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Touchstone Healing Arts

Faculty

Mark and Niko are present to support and facilitate the entire journey of the Touchstone experience.

Niko Pruesse
Co-Founder-Director

Niko was born and raised around the Great Lakes in Ontario, Canada and graduated from the 2400 hour program at West Coast College of Massage Therapy in Vancouver, British Columbia. A massage therapist since 1987, originally licensed in B.C. Niko became nationally certified in 2000. She has worked in hotel spas, physiotherapy offices, and her own private practice.

In 1994, after some world travel and the birth of her first child, Niko was delighted to settle down in Vermont, home of the ‘sixth great lake’ where she, along with her partner Mark, established Touchstone Healing Arts in 1998.

Niko’s love of learning took her to Spirit of Learning at the Body Therapy Institute in North Carolina in 2001, a teacher training program for massage and body workers. In 2005 she attended a Vipassana meditation intensive training and continues to explore alternative bodywork modalities.

Since Spring 2007 she has been studying in-depth with her teacher, Richard Strozzi-Heckler and became a certified Somatic Coach in March 2008.

Presently, she and her family reside in Burlington where she enjoys gardening, reading, cooking, swimming in lake Champlain as well as her regular meditation practice and contemplating the stunning Adirondak mountains.

Mark Adams
Co-Founder- Director

Born in Zimbabwe and raised in England, Mark has been a massage practitioner since 1989. He is a graduate of The American Institute of Massage Therapy, Walnut Creek, California, and Threeways School of Massage, Norfolk, England.
Mark’s strong independent streak kept him busy in the early part of his career working a private practice in many settings. He took his on-site chair massage to trade shows, hospitals, schools and businesses, working outdoors in back alleys and in well appointed penthouse suites. His love of interacting with people has kept his work balanced between public settings and the private healing space of his massage office.

Having a deep yearning for self improvement and spiritual awakening Mark has spent many years questing and experiencing various cultures’ spiritual and healing practices. Since Spring 2007 he has been studying in-depth with his teacher, Richard Strozzi-Heckler and became a certified Somatic Coach in March 2008. In 2005 he took a 200 hour Shiatsu therapy training conducted at Touchstone with Scott Moylan. In 2004 he studied for a year with a druid and shamanic healer, Ivan Mac Beth. In 2001 he completed his 200 hour yoga teacher training at Kripalu Center in Lennox, MA and over the years he has been actively involved in men’s support group work adopting techniques from various traditions including western psychotherapy and Native American Indian rituals.

Mark’s deep wish is to touch and inspire as many people as possible, encouraging them to take responsibility for their own health and healing and, in so doing, bring healing to our planet. His role at Touchstone fulfills much of this vision as more and more people come to learn and experience the power of touch.

Jeri Helen

Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology

Jeri Helen is a nationally certified massage therapist living in
Burlington. She studied evolutionary and molecular biology as an
undergraduate at Princeton University, and received a master's degree
in cognitive neuroscience from University College London in 2001. In
2003, she began studying movement and Eastern bodywork in New York
City (at the Ohashi Institute), continued with Thai Yoga Bodywork in
Seattle (at Soaring Crane Massage school), and graduated from
Touchstone Healing Arts in 2008. In addition to having a part-time
massage practice and teaching Anatomy and Physiology at Touchstone,
Jeri works as a math/science tutor and a scientific editor for a
journal on sustainability.  Jeri's passions include dance (West
African and Lindy Hop), gardening, wild edible and medicinal plants,
and participating in healing communities of all kinds.

Sami Pincus

Ethics

Sami brings her experience as a massage therapist, counselor and instructor in a variety of modalities. She has a Master of Science in Counseling from the University of Vermont and is also a Certified Alexander Instructor. As a graduate of the Muscular Therapy Institute in Cambridge, MA, Sami continued on in their teaching program and taught at the Cascade Institute for Massage and Body Therapies in Eugene, Oregon.

 

 

Guest Faculty

Annette Browne
Introduction to Traditional Oriental Medicine

Has been a healer for over 25 years, and now her vocation incorporates three forms of healing as a Registered Nurse,
Yoga Instructor, and Asian Body Work Therapist  Originally from Zimbabwe, Annette has spent many cherished moments at Lake kariba in Zimbabwe, the beaches in Cape town, South Africa and Vermont's lake Champlain. 
Her massage and gentle personality resemble the flowing, rhythmic expansive nature of water. Annette studied Asian body Work obtaining her certification through Touch stone Healing Arts. She gives massage in two forms; Amma and Shiatsu. 

Bill Eichorn
Sports Massage

Bill has specialized in Sports Massage since 1987 through his practice in Burlington, VT. Bill is a graduate of the Sports Massage Therapy Institute in California.

Stephen O'Dwyer
Advanced Bodywork Techniques

Stephen O’Dwyer, Certified Nuromuscular Therapist, has maintained a private practice in manual therapy since 1990. He has trained in a wide variety of disciplines including Neuromuscular Therapy, Myofascial Release, Deep Tissue massage, Somatic movement reeducation, and Craniosacral Therapy.

Kristen Borquist

Thai Yogabodywork