By Tyler Allen Explorebigsky.com Staff Writer
BIG SKY – Traditional Chinese medicine includes
a broad range of practices and dietary prescriptions
developed throughout the last 2,000 years. As of
September, one of those ancient practices is being
integrated into a Big Sky massage business.
Kerri Fabozzi, owner of Wolff Creek Massage since
summer 1999, took a reflexology class at Boulder
Hot Springs this fall and is now offering it to her
clients as an element of her massage therapy.
The practice of reflexology is based on the belief
there is energy called Qi that courses through the
entire body and by manipulating specific parts
of the hands or feet – called meridians – you can
release blockages of that energy.
“It’s all new to me,” Fabozzi says of reflexology.
“But the way your body reacts to its entire environment,
you can use many techniques to stay healthy
with the seasons.” Fall is the season for lungs and
large intestinal meridians, Fabozzi says, and she
encourages specific seasonal foods to benefit these
organs: radishes, onions, leeks and other white
vegetables. She also mentions it’s a good time to
cleanse.
Like some other naturopathic techniques, reflexology
is met with skepticism by the Western medical
establishment, though massage is widely accepted
as a benefit to patients by doctors throughout the
West.
“A growing body of clinical research on the efficacy
and value of massage as part of integrated health
care . . . has fueled a renewed collaboration between
massage therapists and other health professionals,”
according to the American Medical Association
Health Care Careers website.
In addition to massage, reflexology and diet, Fabozzi
uses castor oil, a deeply penetrating oil that has
long been used as a “cure-all” for everything from
promoting immune efficiency to stimulating labor
in pregnant women.
Fabozzi opened her home studio when she and her
husband bought their house in 2008, but continues
to do house calls.
“It’s a nice service to have in a ski town,” she says. “I
can come into people’s homes, give them a massage
after a hard ski day, and they don’t have to drive
afterwards.”
Fabozzi was drawn to massage school for two main
reasons, she says. “Alternative healthcare profoundly
appealed to me. I also perceived massage therapy
as a compatible career to my lifestyle as a ski bum . . .
and now raising two wonderful children.”
