Duluth has welcomed me with open arms, and so I now welcome you! For the Grand Opening of A Peaceful Touch Healing Arts in Duluth, I am offering these things:

• An Open House on Friday, November 21, from 7-9pm (10 E. Superior St, Suite 209 - Above Electric Fetus) : Come for tea and treats. Enjoy massage and Reiki demonstrations, hands and feet massages, and participate in a Stone Reiki meditation.
• All one-hour sessions and gift certificates are discounted $10 through December 1st!
• Receive a $10 off coupon to use any time when you sign up for my monthly E-Newsletter
• All online newsletter subscribers, as well as open house attendees, are entered into a drawing for one of four(4) FREE half-hour bodywork sessions (drawing on November 21).

It is truly my privilege to be in such a wonderfully vibrant area. The Twin Ports are amazing! I hope to see you at the open house!

From all of my years of working as a massage and bodywork practitioner, I have learned that healing is indeed an ART. When we heal from a body, mind, and spirit perspective, this artfulness is manifested through our very lives. We are more than our aches and pains. We are more than a medical diagnosis. We are more than what we ourselves - as well as others - perceive.

When deciding to move my holistic practice in Duluth, MN, I wanted to create a space that was as unique and heart-felt as the ideals I hold in my personal life. I believe that healing comes about by getting in touch with the core of oneself. Just like emotion, expression, art, and passion, healing comes from a deep place in each one of us. As whole beings, we cannot disconnect our body from our emotions, our mind from our spirit, or our learning from our experience.

My approach to massage, acupressure, and reiki is just like that. It is integrated. It focuses on the whole person, not just a muscle ache, a stressor, or a symptom. As human beings, we experience our life on many levels. Healing should be focused on all of those levels as well. It should be a journey with deep meaning, not just a quick fix.

I hope you enjoy my website, and find it both informative and inspiring. In addition to highlighting my services, I plan to include news, tips, and articles about holistic health and healing through this weblog and sometimes podcast!

Thank you for coming along on this journey with me!

Scott Schumacher

From now until August 27, I will be honoring all gift certificates and packages, and will be offering one hour massage sessions for just $45! 90 minute sessions will be only $65! This is my way of saying a tremendous “Thank you” to all of my wonderful clients as I make this move! Prices and schedules are updated with my Online Booking Calendar as well.

Wonderful opportunities have opened for me in Duluth, and I’m very excited for the joys and challenges ahead! Stay tuned to this website for more information as things develop. I will also have a referral list for other massage therapists and Reiki practitioners posted soon!

Peace,
Scott Schumacher, Holistic Practitioner
A Peaceful Touch Massage and Bodywork

In honor of Earth Day (and the long awaited beautiful Minnesota weather!), for this week only - Earth Week - take an additional $5 off your appointment when you bike, bus, or walk!

Take advantage of this special by booking online, and enjoy a 60 minute session for only $35 - or if you prefer, a 90 minute session for just $55. Break out your bike (if you haven’t already), dust off those bus schedules, or take a great walk. Enjoy savings while your aches and pains are allowed to melt away.

My Minneapolis Uptown office is served by Metrotransit routes 6 (an easy ride from Downtown) and 23 (connects to the Light Rail from the 38th Street Station). As well, I am only six blocks from the Midtown Greenway.

Northfield residents may contact Northfield Transit for weekday curb to curb bus service!

This is my commitment to you - to continually be one of the most Earth-friendly, Earth-and-People conscious bodyworkers in the Twin Cities and Northfield areas! Do yourself and the Earth some good by biking, walking, or taking the bus! I’ll share in that abundance with you, by giving you a great rate!

I truly believe that I have some of the nicest clients and friends in the world! I’m always grateful and humbled when a new client comes to me because a friend recommended me!

Because I am so grateful for this praise, I am changing my discounts for referrals, in order to give back and further “Share in Abundance” with my clients.

Starting now, for all of my existing and previous clients, whenever you refer someone new to me, I’ll send you a coupon for a HALF-PRICE one hour session (a $30 value!). This is my way of saying “thank you” to all of the folks who take the time to tell more people about A Peaceful Touch! I am truly grateful and humbled!

I’m happy to tell folks, that due to the growth I’ve seen in my business in Minneapolis, I’m now available four days per week! It is genuinely my pleasure to be a part of the relaxation, stress relief, and healing of others. I am truly blessed by the people I meet!

Beginning in April, I will be available in my Uptown Minneapolis office for Massage and Bodywork on the following days and times:

Tuesdays: 10am - 6pm
Wednesdays: Noon - 9pm
Fridays: 10am - 6pm
Sundays: 1pm - 7pm

As many of you may know, in early February, I experienced a flood in my home in Northfield due to a frozen (and then burst) water pipe! During the process of cleaning, drying, repair, and floor replacement (yes, all of the linoleum flooring in my bathroom, hall, and kitchen was replaced!), I had to move my bedroom into my home office.

After spending a month living and sleeping in what was my office, I decided to keep my bedroom there and move my office into the newly repaired and constructed room.

As with any disaster, this flood gave rise to new intentions and dreams. Now that I feel much more secure in my business in Minneapolis, I have decided to embark on a journey I have always desired. Ever since becoming a Reiki Master in 2002, I have dreamed of dedicating a practice toward “energy-based” healing. So, I’m doing just that in my home office in Northfield.

