Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
Bringing together local businesses and neighbor of the Tri-Cities region. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Skip Mauney helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around The Tri-Cities.
Is your business serving the residents of Tri-Cities? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpTri-Cities.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
EP# 224: Beyond the Physical: Awakening the Spirit Through Bodywork with Michael Brasunas
What makes Michael Brasunas with Awakening the Spirit Healing Arts and Bodywork Therapy a good neighbor?
What happens when physical touch becomes a gateway to deeper healing? Michael Brasunas, owner of Awakening the Spirit Healing Arts and Bodywork Therapy, reveals the extraordinary potential that lies within each of us during this enlightening conversation.
With over 20 years of experience as a massage therapist and bodywork specialist, Michael approaches healing through multiple dimensions—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. His journey began with an intensive six-month training in Hawaii that transformed his understanding of the human body and its capacity for renewal. "When someone comes to receive healing," Michael explains, "we approach the individual with respect to all those different layers of what's going on."
The conversation ventures into frequently misunderstood aspects of bodywork therapy. Michael challenges the notion that massage is merely an indulgence, highlighting how it serves as essential self-care for overall wellbeing. He shares the joy of witnessing first-time clients discover the transformative power of professional touch: "It's amazing to see the transformation from when they walk in and when they go out." Many leave wondering why they waited so long to experience these benefits.
Beyond his professional insights, Michael opens up about personal challenges that shaped his perspective. After becoming overly committed to an organization that drained his energy and time, he learned a powerful lesson about prioritizing family and meaningful work. "I was so fixated on being seen in a certain way... that I lost sight of what was most important," he reflects, a realization that now informs how he helps others find balance.
Michael's parting wisdom resonates beyond his practice: "We each have everything inside of ourselves to find peace and balance and harmony and love and creativity." It's this belief that guides his work—creating space for clients to reconnect with their innate capacity for healing.
Ready to discover your body's natural ability to heal and restore? Visit recoverthesoul.com to learn more about Michael's unique approach to bodywork therapy and schedule your transformative session.
To learn more about Awakening the Spirit Healing Arts and Bodywork Therapy go to:
https://www.recoverthesoul.com/
Awakening the Spirit Healing Arts and Bodywork Therapy
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2:Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast of the Tri-Cities. So today I am super excited because we've got a very interesting guest in our studio, and I'm sure you'll be just as excited to learn all about them and their company, because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, mr Michael Brasunes, who is the owner-operator of Awakening the Spirit Healing Arts and Bodywork Therapy. Michael, welcome to the show, thank you very much.
Speaker 2:Well, we're thrilled to have you, like I said, excited to learn all about you and exactly what you do. So if you don't mind, why don't you tell us about your business?
Speaker 3:Yeah, sure, I operate a massage therapy and healing arts practice so I specialize in like a very sort of intuitive and natural way of approaching the body with depth and presence, so weaving in the modalities of massage Swedish massage, deep tissue, connective tissue body work as well as craniosacral therapy and energy healing and many other different types of modalities I've learned over the years and I've been doing it about 20 years, so I have developed a reputation here in Asheville of providing excellent professional quality work and it's been a great experience Very good.
Speaker 2:Well, how did you get into the massage body? Sure, yeah, well, when I came out of college, massage bodywork.
Speaker 3:Sure, yeah. Well, when I came out of college, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do right away, and it turned out my mother had a friend whose husband was operating a massage school in Hawaii, and it was a really unique program. We learned a lot of the physical bodywork elements, but there was also a very what I would call beautiful approach to viewing the body and the experience that each person is having in their life from a multi-dimensional perspective. So we have our emotional experience, we have our physical experience, of course, our mental and our spiritual experience, and so when someone comes to receive healing or to be supported in whatever's going on in their life, my mentor really believed that we approach the individual with respect to all those different layers of what's going on, and so, like I said, we learned a lot of amazing techniques for helping people to relax and to receive and to experience sort of a deep but not necessarily like painful bodywork style, but also to learn how to connect deeper with their breath and what's going on inside of them and what might be playing out in their lives, so that they can come to a greater state of balance and harmony with all different things happening in their life. And so that was in Hawaii.
