Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheila Neumann.
Hi Sheila, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Have practiced massage as a solo practitioner for 22 years, beginning at Poppy Massage LLC. Moved that practice from
Milwaukee, WI, to Portland, OR, to Bend, OR. Moved to San Clemente, CA, where I worked at Barefoot Bliss, and really honed my ashiatsu skills, then opened Ashiatsu By The Sea, in San Clemente, CA. By the time we (my husband and I), decided to move back to Central Oregon, I decided to keep the seaside theme I had created in San Clemente, and make it a “High Desert Oasis”, in Redmond, OR.
I found the beautifully remodeled High Desert Music Hall, which resonated with my artistic past as a lounge singer and poet, surrounded by artists and musicians. My background before massage was in the restaurant industry, which is where the extra icing on the cake of “customer service” really comes.
I really fell in love with yoga in San Clemente, and made it a goal to study Yomassage. I put my own twist on the Yomassage class, by beginning the class with a poem. Yomassage is massage given fully clothed while you rest in restorative yoga positions on yoga mats. This class includes a guided meditation.
Learning Yomassage was the inspiration for the Mer mobility room, which now has RAD myofascial release tool classes.
Nidra Yoga (iRest) classes, and soon to come Nerve Flossing and Restorative Yoga classes.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No it has not, argh, but I have learned so much, and grown so much along the way.
Setting up my practice in San Clemente, CA, took 8 months of paying rent on the space before I could even begin working out of the space, because there you have to go through the City Planning Department. Extremely complex compared to Oregon. I wasn’t even a year in when the rents started to sky rocket after Covid, and we thought we better get out of here before we are get priced out of rent, and have no home. Shortly after we left, I heard the building sold, and the new owner didn’t want massage in there, AFTER ALL THAT.
Then moving to Redmond,OR, my first space had a landlord who allowed the mechanic behind me to blast his music so loud that it sounded as if it I were the one playing it, not massage friendly, as you can imagine. Found out later, the mechanic was her boyfriend. Not so professional.
I have had problems establishing a solid practice at the Music Hall too, simply because it is an old building with some room temperature managing problems, and some sound management issues, which I chronically address, and try to resolve.
With a whole lot of work, I have managed to make the space rather lovely to work in.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in Ashiatsu (Japanese for “foot pressure”) is a deep-tissue massage technique where therapists use their bare feet, supported by overhead bars for balance, to apply broad, consistent, and deep compression strokes.
I have studied both DeepFeet technique and SAMBA technique. I have been practicing this style for the past 6 years.
I am most proud of my newly established Mer mobility room, and the creative energy I have put into Yomassage, to make it my own. I am proud that I am in a place in my career where I am seen as a respected professional. I am proud of the extra mile I have gone to help lift others up along the way.
What sets me apart from others, I believe, is the unique life experience I have had in traveling to many different types of places where I was able to get to know all different kinds of people. Also, where I hyper-stretched my own boundaries in order to understand each new community I became a part of. As a result becoming who I am today, and having all of those experiences rolled into one to create Mer massage & ashiatsu.
It feels like a coming together of everything I have ever done. All this unique experience rolled into one practice to create a, handmade, personalized custom experience for every client.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Honestly, I do worry that young people won’t have the same opportunities I have had. There are fewer and fewer spaces available for independent massage therapists to work out of. One of the reasons, I have for the first time in my career, started sharing my space with others as Sublessees, so I can mentor and give them the opportunities to have their own businesses. Instill a sense of pride of ownership, and independence.
A shift I have recently noticed is more awareness of the nervous system, and calming the nervous system. Mer mobility room focuses of calming the nervous system, and staying mobile. Empowering clients to learn how to meditate, and to work on breathing and maintaining a sense of calm in their daily lives. Giving tools they can use between their massages
to care for themselves at home.
In the next 5-10 years our clients will be so educated and knowledgeable about their own bodies that they will have developed fantastic communication skills in regard to various styles of massage, and they will be able to make much better educated choices when seeking the therapist that is right for them. They will become experts in managing their health and have a greater sense of body awareness. Information at their fingertips.
Pricing:
- $120 per 60 minute massage
- $135.00 per 75 minute massge
- $150.00 per 90 minute massage
- Yomassage $65.00 per hour; $40 per class 3-5
- Classes ranging from $15-$25
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mermassageashiatsu.com
