Meet Michelle Castor of Agua y Sangre Healing!

Michelle Castor of Agua y Sangre Healing is one of my favorite people. We met through mutual friends many years ago – at the time she was helping to run the Denver Community Health Collective, which offered alternative health treatments on a sliding scale basis. I became involved as a volunteer there, and we have been massage trading partners ever since! Michelle is a gifted massage therapist, herbalist and healer, and she led my birth blessing ceremony when I was pregnant with my son.

When I opened my new massage office, I wanted to start offering Pelvic Steaming as well as sell locally-made wellness products. The first person I contacted was Michelle! I wanted her to create my Pelvic Steaming herbal blends, and I wanted to sell her herbal products in my office. You can now purchase her prenatal, postpartum and calming teas, ground aromatherapy spray and pelvic steaming herbs when you come in for your massage!

When asked how she describes her business, Michelle said, “Agua y Sangre Healing is a massage therapy, herbal education, and community wellness studio.  We craft elemental healing sessions to help you reclaim your entire existence – mind, body, and spirit – and promote empowerment and joy through the art and practice of self love and ancestral medicine.” Michelle and her business partner Tameca Coleman, “are conveniently located near the Platt Park neighborhood, just off of South Broadway in Denver.  [Their] work is rooted in tradition and ancestral medicine – and aims to be both empowering and nurturing, all while facilitating the process of awakening your body’s own innate healing abilities.”

Here is more information about why Michelle is so amazing!

What led you to become a bodyworker and herbalist?

I originally went to school for Psychology, but left the field because it didn’t feel like it honored my values around healing with the care I wanted to provide.  A friend took me to a class on herbs at the Denver Botanic Gardens – and it was all over from there.  It was like I had finally stumbled on how I could weave my values and care style with the work I wanted to do.  Studying herbal medicine lead me to working with one of my teachers, Estela Roman, who is a curandera and herbalist and sobadora, or, bodyworker.  She introduced me to therapeutic touch and it sparked my path as a massage therapist.  Since then, I’ve been trying to find the balance of massage and herbs, and really loving both modalities.

What is your process or ritual for creating herbal blends?

When I create blends, there’s usually something personal that has sparked that path – whether because someone asks about creating a particular blend, or because it’s a kind of medicine I find really relevant, something that really speaks to me.  If it’s still in creation stage, I try not to rush the blend, but let it unfold.  When I’m testing things out, writing down the recipe in the making, or actually making blends, I do like to treat it like ceremony.  I set intentions, get into a good head space for the work, and lift up offerings to my ancestors and the spirit guides I am honored to work with.  It is with their help that I am here, able to create these gifts.  I thank the plants, especially – as both spirit guides and offering their medicine.  And I will usually bless the products in some fashion – occasionally it’s with clearing smoke, or maybe it’s through prayer, but I always ask to help infuse all the blends with their highest vibrational qualities and to be stewards of the medicine.

What makes your business unique?

I think what I really want for Agua y Sangre isn’t especially profound, but unfortunately, I do think it makes us more unique than not, is that we really aim to meet people where they’re at, to provide compassionate care that is affirming and more accessible.  We want folks to feel heard, to be seen, and to feel like someone is there holding all that their holding, with them.  It’s funny to say that’s what makes us unique in the context of your work, because I feel like you provide that space for your clients so well – it’s one of the reasons I love what you do and love working with you! (Awww, thanks Michelle!)

To learn more about Michelle and Tameca or to schedule a massage or herbal consult with them, visit their website www.aguasangrehealing.com.