Holistic Refuge in Hastings

Nearly a year has passed since Carl Carvalho opened Human Bodyworks Massage Therapy and Healing Arts Center in September of 2009.  In that time, Human Bodyworks has emerged as a local haven for all who are interested in alternative health, spirituality and the arts. 

Alternative health practitioners of varied backgrounds have held private sessions, workshops and classes at the Healing Arts Center at 32 Main Street in Hastings-on-Hudson.  Local artists regularly show their work on the walls.  Carl opened Human Bodyworks primarily as a center for his private practice, but his responsiveness to the community has taken the business in a much more expansive direction. 

Carl Carvalho began his formal alternative medicine training in 1999.  He studied bodywork, shiatsu and Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Ohashi Institute.  He continued his studies at the Swedish Institute where he graduated at the top of his class.  He then studied craniosacral therapy and somatoemotional release at the Upledger Institute.  Since he opened his first private practice in January of 2004, Carl has worked with adults and children of all ages, including infants. 

Carl has a passion for small business as well as bodywork.  In his efforts to support local small businesses, he began serving as the Vice President of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce in 2009.  He also serves on the Hastings Friday Night Live Committee, cooperating with other area businesses to bring vibrancy back to downtown Hastings. 

Carl spoke about his private practice, the healing arts center and his connection to the local art community in an interview with Patch. 

Patch: What is unique about your practice at Human Bodyworks?

Carvalho: When I started my private practice right out of school, I wanted to come up with a name that reflected what I do, and my philosophy about the human body.  I always call this body work, as opposed to massage.  A lot of times when you say "body work" people think of auto body work! That's why I added "human."  The human body does work, and a lot of times we just have to clear obstacles that are in the way.  I am a facilitator to help release those blockages.  My practice is not spa type work.  It's not fluff and buff.  It is about feeling better, but it's not about stress reduction only, or having a spa day.  It's more therapeutic; it's about feeling better on much deeper levels than just going in and having a superficial massage.  I can certainly do that, but 99.9% of my practice is helping people to feel better and overcome physical challenges. 

Patch: What is the Healing Arts Center, and what is your vision for it?

Carvalho: Going into this space, I was able to configure it in a way that gave me three treatment rooms so that I can bring in other therapists who offer different services.  I wanted to bring in other types of therapies for people to experience, such as shamanism, acupuncture, hypnotherapy and meditation.  A lot of people have heard of these therapies but never experienced them firsthand.  I wanted to have a home or center where people could come in, feel safe, and explore healing on other levels.  Healing is just not physical.  It is mental, emotional and spiritual as well as physical.  So that is why I called it a healing arts center.  The vision has come into better focus now because of the variety of practitioners that have come in.

Patch: How did you choose craniosacral therapy as a specialization?

Carvalho: From day one of my training in craniosacral therapy, I fell in love with it.  It is an amazing and profound therapy.  There is an energetic component to it.  It works with the central nervous system so it is the deepest part of our physical being. 

Patch: How does craniosacral therapy go beyond the physical body to treat the whole person?

Carvalho: Doctor John Upledger created craniosacral therapy.  Craniosacral therapy was the base, and then he quickly saw that there were other factors to it, like somatoemotional release, where memory is not just stored in our brains, memory is stored in our tissues all over the body.  So by working with craniosacral therapy and working with the tissue, we are also able to release emotional blockages.  That segues easily into mental and spiritual healing.  We have a gross physical body that we see and feel with our five senses, and we also have an emotional body, a spiritual body and a mental body.

Patch: From the perspective of a practitioner, how is craniosacral therapy different from other healing modalities?

Carvalho: Craniosacral therapy definitely starts in the physical body.  We are sensing a subtle, physical rhythm.  When I started studying craniosacral therapy, I learned about perception skills in addition to the palpation skills.  The skills I learned went beyond the physical.  That's when I realized that I was using my whole being, and not just my arms and hands.  I am really using my whole being in the presence of someone else, to work with them on opening blockages.  I remember my first craniosacral class.  The instructor had somebody on the table and they were feeling the rhythm and doing a light spinal traction.  He was describing what he was feeling in his hands.  He said, "Now she is releasing around C2 and C3.  Now I am feeling down into the thoracic spine." In one part of my mind, I was thinking, "This guy is making this stuff up," and the other part of me was going, "Oh my God, that's incredible!"  The human hands are more sensitive than any other medical equipment we have today.  It is just a matter of developing that sensitivity.  We have this ability inside of us, but it is a matter of developing it. 

Patch: What has inspired you to support the local art community through your business?

Carvalho: Years ago, my wife Adina Ruskin and I had a non-profit arts production company called ASA Productions.  Asa was my wife's father's name.  Asa means to heal and create in Hebrew and Aramaic.  The main goal of that company was peace through art.  Since this center had been an art gallery before, and we have all of this beautiful wall space, it just makes sense to bring our past experience forward and hang local artists.  Art is healing as well.  My wife, the curator, has expressed how powerful art can be in healing.  Art invokes emotion and healing. We change the art three times a year, and up to this point we have been buying one piece from each show.  We have three pieces so far that are part of our permanent collection, so that is another way that we are contributing to local artists. 

To learn more about Carl Carvalho's bodywork sessions or to find out about upcoming events at the Healing Arts Center, please visit the web site at www.humanbodyworks.com.  For appointments or inquiries by phone, please call (917) 445-1767.