Calm in the Storm can help. The newly opened wellness space inside Massage Works Natural Health Center allows for workshops and classes for kids and adults, mindfulness, small group meditation, yoga, spirituality classes, art classes, make-and-take essential oils, game nights and much more. You can even rent the space for your own small gathering.

Amy Traylor owns both Massage Works Natural Health Center, and the connected Calm in the Storm.

She said it’s vital to focus on caring for our bodies, minds and spirits as a whole, especially with all the turmoil we have endured throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of self-care is socialization.

“We need community,” she noted. “We need each other. This is where we get love. So, connecting with people again is very important.”

Courtesy Photo Above, Tatjana Torres, Amy Traylor, and Lorie Vorraro, D.C., have a combined total of 81 years of experience among the three of them.

Traylor opened Massage Works in 1999, and a lot has changed since then, including the location.

“We added on extra rooms, so we have four service rooms,” she said. “And we have three licensed massage therapists, and one of them is a chiropractor of 37 years.”

Traylor, Tatjana Torres, and Dr. Lorie Vorraro have a combined total of 81 years of experience in their fields. Torres and Traylor have each been practicing massage therapy for 22 years, and Dr. Vorraro has 37 years of chiropractic and massage therapy experience.

“If you get a service here, you know you’re getting somebody who knows what they’re doing,” Traylor said.

Different types of massage offered include Swedish, craniosacral, deep tissue, sports, myofascial release, prenatal, and medical massage.

Courtesy Photo Pictured are some staff members and instructors at Calm in the Storm at a recent holiday gathering. In front is Keira Deacons, and in back, from left, are Katie Klein, Katie Samp, Amy Traylor, Mia Hauff, Luxiee Huron, and Lori Somers. Not pictured are Suzanne Boadway and Ashley Crevier.

“As Massage Works grew, that’s what changed, in me, was that I wanted to care for the person’s heart and soul just as much as their physical body,” Traylor said.

Expanding the space to include Calm in the Storm was a natural progression.

“When the hair salon moved out next door, we decided, ‘Let’s have a small classroom,'” Traylor said.

Enter Calm in the Storm.

“I started Calm in the Storm with the intention of helping people learn how to meditate, or to guide them if they don’t know how,” Traylor said. “It’s really so simple,” she said of meditation. “Once you learn, you can flip a switch and be like, ‘all right, I’m in the zone.’ It just takes a little bit of practice, and having someone tell you there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. It’s very simple, actually. You just need to forgive yourself for having other thoughts.”

Courtesy Photo Amy Traylor doing Reiki balancing energy work on a client at Massage Works Natural Health Center in Alpena.

Check out the video below. Viewing on mobile? Turn your device horizontally for the best viewing experience.

Yoga is another way to care for yourself.

“We do small group yoga, we do one-on-one yoga, we do couples’ yoga,” she said. “And the space just feels so nice.”

When you enter the dimly lit room with wooden floors, a glowing fireplace, and colorful tapestries aligning the walls, the mood is set for a peaceful event.

One class offered at Calm in the Storm tonight at 5:30 and again at 11 a.m. Monday will give you a chance to try out the Pulsed ElectroMagnetic Field (PEMF) therapy mat, which Traylor says “heals on a cellular level.”

There is no need to sign up in advance for these sessions, which are normally $20 to $25, but you can try it for $5 tonight and Monday morning.

“We presently have our receptionist full-time, and we have two services that you don’t need an appointment for, so you can just swing by,” Traylor said.

Those services are the PEMF mat and the electronic massage chair.

Traylor further explained the PEMF therapy mat.

“It gives you, honestly, healing energy the same frequency as what the Earth gives us,” she said. “It almost is just like when you go lay on the beach, or you go for a walk in the woods, or you just simply go barefoot in your yard, how that makes you have homeostasis.”

Homeostasis is “the tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes,” as defined by the New Oxford American Dictionary.

“It balances out any of your imbalances,” Traylor said of PEMF therapy. “It’s known to correct up to 250 different ailments in our body.”

She is incorporating the PEMF mat into her advanced massage therapy package, which also includes your choice of CBD salve (THC-free) and essential oil therapy, or meditation/visualization in session.

Traylor, a Reiki master, also offers Reiki healing and balancing energy work.

Other services offered include a detox foot bath, LED anti-aging facial treatment, anti-aging facial massage, and ear candling.

As for classes, there is a minimum and maximum number of participants, so call or text to sign up in advance.

To learn more about Calm in the Storm classes, or to sign up for any of the services offered at Massage Works Natural Health Center, call 989-356-0970 or text Traylor at 989-884-3507.

“It’s a great time to come check it out,” she added. “I just have a beautiful space and I want to share it.”

Calm in the Storm and Massage Works Natural Health Center are located at 2483 U.S.-23 South in Alpena.

Massage Works and Calm in the Storm will hold a grand opening and ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

“Our minds are so much more powerful than we have been allowed to believe,” Traylor added. “We totally create our reality. So, it’s just a matter of making the decision to focus on the positive instead of the negative. And, right now, we need that.”

Her logo represents mind, body, and spirit wellness.

“It represents the ability to improve in an ever-changing world.”

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