Opening of The Jai Ma Wellness Center
On December 2nd, four Upper Saint Lawrence holistic practitioners will host the grand opening of The Jai Ma Wellness Center in Ormstown.
The newly renovated center, which hopes to extend the region’s access to alternative health care and grow its reputation as a wellness destination, will now offer acupuncture, reflexology, massage therapy and nutritional consulting, in one centralized location.
This wellness center is the longtime dream of acupuncturist Louise Robinson who has practiced on Chemin Rivière-aux-Outardes in Ormstown since 2006. She recently completed the renovation of an existing building on her charming farmhouse property, transforming the space into modern offices.
Louise first opened her acupuncture clinic in Huntingdon in 2001, after moving to the Chateauguay Valley from Montreal. Since the onset of her practice, she has noticed a significant shift in the awareness of and demand for alternative health services in the area. When she started practicing fifteen years ago, 99% of her patients had never had acupuncture before. Now she sees all walks of people aware of the various benefits of acupuncture and often receives referrals from local doctors.
Louise studied Medical Anthropology at McGill University before specializing at Rosemont College. What drew her to study traditional Chinese medicine was its focus on the mind and body connection. She explains how comprehensive she found the ideology: “Chinese medicine looks at many things—the weather, food, emotions, stress—rather than just treating one aspect, say, the lungs.”
This holistic approach, or the idea of treating the whole person rather than just individual symptoms, has entered the mainstream over the last couple of decades. The practitioners who will be offering their services out of The Jai Ma Wellness Center all follow similar philosophies to treat a range of physical and mental health issues ranging from chronic aches and pains, to allergies, and depression. Another facet of Louise’s goal in founding the center is to provide services that can work in conjunction with one another. For example, she explains, “Combining therapeutic massage and acupuncture can speed up the combined efficacy of each individual treatment.”
On Friday December 2nd, 2016, the public is invited to attend an open house from 2 – 7pm at 988 Ch. Rivière-aux-Outardes in Ormstown. Guests can expect to find smoothies, gift certificates, and information about the services offered by Acupuncturist Louise Robinson, Massage Therapist Lesle-Ann Hine of Athelstan, Nutrition Consultant Kim L’Ecuyer from Huntingdon, and Reflexologist Mai Theone Larsen of Hemmingford.