Speaker 3:I came straight out of college pretty much and, like I said, that was about 20 years ago, 2005. And it was a six month very intensive training. We kind of each of us went through our own sort of healing journey along the way, you know, we would do a lot of sharing and experiencing the techniques we were learning, and so I came out of there with a pretty awesome training and experience and went right into, you know, working in spas and whatnot, and then eventually sort of opening my own private practice because I really wanted to cater my work to people that really wanted to have that kind of experience. I know you're going to maybe ask me a little bit more about that, like sort of what I cater to, so I'd be happy to go into that whenever you're ready yeah sure, tell us of what I cater to, so I'd be happy to go into that whenever you're ready?
Speaker 2:Yeah sure, tell us, what do you cater to?
Speaker 3:Sure, sure, yeah, because it's always funny, people are always like, you know, when you want to build a business of any kind, you want to really make sure you have a sort of a niche audience or sort of a target sort of audience. And I think when I was younger, I was like, well, you know, anybody, anyone is going to pay me to do it. But as I yeah, as I sort of you know gained more experience over time, but also as I noticed how I felt working with people, I noticed that, yeah, I wanted to work with people that really were, I could say, I guess the easiest way to say there's like engaged in their own um healing journey, so to speak. Now, it doesn't mean someone has to be already at a certain you know place and and and like high level of, of, uh, you know um development or anything but but that there's that receptivity and that humility. I guess we could say that, um, that someone comes and they say you know, I really want to, um like understand more about what's, what's causing these, these issues in my body, or what's um, you know what are some of the ways in which I can, um like take care of myself more, you know, and so, um, like, I started offering sort of incentivized ways for people to get regular care, you know like a monthly discount package and stuff like that. And um, cause, I noticed, like when I was working in in spas and whatnot and nothing against, um, you know this, these type of experiences I was having.
Speaker 3:But sometimes I would get people in there who maybe they were being dragged in by a spouse or they just wanted to conk out, and that's fine, like there's some, there's a time and a place for just really having just a very deeply relaxing experience, which people do obviously get from my work as well. But I really noticed that when it's almost like a shared journey, so to speak I know that sounds kind of, you know, kind of cliche or something but when there's sort of a participation in the client, then I feel myself actually less exhausted after I'm working with them and it makes me more inspired to keep, you know, working with people in that way. And so I really tried to target it to people that are drawn to maybe what we could call like a, you know, a deepening into their life's journey and purpose, we could say. So that's why I named the business Awakening the Spirit, because it's about. You know, as we're going through this journey in life, you know, are we, are we learning from experiences? Are we? Are we waking up to the deeper things that are being way?
Speaker 3:I do even life coaching and even some what we could call spiritual coaching or whatnot, and cause. Some people come to me in crisis, you know they're, they're having issues in their marriage or issues, you know, with chronic disease and, and so really helping people to to rest and rejuvenate and sort of enter into my healing space where they are able to let go of any of the worries and concerns that are happening out there and just really sort of have a very present, centered experience in their own, in their own body and being able to receive care from someone they trust, you know, who's really showing up to be there with them.
