If you’ve ever called to schedule a session at Gateway, it may have been my voice at the other end: “Gateway Cottage Wellness Center. This is Kirstyn. How may I help you?”

My head barely visible above the reception counter, a custom-made 15-foot topper of Alligator Juniper, I’m answering phones, scheduling appointments, and following up with guests on their massage, intuitive reading, or Reiki session.

While talking to our guests is always top priority, the slower summer season allows for more time to chat with those that stand on the other side of Gateway’s reception desk: some of the best healers in Sedona. Their expertise in mind-body wellness is colossal and, in my opinion, shouldn’t be kept solely to the lucky ones like me who receive it by virtue of proximity. I decided to conduct some interviews to ask our practitioners about the human body, energy work, spirituality, and their own journeys to health and wellness so that their wisdom could be shared.

Massage Therapist and San Francisco native Carol Ratto was my first go at an interview. Described by one of her clients as “an intuitive anatomy-energy-healing guru,” Carol ran her own massage business for over twenty years before moving to Sedona, Arizona. Carol reminds us that the body is always speaking; it is up to us to listen and understand its unique language.

Kirstyn: How did you get started in the healing arts?

Carol: I was about 21 or 22 years old and I went to a summer party. I met a woman there who was not only a massage therapist but also a psychologist and the combination really intrigued me. This woman was extremely generous and let me grill her for like four hours at this party. I asked her every question I could think of about education, her business. So I knew that there was something in that for me because I had a physical feeling in my heart. It was like a tingle and I was like, oh, I have to pay attention to this. So I knew I had to try this massage thing.

Then, about five years down the road, I was working with a guy at a hotel. He was a bellman and I was in reservations. He was going to massage school. And here again, I just grilled him about the school he went to and it was the best school available at the time. It was the National Holistic Institute in Emeryville, California. It took me five years later to get there. So it took me 10 years to finally get to massage school.

Kirstyn: Once you got to massage school did you relate to the material that you were learning or was it a struggle?

Carol: It wasn't a struggle, not ever. When I'm in a situation where I don't know something and I'm in an institutional learning environment, I become a sponge. NHI, the massage school, had two different modalities that they taught: Eastern Shiatsu and Western Swedish. And they taught a bunch of other stuff in between. When I began in October of 1995, they were starting the Eastern Shiatsu. So I started with that which was completely foreign to me. I was disarmed at having no expectation and no knowledge. I think that was the best for me because floor Shiatsu is basically just hand pressure and body movement. They teach you to synchronize your breathing with the client. So I learned to be in sync with the client from day one. That set me up as a way of harnessing my intuition and having it be a tangible thing as opposed to where’d that come from?

Kirstyn: For those of us who don't know Shiatsu, what is it exactly?

Carol: Shiatsu means hand pressure. As the person breathes out, you have your thumbs at certain points and you go in with the breath. As they breathe out, you release. So you're in constant sync. Having your breath in sync with the person while you're doing the movements creates a wholeness and oneness. It's really nice.

Kirstyn: What do you think people need to understand about their bodies?

Carol: They need to understand how their body speaks. They need to understand their body's language. The language is different for everybody. But I honestly feel that if people listened to their body, they would not need massage or any other kind of modality for dysfunction. Not to say that external circumstances don't happen, of course they do. But listening to your body, knowing your body's signals for different feelings, knowing your body's signals for pain or for alert of danger. With danger you go into fight or flight. You don't think about it. And that's about as far as people go. So when you're sitting there and you’ve got a pain in your stomach, ask your body. Put your hands there and say, what do you need to tell me? What do you need to show me? What do I need to know? Your body will talk to you. You just need to figure out how to listen.

Kirstyn: Yeah. And I think you're so good at that because someone's on the table and you're receiving messages from their body. Even though they may have no clue what their body is trying to say, you're their translator in a sense. Do you think reading messages from the body is a natural talent that you have? Or how do you think you came across this particular gift?

