Experience your bliss at Bliss Healing Art

NORWAY – Rijah Newell has lived all of her life in the Oxford Hills area. She decided she wanted to help people, and became a court advocate for a local domestic violence project.

“I was really invested in helping families through the legal system,” she explained, “and the plan was to head to law school.”

Then she began to look at other ways to help families and victims of trauma.

“I took an independent studies program at Goddard University in Plainsfield, Vermont; focusing on dance as a healing art, and performance for social change. During my studies there I began working towards my certification in zero balancing.”

Newell then did an in-depth study of the body and dance, which progressed into a holistic massage program soon after graduating from Goddard with a liberal arts degree. She attended the Spa Tech Institute in Westbrook, which offered a massage and polarity therapy program.

“I was really interested in working with the whole body, so I chose this program because it was the best fit,” she smiled. “I recently completed another zero balancing training through the International Alliance of Healthcare Educators, an organization that offers continuing education courses to medical professionals worldwide.”

At that point, Newell’s life took a change when she opened a business of her own and shared space at the Crystal Lake Spa offering massage, reflexology, polarity therapy and zero balancing.

“I realized that a lot of people were not connected to their own bodies; our culture produces a need to keep going no matter what. Propelled by my intrinsic need to help people, I focused on ways to bring people back to the body.”

She doesn’t regret her decision to not go to law school.

“Not one bit,” she smiled, “but it sure was a huge leap!”

In fact, Newell has opened Bliss Healing Arts, which is located at Country Expressions on Alpine Street in Norway, continuing her journey of helping people through whole-body therapies.

Newell loves her new career and the people she works with.

“The old saying ‘do what you love and the money will follow’ has been my mantra for many years; not only in body work, but the many avenues of the creative economy that I reside in.”

“The basic fundamental principle behind the work I do is to hold people in their highest potential,” she added. “When you focus on one person being the best they can possibly be it can bring nothing but joy and satisfaction.”

According to Newell, massage has many benefits, and is not just a pampering of the body; it is very beneficial to the overall health of the body.

“Massage maintains posture and body balance, reduces muscular tension, increases the flow of nutrients to the bones, and promotes the elimination of waste matter.”

Newell is trained in Swedish, deep tissue, neuromuscular, positional release, myofascial, reflexology, pregnancy and sports massage.

“I really enjoy reflexology as an added bonus to a traditional massage,” she added. “Finding the points on the foot that relate to the whole body and relieving tension there is really cool. I also use a technique called Contract, Resist, and Contract Antagonist. It uses movements of the problem muscle as well as the antagonist muscle to improve postural alignment.”

Polarity therapy is a hands-on healing art that works with the living science of balancing the energy fields of the body, and the healing art of revitalizing the life force.

“When the life force is in the body, the structure aligns, the meridians unblock, the immune system activates, the mind clears, and one gets inspiration and strength to make lifestyle changes that support the life force. Although polarity draws heavily from Ayurvedic and Chinese systems, it is an original synthesis of this information with the acknowledgement that energy is the missing link in Western Healing.”

“Polarity Therapy is one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had,” she added.

Zero Balancing is a hands-on bodywork system designed to align a person’s physical and energetic bodies.

“It is considered at the leading edge of body/mind therapies for its incorporation of Eastern concepts of energy and healing into the Western scientific approach to body structure. Zero Balancing can offer significant improvement in structural alignment and sense of well-being through balancing the body structure and energy. I began as a client of Zero Balancing for many years and I have had endless profound experiences of letting go of what no longer serves me.”

Bliss Healing Arts is one component of Newell’s umbrella business: Passionate Creations. She also teaches dance as a healing art through Funky Belly Dance and Journey Dance, and creates giant theatrical puppets for Trash into Art, a community collective that creates street theater for social change.

“The combination is a true reflection of who I am; an eclectic, creative and passionate person. It seems the combination of puppets, dance and body work would not fit as a cohesive, but they really are. They are aimed at healing the whole person, and the community and culture we live in.”

This blissful young lady is excited to be working in the community she was raised in.

“There are a lot of really great people here and a deep need for exceptional body work,” she glowed. “Bliss Healing Arts offers a unique blend that clears and supports the body in health and vitality. When someone experiences pain or dis-ease in the body the problem is usually an energetic blockage that ripples out into all of the systems. I offer many modalities that work with structure, energy, pathways, and skeletal muscles and have found the results to be profound, personally and professionally.”

Bliss Healing Arts is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information contact Newell at 890-0545. She also takes evening and weekends by request. For more information call or check out www.passionatecreations.net.

Bliss Photo: Jackie Rybeck

MASSAGE – Rijah Newell, owner of Bliss Healing Art gives a client a massage. She recently opened her new business and shares space with Country Expressions on Alpine Street in Norway.