Chopra Center Staff Spotlight

Jennifer Johnson

What brought you to the Chopra Center and what do you love most about Ayurveda and massage therapy?
Because of my experience with a family member being diagnosed with cancer, I really wanted to work at a place where I could offer massage therapy to people going through the various stages of the disease. In my experience, healing touch and massage therapy are a very important part of the healing process.

The medical community has become more accepting of complementary and alternative therapies, but for many years it was difficult for cancer patients to find a therapist because of the prevailing belief that massage could “spread” the disease or hurt someone with cancer. We now know that massage therapy offers many proven benefits, including reducing stress and fatigue, strengthening the immune system, and decreasing pain and the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy.

Years ago I heard an interview with Deepak Chopra, and he said something that really resonated with me: “Often, it’s not the disease but the diagnosis that kills someone.” The truth of that statement touched me at my core. Of all the things Deepak discussed, those words stuck with me and were what I needed most when the time came.

Through a series of events, I decided ― or more accurately, gave into ― being a massage therapist. Once I took that direction, there was only one place I intended to be ― the Chopra Center. Then just as I was finishing a course in Ayurveda, my teacher told me that the Center was hiring therapists. I interviewed and was hired the next day.

What I love about being here is all the contact with the guests, as well as everyone I work with at the Chopra Center. I love being able to share Ayurvedic treatments and introducing people to the bodywork we do. It gives them a different perspective on what massage is and how it can help . . . that we’re not just working on the muscles but on all levels of the body, mind, and spirit.

What is your favorite memory as a spa therapist?
One of my favorite memories is of working on a client who had been trying to heal from shoulder and wrist injuries for about a year. She’d been getting deep tissue massage but wasn’t seeing much improvement. But that wasn’t the reason she’d come for a treatment ― she just wanted to try an Ayurvedic massage and started telling me about her previous injury.

As I worked on her, I found that her pain actually originated from another part of her body. By working on the marma points and working at the energetic level, we were able to release the problems in her shoulder and wrist.

It’s fascinating to see how people’s bodies work and to see the patterns that develop ― the pathways that energy takes in the body, where the flow of energy has become blocked, and how that manifests as injuries or pain. Ayurveda offers a tool for clearing away these blockages or ama, so that the body can restore itself to health and wholeness. It’s very fulfilling to see people healing and feeling good again.

What is your favorite quotation?
It’s from a poem by Guillaume Apollinaire:

“Come to the edge,” he said.
They said: “We are afraid.”
“Come to the edge,” he said.
They came.
He pushed them . . .
and they flew.