Hello and thank you for stopping by!

 I'm Sheila LaSella and I'm a Connecticut State Licensed Massage Therapist, CranioSacral Therapist, Meditation Teacher, Reiki Practitioner, Let Animals Lead® Reiki Practitioner, and Polarity Therapist.

I was drawn to holistic healing work because I wanted to spend my days helping people. I have always been interested in anything that supports the spirit  in its healing process and feel that this is our life purpose, whether we realize it on a conscious level or not.

Even when I was quite young I was interested in the "bigger questions": What is our purpose here on Earth? Who am I really? Is there a God? How are we all connected, even though we feel separate? What happens after death? What is intuition? Why do I sense things beyond what I'm able to with the five traditional senses? Why is it that I know something is going to happen before it does? Why can I sense when people aren't being fully truthful?  I basically knew there was much more than meets the eye, much more than just the physical world. I knew there was a spiritual world, an energetic (non-physical) component to life and I wanted to know what it was!

Like many who have their livelihoods in the healing arts, it started because I was trying to restore my own health amidst much emotional and physical pain. My personal pathways to feeling better have been meditation, energy healing, herbal medicine, massage therapy, acupuncture, spending time in nature and with animals, reading and writing.

There are many complementary and alternative medicine modalities! I have been so fortunate to meet and work with many amazing healers and meditation masters.

 I've also been meditating regularly since 1997 spending two of those years meditating and studying full-time at  Gampo Abbey, a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada where I studied under Pema Chodron, who is   the principal teacher and one of the founding monastics of the Abbey. I took my refuge vows and my Bodhisattva vows with Pema and served as her attendant when she was in residence.

I consider meditation and trying to lead a mindful life to be the foundation of my healing process. Meditation has been life changing because it has allowed me to see the deepest parts of myself and to let go of what was causing pain and suffering. It is only when you become aware that you can make true lasting change and open your heart.

 

Education + Training:

Therapeutic Massage Therapy, Spa Tech Institute, Ipswich, MA

Polarity Therapy, Spa Tech Institute, Westborough, MA

RYSE Practitioner and Teacher Training with Nancy Risley, Ipswich, MA

Reiki Practioner Training, Levels 1 & 2

Animal Reiki Training in the Let Animals Lead® method with Kathleen Prasad

CranioSacral Therapy, Upledger Institute

Herbalist Studies: Twin Star Herbal Education Center with Lupo Passero, Mountain Rose Herbs with Rosemary Gladstar and Plant Spirit Medicine with Pam Montgomery

Ph.D., Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Buddhist Studies, Vidyadhara Institute, Gampo Abbey, Nova Scotia, Canada

BA, English + Women's Studies, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT

Memberships

• Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals

Licenses

• Licensed Massage Therapist, State of Connecticut, License # 6762