Heard of a Massage? What about a Paw-ssage?

Nancy Cristillo knows a thing or two about massage.

Certified as a Canine Massage Therapist (CMT), an Equine Body Worker (EBW), Cranio Sacral Therapy (CST), Acupressure and a Reiki master to boot, the RPV resident has found her calling in Equine and Canine Massage.

Cristillo was inspired by her own love and care for animals.

“The first dog I owned grew so fast that he was constantly in pain," she said. "I started massaging him to relieve his pain.”

About eight years ago, Cristillo was laid off from a job at GE and decided to expand her knowledge of massage, with hopes of transforming it from a hobby into a career.

Her training began with a cranio-sacral class. Cristillo then earned certification in canine massage. Soon after, her love and understanding of animals led her to obtain an equine certification.

And she didn’t stop there.

Cristillo got another certification for Animal Acupressure. She then became a Reiki Master.

“I just love doing it," she said. "I wanted to keep learning because I was so interested in it.”

With so many tools in her massage kit, Cristillo has held her own in the massage world.

"Because there are so many different niches to fill, there is a place for everyone and it’s not a very competitive field,” she said.

Cristillo works on an animal for about an hour each session.

“You can tell a horse or dog needs a massage by the way they walk, trot, canter," she explained. "They tend to hold themselves tight and are sometimes tilted in their gait. If you listen to their footfalls, you can tell where they have tightness.”

Working with animals can be dangerous, especially if the animals are large, strong horses, Cristillo said. But her Zen approach has let her walk away from sessions with no more than a bruise, if any injury at all.

“You can’t let your mind wander, you have to be alert all the time," she said. "Listen to the animals. They give you warnings.”

Cristillo has to work with animals to ensure they receive a massage's full benefits.

“You have to get [the animals] in a relaxed breathing pattern," she said. "You can’t be all wound up around the animals. If you aren’t relaxed they pick up on it and are unable to relax themselves.”

Dogs tend to be more anxious than horses, Cristillo said.

“I need to do short sessions at first to get them more comfortable with massage,” she said.

Canine and equine massage provides many benefits for the animals, she said. Primarily, it balances them in all areas: muscles, energy, and circulation. For injured animals with broken bones, Cristillo performs Reiki.

“In Reiki, you guide the energy to the right place," she said. "You also use light to firm pressure to break up the knot and allow the blood to flow through.”

When animals and people are injured, in an effort to keep pressure off the injured body part they tend to put weight on the opposing leg/arm/side of the body, thus accommodating the injury and throwing off the alignment of the body. Here, Reiki is used on the muscles that accommodate the injury.

Energy-wise, massage calms hyper animals by making them more relaxed and sociable. And all forms of massage effectively improve circulation and reduce toxins in the body.

Cristillo has a signature massage style she uses on her clients.

“I combine Reiki with Acupressure," she said. "First, I open up the meridians, and then I feel along the spinal column, massage out knots and apply acupressure.”

She also has a few tips for two-legged individuals on living stress-free lives:

• Drink more water
• Stretch to relieve knots
• Don’t walk with your hands in your pockets because your body realigns itself with the swinging motion of your arms
• Have your children use rolling backpacks because their backs are still developing and the backpacks can skew their alignment
• Drink lots of water after a massage so your body can handle a release of toxins

For more information about Cristillo and her practices visit www.paw-ssage.com.