after that, at age 42 she attended college and wrote her first book. She got an A by the way! Since then she has written 4 other books and became a CHP, Certified Humor Professional through the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor, one of less than 100 people in the world with that designation. 

Brenda was appointed the volunteer position of Director of Affiliated Support Group Affairs for the United Ostomy Association of America and calls herself the "cheerleader" working with nearly 300 support groups across the USA. Brenda resides in Lakeville, MN and is a mother of two, and grandma to two and married to the same old husband for 34 years.  

RUTH WERNER, BCTMB is an educator, writer, and retired massage therapist with a passionate interesting massage therapy research and the role of bodywork for people who struggle with health. Her groundbreaking textbook,A Massage Therapist's Guide to Pathology was first published in 1998, and is now in its 6th edition. A 7th edition will appear in 2019, through Books of Discovery.

Ruth's other books include Disease Handbook for Massage Therapists and her revision of the beloved Scheumann's The Balanced Body.

Ruth was honored with the AMTA Teacher of the Year Award in 2005. She served the Massage Therapy Foundation as a Trustee from 2007 to 2017 and as President from 2010-2014, and was awarded the MTF 2018 Distinguished Service Award.

Ruth is an Approved Provider with the NCBTMB (Provider # 282893-00, expires 5/22/20) and Board Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (# 008704-00, expires 4/17/2020).

Julie Tudor is a Manual and Movement therapist in New York City who incorporates the principles of Feldenkrais, Dermoneuromodulation, Neurodynamics, and Long-Form Improvisation with the foundations of Cognitive Behavioral and Acceptance and Commitment Therapies in her work. Her additional work as an Educator, Science Translator and Writer serve her in her role as Director of the noted Facebook group, Massage, Health Practitioners and COVID-19, which promotes ethics and evidence-based practice.

Pawan Bareja, PhD has practiced Vipassana meditation since 2001. She is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Teacher Training, a Buddhist Ritual Minister and a Community Dharma Leader at Spirit Rock. She has taught classes and day longs on healing trauma using mindfulness at Spirit Rock, San Francisco Insight, EBMC, and Esalen. 

In her private practice as Trauma Resolution Practitioner, Pawan works with a diverse population of clients and teaches mindfulness meditation. For the past 18 years, Pawan has been a senior assistant at Somatic Experiencing trauma healing trainings and has traveled to India to teach this work to professional care providers.

Dr. Sharon Weinstein isthe VA National Lead for Massage Therapy with the Integrative HealthCoordinating Center of the Office of Patient Centered Care and CulturalTransformation. She was licensed in Massage Therapy in 1977 and has a degree inDance Therapy. She trained in Eastern Medicine and has over 45 years'experience in holistic practice. She served as Chief of Holistic Medicine at VASalt Lake City Health Care System for more than a decade.

She received her MDdegree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is a neurologist,board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with addedqualifications in Pain Medicine and in Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Dr. Weinstein isprofessor of anesthesiology and adjunct professor of pediatrics at theUniversity of Utah School of Medicine where she has an active clinical practicein the Supportive Oncology and Survivorship Program at the Huntsman CancerInstitute.

She provided painmedicine and palliative care services for children at Primary Children'sMedical Center for 20 years. She is a clinical investigator, with research inpain and symptom management. She is a faculty scholar of the Open SocietyInstitute's Project on Death in America.

Dr. Weinstein waselected fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine in2009. She received the 2010 Regence Foundation Sojourns Award for leadership inPalliative Care. She is a member of the Association for Applied and TherapeuticHumor (AATH). She enjoys spending time with family especially hergrandchildren, dancing, listening to music, reading, writing poetry and beingin the natural world.

Ryan Hoyme has been a massage therapist for 25 years and has worked in the health field for over three decades. He is internationally known as MassageNerd and has won many awards in the massage profession. Also, he has been inducted into the American and the International Massage Therapy Hall of Fame. Ryan currently works at Mayo Clinic and Moments Hospice as a massage therapist. 

