Karah-Leigh Hancock
The Valdosta Daily Times
HAHIRA — For South Georgians who suffer from chronic or acute pain, or just need a relaxing massage, the Healing Arts Studio in Hahira may be the place for you.
Healing Arts Studio is owned and operated by Cynthia Crawford, a California native who moved to Hahira with her husband and kids a few years ago. Her husband, Jonathan, owns Jewelry by Jonathan next door to her studio. Crawford originally trained at California Healing Arts in Santa Monica, Calif., where she learned and practiced for relaxation massage and other alternative modalities.
After moving to Hahira, Crawford began attending Moultrie Technical College for neuromuscular therapy.
“Basically what neuromuscular therapy is, it treats chronic issues and pains,” Crawford said. “Say your back goes out all the time or say you have slight scoliosis. Because we work with (neuromuscular therapy), it means we kind of look at everything — what you’re eating, what kind of stressors you have in your life, along with devising a treatment plan.”
According to Crawford, neuromuscular therapy is also a good way to treat carpal tunnel syndrome.
“We work on carpal tunnel syndrome,” she said. “We work on carpal tunnel syndrome to the point that you wouldn’t have to have surgery on it. It’s muscle-specific work. Neuromuscular therapy can treat that without surgery.”
Crawford sees a lot of people come into her studio with neck issues or people who sit at a desk all day and begin to hunch over.
“We treat muscle-specific groups in the body to treat those issues and hopefully through devising some exercise plans for them to do at home, they can actually start to restructure a few issues of their body,” she said. Crawford also has been trained in Swedish, deep-tissue, sports, myofascial release, trigger point therapy, shiatsu, reiki 1, but by far her most popular is her neuromuscular therapy.
It is also her favorite massage to give.
“I like to give massages (to people) that actually help (them),” she said. “I love to give relaxation massages (and) there’s a time and place for that for everybody. But when someone comes in to me and (they are) hurting and can barely move and they walk out of here straight, that pleases me a lot more. I see it actually do something.”
Crawford does understand that sometimes people are a little weirded out by the thought of massage, but reassures her customers that everything is as it should be.
“When people have a first-time massage, it’s a little intimidating to say ‘oh gosh, I have to get undressed in front of a stranger’ or ‘have a stranger touch me,’” she said. “But one thing any new person or a person that’s shy should know is that when they come in, it’s all about them. They come in, have a place to get undressed and can get undressed down to their comfort level. They are always draped. When I work on someone, I only uncover the part that I’m working on. It’s (a) very comfortable situation.”
Crawford recently had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Healing Arts Studio, but had customers before the real grand opening.
“Word had gotten out before hand,” she said. “Word got out that I do the kind of massage that can actually help you, not just (a) relaxation massage, but sometimes I can fix things.
“After the ribbon cutting, I have gotten some people. I do complimentary chair massages on Third Thursday (in Hahira),” she said.
