November 13, 2018

Meet Fernando Artiga

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Fernando Artiga.

Fernando, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In my early twenties, I started dating an artist that was a yoga teacher. In the late eighties, I think hardly anyone knew of yoga or at least practiced. I was really inspired by this woman’s art and sculptures who was about seven years older than I. One day she massaged my back. Having grown up around in a civil war in Central America and no safe structure in my immediate family, I think that massage must have brought my first healing experience and opened my imagination to possibilities.

At that time I was forcing myself to write in my journal, as practice to better my English skills. I couldn’t help to notice that every one of my journals spoke of my wanting to do massage or at least help others feel what I had experienced through touch. I began to imagine the setting, the music event the room where I wan going to create this healing experiences. I grew up in the art world, so in the late 90s I was pushed by a beautiful ballerina I was living with at the time to go to a great school in Santa Monica and follow one of my dreams.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been easy. There is a story that every great healer has gone through some trauma or a death like experience. Although I don’t necessarily believe this to be true for everyone, it certainly feels to be true for me.

In 2006, while I was performing in a great LA-based circus called Lucent Dossier and working as a massage therapist at a high-end spa on the west side, I started getting many digestive health issues related to dental mercury fillings. I started having all kind of health issues; I thought I was going crazy. I started seeing many doctors but with no clear answers. I sort of went into hiding after I started having anxiety and depression. I gave up being in the spotlight for a while.

I managed to keep working while reading many books or any leads to solving my digestion issues. I noticed that great massage skills would bring immediate results to my digestion discomfort. This intrigued me to really listen to my body and especially when I got massaged. To my surprise, great bodywork would always bring immediate relief to my nervous and digestive system. It was right then I knew that not only was on the right path but I was going to study deeper and make massage therapy the central part of my life.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I specialize in very detailed deep tissue, myofascial release massage. Through 20 years of doing massage and having studied Shiatsu, (Chinese pressure points) along with my regular 5Rhythms dance movement practice I have developed a highly intuitive touch. My sessions usually begin with having a mini intake conversation about what might happening with the person/client. Usually, once I start massaging a client’s back, I get a clear intuitive vision about the person’s posture, habits and what might be off with the structure of the body. Each session varies, if I work on a clients stomach, I can immediately tell if the digestion might be off which usually affects the lower back and hips.

Most of my clients usually say “I have never had a massage like that one, but this is the best massage ever.” Recently I changed the name of my company to Harmonicwellness.org after having some big epiphanies about what exactly is it that I do. About eight years ago a doctor friend of mine introduced me to shamanism. These ancient practices of seeing and being in good relationship to all things begin to give me a language on how to make sense of many miracles, visions and intuitive information I was receiving.

Combining anatomy, Shiatsu, movement, and most recently shamanic practices have given me a structural foundation about how to navigate the unseen world but perhaps more importantly how to bring peace to our minds. My work is a marriage of these modalities and tools. Through intuition I able to first listen to the body’s practical needs then if the person is curious I share with them tools, language, and practices so we can begin creating a sense of healing and belonging in our daily lives.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I grew up in a village with no water or power in El Salvador. My favorite early childhood memories are of several children playing under the moonlight as storytellers would tell us the most imaginative fairytales I’ve ever heard of. Our village house had a mini-market so local neighbors and storytellers would gather to commune with each other. Those images and memories are perhaps what saved and inspired me to work with intuition and creatively.

Pricing:

60 minutes massage $120
75 minutes massage $140

Contact Info:

Website: http://harmonicwellness.org/
Phone: 323-428-4691
Email: [email protected]

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