Kelly Kempter, owner and creator of Kaizen Healing Arts, began her journey as a kinesthetic young mover, first as a gymnast and then as a dancer. This passion for movement initiated a deep fascination with the human body in function and in motion. In her early twenties the toll on her body caught up with her. Thankfully, a dance teacher and mentor at Hunter College, Dorothy Vislocky took Kelly under her wing and led her along a path of self discovery and healing. Inspired by Dorothy’s gift, Kelly felt called to deepen her knowledge and eventually to share that knowledge with others. She enrolled in massage school at Irene’s Myomassology Institute and soon discovered that loving compassion is our greatest healer. As a massage therapy student, she was chosen as one of five students nationwide to receive a grant from Massage Magazine. Kelly was first introduced to Thai massage in 2003 and immediately felt a powerful connection to this modality. 

 

Drawn to the spiritual nature of this work, Kelly soon discovered that Thai massage is most effective when the practitioner involves their whole being, meditative in mind, dance-like in body, and tender in heart. Committing to deepen and broaden her practice, she studied with master teachers in Thailand and the U.S. In a quest for a more comprehensive understanding of the energy lines that is essential to this work, she began an ongoing apprenticeship in Shiatsu with Frances Farmer, COI. Exposure to the five element theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine led to the understanding that our bodies are a microcosm of the natural world. Kelly’s practice is ever-evolving and currently expresses as a seamless synthesis of Thai massage and Shiatsu, integrating elements from all of her training and experience. She seeks to inspire balance in the community through the practice and teaching of bodywork.

 

Accredited through Thai Healing Arts International as a Registered Thai Therapist (RTT), and licensed in the State of Michigan as a massage therapist (LMT), Kelly completed her pediatric massage therapy certification and nourishes the health of young people through exposure to therapeutic touch. She was featured in a 2009 issue of the Crazy Wisdom Community Journal. The article, in issue #41 includes an introduction and fun photo spread as well as a detailed interview with Kelly Kempter. In 2011, Kelly was privileged to assist teaching the six month Thai massage program with Paul Fowler and Michelle Tupko of Blue Lotus Thai Healing Studies, setting in motion an expansion into the realm of teaching. With the completion of that program, she joined forces with Tatianah Thunberg of Spirit Moves and created Sacred Breath Healing Studies, which offers an array of learning opportunities for practitioners and non-professionals alike. Kelly is deeply grateful to all of her teachers, past and present, and has discovered that students and clients are among her greatest teachers.

 

A long time yoga student, tai chi practitioner, and meditator, Kelly continues to unearth new expressions of movement and stillness within her. She has a vision where people in her community are grounded in their bodies, seek balance in their lives and relationships, live with integrity in accordance with nature, and feel inspired to look within. Just as Dorothy Vislocky bestowed Kelly with the gifts of knowledge, healing, and inspiration, Kelly hopes to deeply touch the lives of her clients, students, and others along her path. She aspires to serve bodywork clients by guiding them in self healing, through touch, dialogue, compassion, and example. She seeks to serve students of bodywork through inspiration and the sharing of her knowledge, skills, and experience. With her innate focus on body awareness, and her aim to empower people through self-awareness, she aims to bring people closer to their natural state of health, harmony, energy, and vitality. Kelly connects to the artistry and spiritual nature of mat-based bodywork, and like a spiritual practice, sees no end to the breadth and depth of exploration.

 

In addition to Kelly's passion for bodywork and movement, she loves to be in nature and in service to others, to travel, to parent, and to spend time in spiritual practice and with friends and family. Kelly also holds a research position with the University of Michigan at the Institute for Social Research where she is involved in preparing longitudinal survey data for the Health and Retirement Study.