Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariela Rodriguez.
Hi Mariela, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Mariela Rodriguez, I have been a massage and reiki therapist for 12 years. Also, I am a mother of two beautiful souls, a facilitator of healing circles, a lover of music, and a seeker of good medicines. It is very difficult for me to define myself and share only one aspect of my life. I am working so hard to integrate myself in every aspect and gifts we have in our lives and I love to help others to connect with their wholeness too.
I began my training as a massage therapist in my native country, Argentina, studying Tuina massage (a Chinese massage modality), but my path in body knowledge comes much earlier – from dance and theater. I remember that from an early age I connected with my voice and singing and then at 14 I started playing theater. It became my lair, my savior, my connector with the world, and a thousand other things. I remember that I always thought that through theater I could intertwine all the things that I loved, and find a safe place to explore my body and voice. Theater was my first healing experience and my most powerful connection with my wholeness in those years where your body sometimes seems like it doesn’t belong to you.
I studied theater at the University of Tucumán where I learned the world of Theater anthropology and ritual theater. Discovering the sacredness in art was incredibly revealing for me and from there on my life changed completely because I never saw my body and its connections in the same way again. It was like discovering the spirituality in my life far from any religion, full of connection and sacredness every day.
I then moved to Buenos Aires to focus my career on theater and dance. It was in those years that I realized that my connection with art had always been a search for healing – my own healing, and I wanted to divert my career to find a more connected way to accomplish that mission, and to be able to earn a living by serving and helping others in this way as well. Massage appears very soon since I manifest this intention of change in my life.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I studied Tuina massage at the Institute of Chinese Medicine in Buenos Aires. I remember a friend suggested Mudramassages for my business and made my first personal card, and I never changed the name. I really like it. I started working going at customers’ homes but after every session, I was always feeling so bad, with headaches, throwing up, and other bad feelings. I was feeling so bad that I thought that massage as a profession wasn’t for me. Then the miracle happened and I connected with Reiki. I only went through the first level and already felt the difference. My energy levels changed, and after every session, I never felt bad again. Then I completed level 2 and 3 on Reiki Usui.
In these years working in Buenos Aires, the most sacred and wonderful thing that happened to me was: I gave birth to my first daughter. I researched and studied empowered childbirth, childbirth physiology, pregnancy, parenting, breastfeeding, and healthy eating. I wanted to have a conscious and loving experience. Becoming a mother gave me a new perspective on my body and life in general. There began what, if I had to write a book, it would be called “Maternity and Exile” (someday I will write that book).
I moved to Miami with my family in 2013. In a new country and far from my community, I understood how important a tribe is for a woman in this process of mothering. I missed my people, my streets, my landscapes, my language. Mothering the first years alone was not easy. I have always had a restless spirit and since I couldn’t work, I took parenting as the most sacred and important job I ever had. I wanted to connect with motherhood from the healthiest and most enriching path possible for both me and my children. My second son arrived in Miami, and once again the experience left me with incredible experiences, new adventures, and challenges.
Fate led us to move again and I landed in Orlando, where soon after I connected with a wonderful community thanks to my first friend Cheryl. My first challenge was the language. My English was non-existent, but my attitude had changed and I wanted to learn, I wanted to connect with beautiful people and it happened.
I remember my first conversations with Cheryl, almost by signs, but she showed me the most genuine love and the most beautiful friendship. The language was no longer a barrier because the intention and desire for communication were bigger and stronger. Cheryl connected me with a beautiful community of wise, sensitive, and strong women – Just what I needed! Coming from years of being alone, it was hard at first to trust again and open my heart, but the community was the key to healing. I felt included, listened to, and loved again. Orlando showed me that I could build my new home here.
2019 marked my return to massage therapy. My children were older and I could take care of myself a little bit again. I studied at Inspirit – Orlando School of Massage & Yoga. There I expanded my knowledge and found amazing teachers. My biggest challenge was to get a degree in English, and I did it! I felt ready to connect with this path again, this time much more enriched by the whole experience of motherhood. Since receiving my license I knew that I wanted to focus on women and care for them during their pregnancy and postpartum process. I wanted to serve in this area knowing how important it is to hold space for women in this stage of their lives. Having support makes a big difference in the emotional context and therefore in your entire experience – from pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.
This time around, the challenge was to learn how to sustain a small business. I have learned and continue to learn that running a business is very hard and sometimes overwhelming but also very rewarding. The key is to be flexible and learn new ways of working. I have learned to collaborate more with my peers and see them not as a negative competition but as incredible allies along the way. I have learned to rely on those who know more than I do to help me organize and carry out my ideas. After all, we are all on a fascinating journey that is intertwined, where we coexist thanks to our different gifts and where abundance is there for everyone.
We’ve been impressed with Mudramassages, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
God had already put beautiful women on my path, and I couldn’t be more fortunate to connect with Michelle Isla from Sacred Birth. She opened the doors of her beautiful office, the “Awakening Well House”, to offer my work as a massage therapist to the community. Also, I love to offer my in-home services where I can travel and bring the customers all my services in the comfortable space of their own home. This service is awesome specially for women in a postpartum situation where it is hard to travel with a baby or any other situation where the client is not able to get out of their home.
Last year I studied perinatal massage with Pamela Guldi and every day I strive to continue learning and offering my clients the best possible service. To clarify, I don’t just do massage for women, but it’s the area that I work on the most. My focus is to be able to offer people a different space where they can reconnect, nurture, and let go, and my great tool for that is Reiki.
It is the most successful service. Receiving a massage and reiki at the same time is a very healing and renewing experience for your energy. I also offer a Reiki and touch service, a full Reiki session but with a soft and conscious touch that helps the client to complete the inner connection.
I think that what I like most about my work is that I have to be very present and conscious when I give a massage. Customers can feel when the massage is mechanical or without intention. Intention is everything in life, and I love to feel when someone comes to my office that I have the honor to help this soul to feel better. It is not just a body; it is a person with a lot of emotions and things going on. We need to be respectful and loving.
Right now, I am very focused on learning more every day in order to better assist the people who come to me. Working at the Awakening Well House and connecting with wonderful people re-opened my dream to offer the community more services and bring a little love and healing to the world. With my soul sister, Marcela Garcés, we embarked on a beautiful project called “MarAdentro” (a mission that we feel is very big) to connect with the Spanish-speaking community in Orlando. This project is still in the developing stage but gaining a lot of strength. We facilitate healing circles and we offer different tools for personal growth that we have experienced. We are already on our seventh meeting and I can tell you that what happens there is pure magic. We feel that it is so necessary to open spaces like this so that each person can feel heard and supported by a community that thrives in love, respect – and of course, a place to connect with your mother tongue and your roots.
I think that writing all this has given me clarity and a feeling that my mission in the world is to serve, lovingly and honestly with all my being, to build a healthier, conscious, and happier world. Thank you!
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Orlando has surprised me from the beginning with its nature, its greenery, its landscapes. When I still did not know the place, in my mind it was only the world of Disney. I like that it has its own identity and that identity has to do with the mixture of its people and the variety of cultures coexisting. It is a beautiful place to raise children. Although I will forever miss my mountains and a slightly less hot climate.
Contact Info:
- Email: mudramassages@gmail.com
- Website: calendly.com/mudramassages
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mudramassages/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mudramassages
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8mkTxvDLW6yiH8lES4mCJg
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/somosmaradentro/
