About Us

Graciela

Graciela is a nonbinary, Queer Chicana Licensed Massage Therapist since 2017. They worked in the spa world at The Remedy Day Spa for two years and was a part of co-creating a Queer+Trans Spa Day in 2018. They are part of the foundational team of Queer Trans Yoga. They originated and are currently co-facilitating an ethics of diversity workshop which is available to spas, conferences, yoga studios and other spaces centered around bodywork and therapy, on the topics of facing our prejudices to become more present and mindful therapists and practitioners addressing the needs of a diverse array of clients including those of the QT+BIPOC communities, people of size and people with disabilities. For more information click here. Graciela is grateful and excited to be providing a space for folks to receive deep healing and has a long-term dream of co-creating a healing center to support people traditionally left out of healing spaces due to a blend of socio-economic factors.

León

León (they/he) navigates life as a transmasculine, Queer, nonbinary and multiethnic human, with compassion, vulnerability, and resilience. Born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico, their multiethnic identity includes Mexican indigenous and Euro-American roots. The challenges and understanding brought on by this intersectional life experience inspired León to become a bodyworker.

The full embodiment of my genderqueer, nonbinary, and multiethnic experience has allowed me to become comfortable in the liminal spaces of gender, race and sexuality. It has gifted me a nuanced understanding of our humanity, and has expanded my compassion, creativity, and purpose. I find myself inspired and filled with hope by the power, beauty and vulnerability of the Queer+Trans+POC communities. My goal as a massage therapist is to provide a space for healing and self-acceptance for those who, like me, live outside the boundaries of “normativity”.

Our Philosophy

Trans people (as we identify them today) were the healers, visionaries, medicine people, nannies of orphans, and care givers of the tribe. Through colonization the “soul” of the tribe was erased and replaced with patriarchal religion and binary ideas of gender & sexuality.

By centering QT+BIPOC* folks we are honoring our wisdom and importance in society, and building our capacity to show up for our community in these critical times as the healers, caregivers, and keepers of wisdom that we are.

An aspect of colonization is keeping QT+BIPOC stressed, depleted, and easier to control, not to mention more violent towards ourselves and others. In this society, so many of us seem to find ourselves in realms of activism and unpaid/ underpaid/ volunteer work in order to fight against the oppressive structures in this white supremacist, cis, heteronormative, capitalistic, ableist, ageist, settler-colonial world where we are not honored or valued.

The ever-present tension causes real and measurable physiological effects, which we also understand have a negative impact on our psychological and emotional well-being. The current science of psychology is further discovering a more integrative mind-body connection and the reality that stress and trauma in the body effect stress and trauma in the mind, and vice versa.

Science has also demonstrated that massage has a measurable therapeutic effect that interrupts and alleviates this cycle by reducing stress hormones, lowering blood pressure, releasing muscle and tissue adhesions, and increasing the production of serotonin and other beneficial hormones and chemicals.

There also is an expanding awareness that touch has nourishing value, and may be as vital to our sustenance as food and water.

QTPOC bodies are the recipients of so much negative attention that touch often becomes painful or scary, and even if desired, absent or inaccessible. There is much to explore in the realm of trans bodies and body dysphoria contributing to disassociation from the body and a complex relationship with the body.

By providing healing touch to our community we are actively dismantling this system of oppression and its cycles of harm. Releasing the various traumas enacted upon the bodies of QT+BIPOC folks through healing touch enables all of us to lead vibrant and authentic lives, which in and of itself is revolutionary. By leading vibrant and authentic lives we are more resilient and better equipped to show up in our work towards collective liberation.

*We use the following as umbrella terms that encompass a wide spectrum of experiences:

  • Queer & Trans: Includes transgender, genderqueer, nonbinary, intersex, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other folks who are marginalized due to their gender or sexual expression.

  • Person of Color (POC): Encompasses all non-white people and emphasizes the common experiences of systemic racism. This includes people who may not self-identify as a POC, but who nevertheless experiences marginalization due to their cultural heritage or skin tone.

  • Indigenous: We do not go by oppressive blood quantum laws. Indigenous defines folks who are descendants of the original or earliest known inhabitants of this land, and who were and continue to be colonized.

Private Practice

If you identify as QTPOC and have the financial means to pay for a massage, or if you do not identify as a QT or BIPOC, we are happy to offer our services privately. To inquire about our rates and availability, please contact us through this form.