Meet Mika-Our Massage Therapy Dog

Lisa Ledford is the LHAA Placement Specialist and Executive Assistant.  Her puppy Mika is the newest member of the LHAA staff (so to speak).

After the loss of our beloved pet in November, I thought I didn't want another dog, that lasted about a month, in December we decided to get another pup.  A friend saw an ad in the paper for AKC Shih-Tzu pups; I made the phone call, found out there were three litters: one 11 weeks old, a nine weeks old litter and another that was seven weeks old.  Everyone kept asking, "How will you pick her out?  which litter are you going to choose?'  My Answer was, "I will let her pick me."

The night came to go pick up my baby...I get to the breeders home, excited and a little nervous.  We go out into the kennel and she placed all of the females out in the middle of the room, there were a total of five females.  I would have brought them all home with me but my husband gave me strick orders...only one!  We talked for a few minutes and she asked if I had picked one out yet, I told her, "No I want her to pick me."  All five puppies were across the room, I said "Ok whoever is going home with me, let's go!"  Well they all go on playing except one, the smallest of the bunch, and here she comes flying across the room.  I picked her up, talked to the lady a few more minutes and commented that I really was hoping to get one that was a different color, not the smallest, etc...so I put her back down to play and she trotted off.  We talked a few minues, finally i said "I have got to get home, whoever is going with me, let's go!"  Again all of them ignored me except for the same little puppy.  Clearly she was going home with me, I should have known right then and there that SHE was the boss and I would do whatever she wanted.

I had already gotten permission from Bill (Lexington Healing Arts Academy's Executive Director) to bring her to work with me so I could train her as long as she was crated.  I'm not sure who was more excited and anxious for her to come to work on Monday, me or the the rest of the staff.

Monday morning we get to work, I placed a playpen in my office and Mika took over LHAA.  She immediately claimed the hearts of all the staff, faculty and students.  She is a natural born healer.  Several members of our OHANA (family of work) had suffered a loss of some form; she brings love, laughter and healing to everyone she meets.

Each morning we come into our office, she has taken it over and lets me work there too.  We go outside for a morning walk and then check in with the Clinic building, where she visits with Holly (and she must have her Holly time), the receptionists, and greets the morning massage and yoga clients.

If you haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting Mika, be sure to ask for her at your next massage or yoga class, she would love to meet you and give you puppy kissed, if she isn't napping of course.

Give Peace A Chance

Beth Connors-Manke, RYT-LHAA Yoga Instructor

Recently, I attended a talk given by a nationally known social justice activist. He talked much about being inspired by the life of people like Dorothy Day, Jesus of Nazareth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi. The activist was passionate about his belief that we all need to cultivate non-violence in every aspect of our lives. As the talk neared its end, he made a proposal. People use the word “peace” so loosely today that, he said, politicians use it even when talking about war strategy. He believed that we needed a different word to stress our intention to live non-violent lives. The word he suggested? Ahimsa, the Sanskrit word meaning “non-violence.”

Ahimsa is, in fact, one of the principles of Yoga. In the Yamas, or principles regarding our relationships with others and our surroundings, ahimsa is listed first. Well-known Indian yoga teacher T.K.V. Desikachar explains that ahimsa is more than simply a lack of violence. It means “kindness, friendliness, and thoughtful consideration of other people and things”; Desikachar believes that ahimsa calls the yogi to have “consideration for living things, especially those who are innocent, in difficulty, or worse off than we are.”

As a yogi, I was excited to hear the social justice activist encourage ahimsa. I knew that I had to work on it myself, and his reminder was just what I needed to hear. So, drawing on my yoga practice, I’ve been setting an intention to have a non-violent mind. I have a four-mile walk, round trip, to work, and during that time I’ve been repeating the mantra, “May I have a non-violent mind.” You know what I noticed the first day I practiced this way? My perpetually furrowed brow relaxed a bit. 

The next time you see me in class or walking down the street, ask me how my ahimsa is going. I need all the reminders I can get!

Massage Therapists Do Take Vacations

Kim Rubey, a Lexington Healing Arts Academy Instructor in the Massage Therapy Certification program and a licensed massage therapist in the LHAA massage clinic, shares her vacation photos:

Here are images that show our two favorite places to explore and just be. The picture at the left is of our daughters, Eve and Raelynn, featured with our love sponge Billie the hound dog. We love hiking in the Red River Gorge and are really looking forward to climbing this spring.
The other picture shows the feet of the Rubey family sunken in the sands of Ocracoke Island off of North Carolina. We're traveling there this summer and can't wait to feel the ocean breezes!

Massage and Yoga Behind the Scenes

With the snow melting and and the sun shining, it seems like a good time to make new beginnings. Thus, this is the first entry in the Lexington Healing Arts Academy (LHAA) Blog. This is an opportunity for everyone to get to know us (our staff, faculty and therapists) on a more personal level. I am the Marketing Director and also a licensed massage therapist at LHAA. That's me in the photo, on the right with my daughter and her Dad. I just gave up meat for a New Year's resolution, started taking yoga classes at LHAA, and have been known to fly off to Rome for a weekend (only once actually).