Starting this month, I will be shifting my home office practice to one of Energy Healing. I will be offering Reiki, Acupressure, Reflexology, and Zero Balancing sessions exclusively. As well, as the new space evolves, I plan to make it more versatile. This will be a place of dreaming, journaling, meditation, and experimentation for me with regard to energy based techniques.

I will still offer massage services for existing gift certificate holderss and clients in Northfield, and word-of-mouth referrals. I’ll also have some availability for on-site massage and bodywork within Northfield and the South Metro area.

I’m excited for this new journey. All it took was a flood.

Last weekend I had the chance to visit Lake Itasca State Park and the Mississippi Headwaters area. Although the temperature was a cool 38 degrees, much of the lake was still completely frozen.

So, after hiking across the frozen lake most of the way, I decided to walk across the Mississippi River at its very source. I also decided to go barefoot (which might have been the cause of my mid-week cold) upon the rocks to do this.

Over the last two years, I’ve been exploring the idea of “Nature as Healer” and “Nature as Teacher” in my healing studies. While it’s enlightening to take courses and learn from other teachers and practitioners, I have found that I am learning in profound ways through my interactions with nature herself.

I’ve taken over 60 pictures of my hands interacting with trees, stones, rivers, springs, lakes, plants, and objects in nature in the last two years. I’ve visited some amazing places. Dipping my hands in rivers and streams, walking on stone paths, building stone labyrinths, and learning in this deep and interactive way with nature has been a great source of healing in my own life.

Enjoy the photos from Lake Itasca and the Mississippi Headwaters. Visit if you get a chance!

Now that the 4-day Core Zero Balancing I class is finished, I thought I’d take a little time to reflect, and to share parts of my experience. All in all, the class was WONDERFUL!

Like learning any new skill, there is a learning curve one goes through, from insecurity and uncertainty to points of clarity and focus. I experienced the most clarity after I received a full Zero Balancing session from the instructor in front of the class on the third day.

The lifting of points along my skeletal structure, especially in my sacrum (lower back hip area), lower back, and shoulders - and then the subtle waves of release in these areas - gave my body the ease to just “melt” onto the table. I felt like a pancake flattening out and settling into a more “evenly distributed” solid form. This work was also more grounding, kept me fully inside and aware of my own body, and helped me feel at ease within my own “body structure.”

However, the most profound statement, for me, was made after I stood up at the conclusion of the 40-minute session. The instructor said that I appeared to have the solid and expansive bodily form of an “operatic tenor.” No one in the class knew that indeed, I AM a classically trained tenor, and that my endeavors in vocal performance were what actually led me to bodywork as an endeavor. This was both an intuitive and structural moment of clarity for me personally. Not to mention, this statement affected me on a very deep and emotional level.

Shifts in my body - shifts emotionally. While I feel that both my bodywork practice, and my instrument as a vocalist, are in a very strong state at this point in my life, I know that I need to keep exploring my development as a vocalist as well. I need to more fully embody “who and what I am” - and to proceed without fear in doing so.

It’s all about integration, and “embodying who we are.” We all need to be comfortable in our own skin. We need to allow our “structural vessel” to sustain us in this embodiment.

Thank you all for accompanying me on this “learning journey” the last few days away from home - and for allowing me the space to share some more personal reflections. I look forward to coming back on Wednesday, and continuing to do what I feel so privileged to do - being present in others’ healing, unfolding, and further “embodiment.”

Note: This post is meant for the sharing of information of my experience. While I am learning this new protocol and may have opportunities to practice this technique with my existing clients, I do not hold myself out to be a Certified Zero Balancing practitioner. This title is reserved for those who have completed at least 100 hours of training and have undergone a formal certification process. (I’m simply a beginner, learning a great new skill).
Namaste!
-Scott

In Zero Balancing, one “meets the donkey” of the other person. The energy of the practitioner meets the energy of the other person. Each has separate energy, but they meet together to equally lean against one another. While stretching and lifting “fulcrum points” our hands must meet at that energetic point - the “donkey”, and then lift in a way that is comfortable for the client.

Another concept beyond the “donkey” is that of being “in the box.” “Being in the box” means that the quality of touch, lift, or stretch within the fulcrums is within the tolerance level for the client. If you don’t “reach the box” your client feels very little lift, stretch, or benefit. If you go “beyond the box” you begin causing pain, discomfort, or possibly injury.

We experimented with these concepts today by leaning against one another, back to back in pairs to experience a “donkey lean” and practiced “getting in the box” with a partner while holding opposite sides of a rope. When the rope was pulled in a straight line, we were “meeting the donkey.” As we pulled more on the rope we felt the tightening “in the box” feeling, as well as the feeling of being overpowered “beyond the box.”

After these activities, I commented that these activities and concepts could also be wonderful metaphors for healthy communication and conflict resolution. How many times do we feel as if a person is not listening or communicating equally - meeting our “donkey”? How often do we feel overpowered within a conflict (going beyond “the box” of our comfort zones)? Who would have thought that donkeys and boxes would be so intriguing?

The Zero Balancing Society requires 100 hours of training as well as mentored practical experience to become a Certified Zero Balancing Practitioner. David, our instructor, has really been encouraging us to continue with our studies and become certified. I’ll admit that I’m somewhat resistant. I think that naturally, I’m an “integrator”, and that I find ways to meld my learning into a greater whole. I also feel that we as people and individuals aren’t very well served by certificates, diplomas, degrees, etc. In my opinion they separate us from one another. They create divisions. One person is the “expert” while another is “lesser.”

The work of Zero Balancing is intriguing to me, however. I am keeping an open mind regarding future classes and certification possibilities.