Carol: I remember when I was little I was always fascinated by spirituality: candle wicking, the Chinese sticks where fortunes are told by the way the sticks fall, and reading playing cards. I have female members on my mom's side that can read your fortune from a deck of playing cards. It's not a tarot deck. It's not an oracle deck. It's just a regular playing deck. Every once in a while, my mom would throw a deck of cards to my aunt and say, “Read my fortune.” I would be really intrigued. I think my mother's cousin was psychic and when I was eight years old she said, “Carol, I want you to scan me.” I said, “What are you talking about?” She said, “I'm going to stand here. I want you to put your hands on either side of my body, but not touch my body. Then, move your hands up and down along my sides.” I agreed and began to do as instructed. She closed her eyes and said, “I can feel where your hands are. I can feel their warmth.” It was odd because I was a little kid and it’s not as though my hands were that hot. So I knew that there was something there, but I didn't know what. So it was these little glimpses throughout my childhood, but it wasn't until I got to massage school that I realized that I could feel another person's energy and I could move with it.

Kirstyn: Do you have any spiritual practices?

Carol: I have a spiritual practice where every morning I connect to source, my personal guidance and angels. I ask them to walk with me through my day. If I don't have time to do that, like if my cat is being particularly pesty or if I'm just too exhausted, I'm like, I'm sorry, I don’t have it today. I'm connected and I'll jump in the shower or something. So, yes, I have a practice that’s entirely my own.

Kirstyn: Going back to those of us who want to be more empowered in our own wellness journey – how would you suggest that we develop the skill of listening to our bodies more? I think a lot of people are tentative about that because they feel their body doesn't speak at all. Or perhaps we feel our body is something we have to fight or control. So, what advice would you give to someone who wants to have their body speak to them? What are some practical things we can do to develop this relationship?

Carol: First of all, I need to preface all of this by saying that the first thing that we as human beings need to understand is that our spirit inhabits this organic body that is separate from our consciousness. Our organic body has its own plans, its own design, its own needs outside of the consciousness that lives in it. So the first thing is acceptance of your body being separate from your consciousness. You're not one whole thing. Having that perspective of your body as a separate entity from yourself is when you can begin the relationship. Then, I usually suggest that people, however difficult, sit with themselves and be quiet. The body has a very specific language and it uses your memory. That's all it has to work with. Your memory is your body's language, so it's going to come in the form of words, feelings, images, songs, titles, movies, car accidents. Whatever is in your memory is the language data bank for your body. So when your body suddenly sends you an image of the movie Good Will Hunting and you're like, what the heck? Then you have to interpret what your body is sending you. What is it about this movie and the way you felt about it? What was the circumstance when you saw it? Did it come up in conversation with someone? You need to do a deep dive into what your body is showing you because there's significance there.

Kirstyn: So let's say I have a pain in my back. I put my hand on that area that's painful. I can start with that question of, what do you need? What do you want to say?

Carol: How can I help you?

Kirstyn: How can I help? Then whatever images, memories, words come up…

Carol: Yes. And feelings! The more accurate you are with describing your feelings, the easier it is to understand your body. So you get these really amorphous feelings that are multi-layered in your life. Okay, I've got tears. What does that mean? The tears may mean I'm frustrated. Or, does it mean I'm mad or sad? Find the emotion behind it. That's when you can find out what’s at the root of the back pain. Your body will encourage you once it sees that you're like, okay, I'm here, I want to learn, I want to listen. Your body will start sending you more messages the more that you listen. It’ll become more and more clear.

Kirstyn: We'll end with a fun question. What's your favorite spot in Sedona?

Carol: Honestly, I get so much from just sitting on my back porch looking at the mesa. Or, going to the other side of the house and seeing the sunset with the red rocks. I can't put words to it, but it's my forever home.

Carol has a variety of offerings at Gateway Cottage Wellness Center. To schedule a session with her, call us at 928-862-4400.

Story by: Kirstyn Lazur

Kirstyn Lazur is the author of I Was Cursed in Connecticut, a memoir that recounts her unique and supernatural journey after the death of her mother. Her book is available through Amazon and Gateway Cottage Wellness Center’s online store.