She’s got the touch
lavonne trotter offers massage therapy, alternative healing
STORY BY SARAH STULTZ PHOTOS BY ERIC JOHNSON
TWENTY YEARS AGO, lavonne trotter of Owatonna began her business in massage therapy. a registered nurse, she was teaching infant massage as part of an
early childhood family education course when parents involved with that class asked her when she was going to learn adult mas- sage too. to try it out, trotter went to the minneapolis school of massage
for an intensive week-long training and from that point on, she says, she loved it and decided to dive right in. “as long as i’ve been doing this i’m still in love with doing it,”
trotter says. “how am i so lucky?” trotter, 74, a certified massage therapist, says massage and other
forms of alternative healing have become a passion for her. “part of it is about helping people release the anxiety, pain and
stress in their lives,” she explains. “very well put together people — you come in and find out they have physical pain and emotional pain.” the petite woman, who operates firefly therapeutics out of her
home, said her interest started out simply in massage, but over the years has expanded to include other healing techniques including myofascial release, which involves the muscle and connective tissue; craniosacral massage, which involves the rhythm of the central ner- vous system; and energy healing, which includes bioenergy and the healing touch. “One thing always leads to another,” she says. she named her business firefly therapeutics to help people real-
HAVE SINUS PROBLEMS?
trotter recommends applying small bouts of pres-
sure to three areas of the head to help relieve sinus pain. first, she says, apply pressure using a finger along
the eyebrow bone. move about a quarter of an inch at a time, pressing down two to three seconds until you’ve gone around the eye. then, press down in the same manner along the
cheek bone, from the nose out, and lastly around the ears.
36 ♦ Southern Minnesota Magazine ♦ Venus 2010
ize that alternative healing can be like a small light in the darkness. “When conventional medicine doesn’t work or isn’t what’s needed, maybe alternative healing is the answer,” trotter says. her passion for massage and alternative healing also comes from her deep-rooted belief in a respect for all creations. “i believe that everything was created and therefore, i believe we need to have respect for everyone and everything here,” she says.
a caring touch
When trotter begins a massage session, she has her client lay
face-down on her massage table. she places a heating pad on the bottoms of the client’s feet and begins playing soft music in the background. then, she begins the myofascial release, which is a process that
includes applying pressure in areas from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet and out to the fingertips. this is done without any oil on her hands.
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