Serenity Now! A Review of the Serenity Wellness Experience

Imagine waking up in the morning, padding down to the kitchen for a leisurely cup of coffee and just as you finish, the doorbell rings. There stands a very pleasant young lady who carts a massage table into your house and sets it up wherever you like! Wow! This is the life, I thought as this is exactly what happened to me one day in mid March. My son had gifted me a full body massage and arranged to have it done in my home because he knew I would never find time to schedule it at a spa. I thought it would be rather long but appreciated the gesture and decided to enjoy a couple of hours of relaxation. "Enjoy" is not the word for my experience! It was heaven.

First I will give you a little background. I am in my late 60's but consider myself to be in excellent health. True, I have some aches and pains and my neck often aches and my knees aren't what they used to be, but hey, I'm old. I don't expect to feel like an eighteen year old. That was then! Stephanie set to work and shaved the years off! By the time she finished the massage, I truly did feel eighteen! My neck no longer hurt and my knees felt great. She not only gave an amazing massage, but she was a fount of knowledge. She showed me what was causing the pain and gave me exercises to do in order to strengthen and release painful muscles.

As we chatted during the massage, I began to realize how fortunate I was to have run into this treasure. Stephanie and her team are passionate about their work. They want to make a real difference to their clients. Serenity employees are even willing to travel to various cities to bring healing. They will go to homes, which is not only a gift to lazy people like myself, but also makes therapeutic massages available to shut ins and immune compromised clients. They will even travel  to offices in order to work with clients who are under time constraints.

Left to right: Stephanie Mead, Owner/RMT;  Shelley Moss, RMT; Melanie Toner, RMT

Stacey MacLean, LCT-C

They believe in the benefits of massage therapy and they want to make it fully accessible to anyone who needs it. Furthermore, they recognize the connection between mental and physical health. There are counsellors on staff who are also easily accessible. At Serenity wellness they are beginning to approach the psychology department of UNB about an exciting research project. If successful, mental health and wellness will see a major change in treatment delivery. As I said, these people are passionate about their work.

On a personal note, I hope my son makes these gifts regularly, although, if he ever tried it himself, he wouldn't be arranging these sessions for anyone but himself. I may just have to make my own arrangements to incorporate those heavenly massages into my schedule. Meanwhile, now that I feel eighteen again, I may just have to take up my life long dream of becoming a dancer! At your next recital, I'll be the slightly wrinkled ballerina who is leaping gracefully across the stage with her grey hair swept into a fashionable bun!