Massage center offers full-body wellness

The connections between the mind, heart and body and a drive to help others led Dr. Karina Loyo to create MiBoHe Wellness, a center for promoting massage therapy and healthy living in downtown Georgetown.

Loyo, who earned her doctorate in health education and gerontology, has worked in marketing and different aspects of public health, including managing Texas' HIV care group for 6 1/2 years. One of her favorite treatments has been improving lives through massage therapy, she said.

"I just think that it is just an awesome thing to be able to do for people," she said. "It really has been a passion of mine ... before I knew you could do it as a career."

Loyo said she believes massage therapy benefits go beyond a back rub. Physical advantages of massage include increased blood flow and immune system productivity, and decreased bodily toxin levels and muscle tension, Loyo said. In elderly patients, she has also seen increased skin health and mobility.

Loyo's massage and stretching techniques can help relax tension, reduce stress and realign the body, she said.

"Someone who sits at a computer all day rolling their back [and] their neck, we can talk to them about [their] ergonomics," Loyo said.

With the new year, Loyo advises those resolving to increase their wellness in 2013 to consider incorporating massage into their plans for its physical and psychological benefits.

"There's a huge psychosomatic relationship between you and your body," Loyo said. "So when you get a massage, people will suddenly have a thought come up, or have an emotion. They'll have some kind of realization that, 'Oh gosh, I've been carrying the stress of this for a really long time. I just need to let this go.'"

Loyo also advises anyone who sets a resolution to lose weight, eat healthier or exercise more to set small, attainable goals. Wellness and nutrition coaching can help set incremental goals depending on each client's overall goal for the year.

"Many people set big goals at the beginning of the year, but they never really quantify it," Loyo said. That's part of what health coaching does, is it helps you set realistic goals and then figure out ways in which you can overcome the barriers that you're going to be encountering."

In the future, Loyo hopes to establish massage therapy as a viable health treatment and make MiBoHe a household name in massage.

"I want to be the Scott & White of massage therapy ... [when] you hear the name MiBoHe, you know you're going to get the best massage, the best-trained therapists, and they're going to be able to work with you," she said.

For now, she continues to show people massage therapy's physical benefits and how massage keeps the mind, body and heart aligned.

"That's really in line with the name that we chose for the company—the mind, body, heart—because it really is all connected," Loyo said.

MiBoHe Wellness, 501 S. Austin Ave., 512-686-1107, www.mibohe.com