Ariana Benjamin of Beyond Bliss Massage and Wellness breaks down health benefits of massages

WJBF – Massages can provide a lot more than leisure and relaxation. Ariana Benjamin, the owner of Beyond Bliss Massage and Wellness, sits down with WJBF to talk about the many health benefits that can come with receiving the proper massage.

Welcome to Celebrating Black Excellence. So, let’s get started with you. How did you get started with your business?

Honestly, this is the third time I’ve actually had a business. The first time was right out of getting out of massage school. There was a lovely lady that offered me a space, and I said, “Oh, this is a great opportunity. Let me go ahead and just try it.” Should not have done that. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. You know, you get out of school, and you don’t really have confidence. Everything’s kind of robotic because you’re so used to people, like grading everything you’re doing and stuff like that. So, I shouldn’t have done that. I decide, “Okay, let me back up a little bit. I’m going to start working in the spa environment.” That was nice. It was good and everything. But I said, “This is bothering me because everything is so quick.” You know, you don’t really get a chance to get to know people. So, I decided I was going to go into the mobile sector just because it was something that was a little slower pace. It was less overhead, but when you’re going into other people’s environments, you’re not really able to create zen. So, I wanted to be able to create something that people could actually get away from their normal day to day life. So, I went into one other job. I said, “I’m going to give this one last try.” I didn’t even last two weeks. I sat there, and it was the same situation all over again with the with the thought, “I could deal with it.” Maybe I can because the mobile thing isn’t quite what I wanted. I remember getting on the phone with my husband. I was sitting out in the parking lot of the place I was at. He said, “You know, it’s probably time.” I said, “Time for what?” He tells me, “I think it’s time for you to open your own place.” I said, “I don’t know about something like that,” because it’s always that leap. It’s so hard to do. So, I sat in the parking lot for a little bit, and I said, “Maybe he’s right.” So, I’m going to try. Why not? Instead of why, it became, “Why not?” So two months later, Beyond Bliss was opened.

So, speaking of the name Beyond Bliss, what inspired it?

That same parking lot. All this happened, like, in the course of maybe 45 minutes. I’m one of those people. When something hits me, or I’m like, “Okay, I’m going to do this.” I’m like full speed ahead. So, I sat in that same parking lot, and I said, “Okay, I need a name because it makes it real for me.” In the first name, I came up with Bliss By Design. I called my husband up because he’s always the person I go to any time I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do with my life. So he’s like, “Yeah, that’s too much. It’s not zingy enough. You need to do like a play on words or something like that.” I just sat there and said, “Okay, I want bliss because I want bliss. I want a cut above. Beyond. Beyond. Beyond Bliss.” There it was. That’s just stuck ever since.

Now, you are a licensed massage practitioner. Can you explain the difference between being a massage practitioner and a massage therapist and the difference between those and “masseuse?” Can you just explain exactly what it is that you do?

So, a massage therapist and a massage practitioner are pretty much the same. A masseuse – that’s when you’re starting to kind of go into shady waters a little bit. You know, just like if you say massage parlor, that’s like a no-no in the industry. There’s a lot of unknowns about this industry. And that’s why I’m working so hard to make massage and to make wellness in general, more of not just a luxury, but it’s a real thing that we can really benefit from on a regular basis. So, the difference with one of these places that I hate to say that you hear on the news in not such a good way and what I do is based on overall wellness, longevity, pain relief, and stress relief. There are studies that tell you that an hour massage is the equivalent to 8 hours of sleep. I also do lymphatic drainage, which most of the clientele that I see for that are post-surgical clients. So, they’re coming in, they’re swollen, they’ve had procedures, they can’t get regular massages, but they still need help with detoxification for healing stuff like this. So, I have prenatal clients that come in. They have easier labors and things of that nature. Now, I will say what sets my business apart is I am very big on the mental health aspect of things as well. Just like I mentioned about the spa industry, it’s very quick. I don’t remember most of the clients that I saw. So, one thing I wanted to do differently that I stick to now is I have it minimum is an hour in between each of my appointments. The reason for that is I have a lounge area. I have people come in, and they say, “There’s from about that couch,” because all kinds of stuff come out because you’re also building a rapport with people. We’re so on these screens all the time. We don’t get one on one, like how we’re sitting here talking. You see what I’m saying? So, I feel like you built that rapport with that person. Let’s keep it going. Some people will take a nap. They get away from the day to day that they’re going through. It’s a time that they can unwind and unplug from the world.

