Sherry
One of the founders of Opal, Sherry graduated from the Swedish Institute in 1994. Her background is in theater and she also holds an MA in performance studies from NYU, where she developed an interest in the performative aspects of healing. Still in love with the intricacies of Swedish Massage, her techniques veer towards deep tissue applications, although she tends to incorporate heat, stones, trigger point, stretching and myofascial release in most sessions, depending on what is needed. Additional training includes prenatal massage, Thai massage, and massage for people with cancer or cancer history.
Sara
After living in London as a fitness Director for 7 years and graduating from The London College of Massage in 1996 Sara decided it was time to head back to New York City where she graduated from The Swedish Institute of Massage in 1998. Continuing her fitness career she complimented it with a successful massage practice. Sara rejoined The Opal Team after a period away due to the pandemic. She has partnered with Sherry and looks forward to continuing to provide clients with the exceptional standards that Opal is known for. Sara specializes in therapeutic massage, focusing on specific issues geared toward each client.
Cat
For almost 20 years Cat has been a dedicated massage therapist, refining and adding new techniques to help her clients. Cat is known for her deep, detailed focus on areas of tension and incorporates passive stretches, joint mobilizations and myofasical release techniques which help her clients move with greater ease and efficiency.
Christine
Originally from Vienna, Austria, Christine came to NY in 1993 to study dance. The transition into studying bodywork was a natural one for her, and she graduated from The Swedish Institute in 2002. As time moved on she found herself drawn more and more deeply towards energy based healing modalities, perceiving that the underlying energetic expressions might be manifesting our physical symptoms and informing our experiences in life. Her primary focus centers around training in Polarity and Craniosacral Therapy from The Life Energy Institute.
She is specific, deliberate and methodical in her work when it comes to the structural needs of the body, yet also able to widen the field of perception to include the energy field expression when encountering blocks and persistent symptoms that won’t easily respond to straight forward “massage” measures or when incorporating a client’s emotional/spiritual needs. Incorporating her energy -based studies allows Christine to hold clients in their wholeness and facilitate their journey of healing and self discovery.
**Please Note: Christine’s passion and focus has shifted more towards sessions seeking an energetic approach. If you desire deep tissue therapy, we ask that you book with one of our other therapists.
Jessica
Jessica’s deeply intuitive understanding of anatomy and alignment comes from her experience as a somatic movement practitioner and a dance and theater artist. Her training has encompassed Swedish, Shiatsu, Thai, and Tui Na massage, as well as Klein Technique, Bartenieff Fundamentals and Laban Movement Analysis. In addition to addressing a broad range of injuries and health concerns, she helps her clients find ease and space in their joints, relieve areas of chronic tension, and build more awareness of their postural habits.
Jun
Jun is a graduate of the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences. She is proud to be a massage therapist, helping people heal physically, mentally and spiritually. Her sessions are a combination of Western and Eastern modalities, including Swedish, Deep Tissue, Shiatsu, Thai, Tui-Na, Foot Reflexology, Polarity Therapy, Myofascial Release and Trigger Points.
HanaKyle
HanaKyle is a movement maven and founder of The Body Hotline. She's worked with people with pain for over 18 years as a massage therapist, personal trainer, and yoga therapist. She leads body-based movement practices for inner and outer strength online via hanakyle.com. In her massage therapy sessions, she seeks a balanced combination of relaxation and therapeutic work, including myofascial release, heat, hot stones, acupressure and shiatsu point work, stretching, and the right amount of pressure to facilitate change for each individual. For the sake of community care, HanaKyle continues to do fully masked sessions and appreciates it when her clients do too.
Marcus
Marcus is a New York State licensed massage therapist, in practice since 2006. A graduate of the Finger Lakes School of Massage in Ithaca, NY, he holds advanced certifications, including medical & sports massage through the Swedish Institute in NYC. Marcus's massages are designed to meet the specific concerns of each individual, whether you're healing from a chronic physical injury or simply looking for relaxation, or a combination of both. Sessions are a blend of myofascial, deep tissue massage, and therapeutic stretching. Marcus also teaches yoga publicly and privately and has worked as a health coach at a Brooklyn medical primary care practice. Marcus is a poetry enthusiast, an avid biker, dog lover, and passionate pizza eater.
Noreen
Noreen is a graduate of the New York College of Health Professions’ Massage Therapy program. She also has a BA in Theater Arts from SUNY New Paltz. Coming from a background of theater and dance, Noreen brings a highly intuitive awareness of biomechanics and pain management to her massage. Her training included a wide variety of Western modalities such as Swedish Massage, Deep Tissue, Sports Massage, and Myofascial Release. She was also trained in some Eastern modalities including Thai Massage and Tui Na. Within her treatments, Noreen uses passive stretching and varying degrees of pressure and specific attention to meet each client’s needs. Noreen is passionate about promoting body awareness. She believes in an integrated mind/body approach to wellness, and holds that massage therapy is a wonderful way
to accomplish this.
Quinn
Quinn graduated from the Swedish Institute and has continued with Thai, energy and PT-informed study. He uses Swedish, Thai, shiatsu and polarity techniques to give 'gentle, but deep’ sessions. He comes from running, dancing, swimming, and the Midwest.
Shyama
I’ve been a massage therapist since 1993, when I graduated from Twin Lakes College of Healing Arts in Santa Cruz, California and began my private practice there. Since then, I’ve worked to restore and support the optimal health and well-being of clients from the San Francisco Bay Area to Martha’s Vineyard, to the Berkshires, to…Brooklyn! With the passing years and much continued study (I graduated from Finger Lakes School of Massage’s New York State Licensure Program in 2009), I’ve refined and deepened my approach, which features strong deep tissue work combined with gentle and powerful energetic balancing. I’ve studied with master teachers on both coasts, and utilize techniques from many modalities, including Swedish, Sports, and Deep Tissue Massage; Trigger Point Therapy; Hot Stone; Jin Shin Do Acupressure; Myofacial Release; Reflexology; Polarity Therapy; and Reiki (level III), to create sessions for clients that support deep relaxation and freedom in the body. I’m also a poet and a singer: I lead kirtan chanting in yoga studios in New York City and beyond, and, these Covid days, mostly on line, including daily 7am morning Hanuman Chalisa chant practice on my Facebook page, Shyama Chapin Kirtan.
Meenakshi
Meenakshi chose a path in bodywork after recognizing the prevalence of chronic pain, injury, and somatic dysregulation in their closest communities. Inspired by transformative personal experiences of therapeutic touch, they decided to build on their natural inclinations and interest by studying at Queensborough Community College and becoming a licensed massage therapist.
Meenakshi draws on stretching, myofascial release, Thai, deep tissue, and Swedish massage in their work, with elements of trigger point therapy, hot stone, and shiatsu as appropriate. They enjoy helping their clients find relief and recovery from stresses, injuries, and chronic conditions; they also love working with clients to develop more connected, intuitive relationships of agency with their bodies—which they believe leads to greater ease, freedom, and ability as well as improved overall health.
Thomas
Thomas graduated from the Swedish Institute of Massage in 2004 and has been practicing and growing his bodywork skill-set ever since. In 2012 he completed his studies in Chinese Medicine and now practices Acupuncture in Manhattan. His acupuncture training has immensely expanded upon his knowledge of the human body and ways to restore a person's well being. Thomas loves to work in a field where there is always more to learn and finds pain management to be deeply rewarding work. He utilizes a number of techniques and modalities such as prenatal and postnatal massage, heat therapy, stretching, acupressure, deep tissue, as well as general relaxation massage.