Speaker 2:So awesome. Sounds incredible, Sounds wonderful actually. I'm signing up, yeah sure sure, so what are some myths or misconceptions in what you do?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I think obviously probably the best misconception is that massage is for other people. Misconception is that massage is for other people. You know, I think a lot of times and I'll you know, as a man I can speak on behalf of men I feel like we, you know, this is obviously a stereotype, I could say. But in general, I would say, you know, I would guess maybe 70%, 70 to almost 75% of my client base is female and I think, um, as men, and then I think also as maybe just you know, people in our culture in general, we often think, you know, uh, we can get through it, you know we can, we can, you know, power through, we might have pain because we overdid, uh, overdid something, um, but you know, you know, almost like getting a massage is like a sign of weakness or something like that. You know to ask for help and so, and I get that, you know, I have those. You know I have that ego in myself too. In a lot of ways I like to do a lot of like handiwork myself and I don't always, you know, want to have somebody else do something for me that I could do myself. But I think, when it comes to our body and especially as we're aging and, you know, maybe we don't recover as quickly from exercise or exerting ourselves or injuries and whatnot. You know, it's just, I've had the gift and the privilege, I would say, over the years of of being the, the person that gives somebody their first massage, and it's, it's amazing to see the transformation from when they walk in and when they go out. They're like wow, I had no idea, uh, that, that, that that was what it was like, or or it's almost like they're. You know, they're um, uh, you know they've entered into the club and now they know, and they don't. You know, it's almost like uh, you know, I wish I knew about this earlier, and now I want to do this more often and um, so, yeah, I would say um, you know, massage, you know, has maybe had some some misunderstandings over the years, and I that's why I like to call it body work, because it's really, um, it's more of a, of a science and even an art, um, than just sort of like a rub down or like a relaxation.
Speaker 3:I mean, I can provide all different types of work for people, whatever they're looking for, but I really like to see it as a therapy and as a, as a technique that really helps us to just feel better and it almost always does the trick Right.
Speaker 3:And honestly, I actually prefer I mean I've had massages from women that have been amazing but honestly, when I get a session from a man, you know, we just our bodies are built in a way that we tend to have that ability sometimes to be stronger in our hands or our arms, that ability sometimes to be stronger in our hands or our arms, and so if I can get a guy who really is talented and gifted in what they do, I often really appreciate that and I enjoy getting that.
Speaker 3:But yeah, there's there's more female massage therapists out there and and there are, you know, obviously there's there's that discomfort around touch that we have sometimes like being touched by someone of either or gender. You know it brings up stuff for people and that's totally understandable and I never want anyone to feel that they should be more comfortable with something than they are, with something than they are. But what I like to do is to be in that professional space where I I do provide that safe place for people to have that experience and yeah, and so it's a it's a privilege in that way for me to be able to offer that and and and and I I really appreciate people when they do show up and they, they experience what I do and then, uh, and then they know, you know, then they have that experience to base it off of in the future.
Speaker 2:So Very good, Very good. Well, in your spare time, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:You know, I just I, I, I used to play tennis a lot growing up. I grew up in Atlanta and, uh, I've been raising kids over the last couple of years or so, 15 or so. Um, I have a 10 and a 15 year old and, uh, my wife and I are very busy with them but, um, I, uh, I actually just today I played tennis for the first time, like competitively with three other guys, like a doubles match. Um, we played for almost two hours and, uh, it felt great. Um, and so, exercise, um, you, you know, I play soccer as well. I coach my son's soccer team. I like to run and then, with my wife, you know, we like to sometimes go out dancing and whatnot and just working on my land. I've got, we've got a half acre, but we have, kind of you know, a garden and chickens and know we're always working on the, on the property and stuff. So, staying busy, staying active and, uh, staying on my feet, you know I hear you.
Speaker 2:Well, I've got a garden too, and I'm jealous that you have chickens, because I would love to have chicken. We just got yeah, we've got.
Speaker 3:Well, we had we had two older hens and a rooster, and we decided to add more because we had some that died. So we've got eight chicks that are now about six weeks old and they're still separate, but they can sort of see each other through a fence and we're learning about that process of introducing them to the flock, and so we'll be able to get, hopefully, a lot more eggs, you know, coming up in the next couple months or so, but it's, it's fun. You have to, yeah, you have to, take care of them, though they're whether a tiny way to bring them in every night and, you know, put them under the heat lamp and all that, but yeah, it's good man.
Speaker 2:The eggs are unbeatable like fresh eggs man, I know, I know let's switch gears for a second. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you've overcome and how it made you stronger in the end?