He decided to start MassageNerd.com when one of his students called him that. He started photographing and cataloging his massage techniques and eventually videotaping them to share on the site. Ryan has a massive following on his social media accounts and continues to be a role model in the massage profession.

Nicola McGill, LLSA,LMT, BCTMB, CLT-LANA, has over 25 years of experience in the field of massage and bodywork both in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. She is a graduate of the London School of Aromatherapy and received diplomas in Reflex Touch and Manual Lymphatic Drainage in Professional Practice at Anglia Polytechnic University, U.K.

Upon relocating to the U.S., Nicola received extensive training in the field of oncology massage under the instruction of Gayle MacDonald. In 2010, Nicola received her Lymphedema Therapy Certification through Klose Training and Consulting.

She specializes in treating patients with Breast Cancer, Head and Neck Lymphedema. In her clinical practice, she also utilizes her bodywork skills as an aromatherapist and MLD practitioner to treat a wide range of medical conditions. Nicola has been on staff at Boulder Community Hospital (BCH) as an Oncology Massage and Lymphedema Therapist.

She promotes education and lymphedema risk-reduction practices at cancer support groups and individual treatment sessions while working alongside the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center (RMCC) and the BCH team of healthcare providers.

Nicola is also a team member of the Boulder Cancer Survivorship Program at Avanti Therapy where she provides lymphedema education and restorative and comfort-oriented bodywork treatments for individuals undergoing treatments for a cancer diagnosis and those who have completed their treatment. For the past 10 years, she has been an MLD Instructor with Klose Training and Consulting in Colorado.

Christopher Deery is originally from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He trained at Massage Therapy Institute of Oklahoma and graduated in 1996. He worked in several different practice setting such as salon/spa, a physical therapy clinic and a private massage office before returning to MTIO and undergoing additional education, completing his Instructor Training in late 1997. He achieved National Certification in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCTMB) in 1997 and began teaching Massage Therapy programmatically in 1999.

In his process of becoming such a successful therapist he has encountered a variety of issues regarding professional practices, full vs. part-time practice and gender issues of being a male therapist. Christopher instructed classes at Massage Therapy Institute of Oklahoma and was the coordinator of the "Hired Hands" Sports Massage Team. As coordinator of the Sports Massage Team, he maintained and increased the ongoing contract with Oklahoma State University, facilitated the program's growth to include the University of Tulsa, Union High School, and other sports programs throughout the region.

He was also a member of the Sports Medicine Committee for Tulsa Technology Center. While based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Christopher had the opportunity to work with several orthopedic groups, pain management practices, and professional and collegiate sports teams. He and his business and life partner Xerlan created and managed private practices and a multidisciplinary clinic in Tulsa until they relocated to Southeastern Pennsylvania in 2012. Christopher now maintains his private practice in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania with his and his wife's company Phoenixville Massage and Bodywork as well as teaching with Anatriptic Alchemy.

He has a deep respect for science and research literacy, and a passion for "raising the floor", instead of "raising the bar" for the profession of massage therapy. He has helped design curriculum for massage schools, including the Institute for Therapeutic Massage &Bodywork in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, where he was the director of sciences and taught programmatically for four years. His areas of focus are sports massage, massage for pain, and recognition and refinement in topics such as fascial techniques, trigger point work, and resistive modalities. He studied with Dr. Bruno Chikly and assists in teaching Lymphatic Drainage classes. 

Christopher has served as a volunteer leader with the American Massage Therapy Association, serving as national president in 2019. He also has volunteered for the Massage Therapy Foundation as a subject matter expert on the topic of massage and pain, and on the board of trustees. He was elected to the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork as a professional member, where he currently serves.

He resides in Phoenixville, PA with his wife Xerlan. He has three sons, two (step/bonus) daughters, two grandchildren and a wonderful rescue dog. He enjoys writing, music, gardening, the culinary arts, and sports.