Absolutely. You are also a certified fluid therapist as well.

Yes, that goes into what I do with the lymphatic drainage.

You have a lot of things that you provide, and that’s good that we have something like that in this community.

I like to think so. I mean, this this community has been such a big, big piece of my family and everything. We’ve been here since 2017, and I feel like we’ve been welcomed here. So to be able to bring something that I feel like is a benefit to the community and to bring awareness to it, I think is huge, and I’m honored to be able to do it.

Where are you originally from?

Originally, I’m from New York City. I don’t know much about New York City, though, I’ll be honest. I moved down to Bamberg when I was about three years old. So, I moved back and forth between there in the states coast in Florida. So, I know a little bit more about that. I lived in Coney Island for a little bit when I was a teenager. But yeah, I’m a Southern girl by heart.

Now, you talk about the importance of massages. Let’s get more into that because again, I know a lot of people see massages more as a leisure thing. Can you please go into more detail about why massages are important, and why we should get those on a consistent basis?

So, I’ll give you an example. I have a couple clients that they’ve been able to prolong having to have surgery on certain areas just because of getting massage. It’s even better if you couple it with chiropractic work. That’s why you find a lot of massage therapists and chiropractic offices because they work hand in hand with each other. So, it’s a huge, huge deal. Just like I mentioned about prenatal, I’m very, very big on prenatal massage because the body is going through so much. It’s going through Just crazy changes in everything, not to mention the stress it puts on us here [our minds]. We forget about this [our mental health]. That’s the biggest thing to me is that massage is great. The physical benefits are great, the pain relief is great, the stress relief is a great thing, but what it does for our mental health – that’s huge, especially in this society, because we don’t put as much emphasis on that as we should. You know, we’ve got so many people walking around that just sometimes need a hug. That touch therapy is just like babies. If you look at studies about babies that aren’t touched, it’s the lack of thriving. So, how does that change as we get older? It doesn’t. You know, we forget about that. To answer more on a clinical level, even with sports massage, I have a lot of athletes that come in. It enhances when they go into performances and post-performance, and it helps with recovery and things like that. If you look at my bio on my website, I speak a lot about my husband. My husband was a former Coast Guard. He is now a first responder. He will tell anybody for the last 15 years, massage has helped him be able to put his whole body through all kinds of stuff. He would come home, and he’d get his massages. To this day, he is my longest running client.

What advice would you give someone that wants to become an entrepreneur, or become a licensed massage practitioner, or who basically wants to do what you do?

Well, as far as entrepreneurship, I saw a recent video that you had with another lady from the [Greater Augusta Black] Chamber [of Commerce] who spoke about just do it. There’s never a right time to do it. I would definitely say that if I had one thing to do different, it would have been to throw my hat in the ring a little bit sooner when I felt more confident. As far as becoming a massage practitioner, that’s one of those things I would say definitely look around for a good school, talk to massage therapists in the area, see where they went, see where they were comfortable, and then tour. You should be able to go on tours to different schools and see what they offer. For me, I took night classes, you know, that was super helpful because I had a small child at the time. It helped me to be able to still be there for him and still be a mom. Then, I’m going to school from 6 to 10. So, that was huge for me. So, you definitely want to shop around a little bit. Just like you shop for a house and shop for a car, shop for good schools – one that’s going to have a staff that’s going to support you, and the rest is history.

Now, if people want more information about you, or If they want to book appointments with you, how can they get that information?

So, there are a few different ways that you can get in touch with me. The easiest way to book an appointment is www.beyondbliss.net. That is my website. There you can find out all kinds of things about me, about the types of services that I offer, pricing, and all that kind of thing. It also has links to my social media pages, so you can reach out to me there as well. You can also email me at beyondblissllc@outlook.com, and you can also give me a call any time, (803) 998-7524.

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