Speaker 3:Hmm, oh, that's a good question. Um, I was thinking about one option I could go into. I, um, yeah, I mean, I, uh, I was involved in an organization that took a lot of my time and energy away from myself and my practice and my family, and it had qualities of being very profound, but it also I gave too much of myself, and so I learned through that that the most important thing, at least for me, is family and time doing what is really most meaningful for myself, because I tend to be the kind of person that wants to be in service. You know that's how I ended up getting into. You know the work I do and I love being in service to people, I love showing up and being reliable.
Speaker 3:But I sort of burned the candle at both ends trying to help organize this group and these trips we were taking, and I was so fixated on being seen in a certain way that people would appreciate what I was doing that I lost sight of what was most important, and so the last couple years I've been really trying to recover that relationship with my wife and my children and also my parents and my siblings.
Speaker 3:It just really exhausted me ultimately and I had to kind of wake up one day and realize I was going down the wrong path. So that's all I'll say. I mean I could go into more details about it, but it's not really important. It was just that realization that I think you know it's so important on a daily basis to really reflect on where am I putting my energy, and is it ultimately for the highest good, or am I doing it for other reasons that are maybe secondary? And so yeah, so that was a great, a great realization. And then and then I'll just really feeling like I'm back in the, in the flow of things in my life and it's, it's uh, yeah, it's a lot better.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, a lot of us have gone down that road, so you're not alone, brother. I totally, totally get it. Well, if, um, if you could think of one thing, michael, that you would like our listeners to remember, uh, about you and about, uh, awakening the spirit, healing arts and body work therapy what would, what would that be?
Speaker 3:That's a good question.
Speaker 3:Um, I think the most important thing that I would like people to know about me is also what I would like people to know about themselves, and that is that we each have everything inside of ourselves to find peace and balance and harmony and love and creativity.
Speaker 3:And so, obviously, since this is a podcast where I'm somewhat promoting my business, that's sort of what I would encourage people to consider when they're looking for somebody to to help them in their own life's journey, whether it's physical or in other ways. Like I said earlier that I try to be someone who who really echoes and reflects back to people like who they are and what they're capable of and the love that we each can feel when we just drop into our heart and into our body. And so in my sessions, I like to open that space for people to really just be present and be with themselves, and then, at the same time, they get a nice deep, relaxing experience as well, and so, in my opinion, you know, there's nowhere better to look than to working with me, but that's obviously my biased opinion. Well, that's OK, that's all right. That's all right.
Speaker 2:For those of us who are interested in what would like to come check you out or check out your studio.
Speaker 3:How can they?
Speaker 2:learn more.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, my website is www, which we don't say anymore, we just say the first part, it's recoverthesoulcom. So that's R-E-C-O-V-E-R-T-H-E-S-O-U-L, recoverthesoulcom, and then from there there's a button where you can schedule, there's a link and, yeah, I have also some recordings I've done, there's some articles. So, yeah, that's basically the best place to go is my website, and there's also a contact form on there that people can reach out to me. Uh, and those, those will go straight to my inbox as well.
Speaker 3:Awesome, awesome, very good okay, well, I said that about ww because I was watching a stand-up comedian the other day and he's like we used to say ww. And then we realized watching a stand-up comedian the other day and he's like we used to say WWW, and then we realized what a waste of time right, right.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a good point. I still say it occasionally, but yeah, it's a good point there's no difference in well, michael, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed talking with you and appreciate you taking time out? Of your busy schedule to talk with me and with our listeners and wish you and your family and awakening the spirit, healing arts and body work therapy all the best. Moving forward.
Speaker 3:Hey, I really appreciate that, Skip. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, and maybe we can have you, have you back one day when you've got an event or something going on.
Speaker 3:That'd be great, I'd be happy to do that.
Speaker 2:All right, thanks so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP, try dash citiescom. That's GNP, try dash citiescom. Or call 4, 2, 3, 7, 1, 9, 5, 8, 7, 3. 5-8-7-3.