“You have great hands. Maybe you should be a massage therapist.”

In 1995, I took my first bodywork class—Reflexology.

I had just returned from a spiritual retreat where, during a break, we were asked to massage each other’s shoulders. The person I partnered with made that simple comment.

A few days later, back home in Montana, I heard a radio ad for a Reflexology workshop. I scraped together the money to attend.

I was fascinated by the idea that the body had a map on the bottom of the feet and by how everything was connected.

Expanding My Education

I moved to Southern California and worked as a Reflexologist at my mom’s holistic healing center. She encouraged me to expand my skills and enrolled me at the Santa Barbara School of Intuitive Massage.

But I was terrified of the intuitive part.

I had been raised in a strict religious environment that taught me intuition was evil and wrong.

When the school held a weekend dedicated to intuitive healing,

I skipped it entirely.

My relationship with intuition has changed considerably since then.

Today, listening and trusting what my hands are telling me are an important part of how I work and what I teach.

Becoming Goddess Wendy

At one point, I found myself back in Montana.

Even though I had a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management and had taken reflexology and beginner massage classes, the only jobs I had been able to land were dishwasher, pizza maker, and lawn mower.

Rather than get down on myself for working in entry-level positions, I reframed my experience.

I started calling myself the Dish Goddess, the Pizza Goddess, and the Estate Manicurist.

People started calling me Goddess Wendy.

Then they started giving me books about Goddesses.

I began researching mythology, the divine feminine, and what different Goddesses could teach us about how we live our lives.

And Goddess Wendy stayed.

Returning to Massage

After completing my massage program in California, and living in Montana, I moved to New York.

To become licensed there, I needed 1,000 hours of clinical training and to pass the state board exam. I drove more than an hour each way from New York to Connecticut, where I studied anatomy, physiology, neurology, pathology, Eastern healing philosophies, and several modalities of massage.

I graduated and became a Licensed Massage Therapist in 2000.

Discovering Myofascial Release

At my first massage job, a client asked whether I knew how to do Myofascial Release.

We had been briefly introduced to it in school, so I said yes.

As I worked on her, she stopped me and said:

“You don’t know what you’re doing. You need to learn this properly.”

She was right.

Because of her, I found my first John F. Barnes’ Myofascial Release Approach® workshop in 2001.

I don’t know who she was or where she is now, but I still think about her.

I’m so thankful she used her voice that day.

What if she had kept silent? What if she had simply left unhappy?

Instead, she told me what I needed to hear, and I listened.

Myofascial Release has been part of my work ever since.

Experiencing the Work Myself

I didn’t get the feel for connecting with the fascia at first.

It took a few classes and experiencing the work in my own body before I finally got it.

Once I felt it for myself, I began to understand what my hands were listening for.

About a year into my career, I was in a horse accident and broke my arm.

When it was time for physical therapy,

I specifically chose one of my Myofascial Release instructors as my therapist.

My own healing over the years has included Myofascial Release

as well as other approaches I have studied and experienced.

It has influenced the way I work with people and the way I teach.

The Goddess Approach™

After more than 25 years as a massage therapist, I don't believe the answer is always to push harder.

Fascia needs time.

It needs presence.

It needs listening.

Listen. Then follow what the body is telling you.

That principle is at the heart of The Goddess Approach™—working with the body instead of trying to force it.

You’ll learn techniques while also learning to listen—to the tissue, to your hands, and to your own body while you're working.

My Mission as a Healer & Teacher

To teach.
To guide.
To share wisdom.
To encourage curiosity.
To help you learn to listen to the body and trust what your hands are telling you.

Teaching Leaders

I’m not here to teach massage therapists to simply follow what everyone else is doing.

I encourage curiosity.

Ask questions.

Listen to the body.

Trust what your hands and intuition are telling you.

Listen and follow the body—not the crowd.

Leadership starts with being present enough to notice what is happening right now—and trusting yourself enough to respond.