Massage and Dance for Fibromyalgia

I’ve got fibromyalgia. I started getting symptoms in 2009 while I was deployed to Saudi Arabia. After 3 years of every blood, skin, and bone test known to man, my doctor landed on fibromyalgia. I went to his office one day, and me in my shoulder, elbow and hip.

All these spots caused a ridiculous amount of pain. I’m like, “Doc, what are you doing???”. He told me that I’ve got fibromyalgia. I’d never heard of that before, but at least there was a name for the pain I’d been suffering for the past three years. At the time, I’d been in the Air Force for 22 years, and my goal was 30 years.

At that time, I also owned a dance studio called Baile con Sazon with my Salsa brothers, Willie McIntosh and Reggie Santiago.

I also owned Love to Dance Fitness Studio which I ran out of the same location. We’d been in business together for 2 years at that point.

Within a year of diagnosis, I was retired from the Air Force and wondering what I was going to do with myself. Yes, I was teaching Salsa, and Zumba, and running a whole studio, but I needed more…because I’m extra. So, I decided that I was going to get my massage therapy license. I wanted to learn more holistic ways to heal because while I was active duty, they had me on so many drugs, I was a walking zombie. I went to school at Miller-Motte in 2014. But, with the challenges of managing fibromyalgia, business, family, I wound up dropping out in the middle of the program.

Fast forward to 2019, I went back to school. But not before I divorced my husband, shut down my business and basically went into hiding for a year or so. I was not dealing well at all. But, by the grace of God, I graduated. That was the good news. The bad news is I graduated in April of 2020. Right when COVID was getting ramped up. Needless to say, I wasn’t interested in massaging anyone at that point. I passed the MBLEX, which is the state board test for massage therapists, but I did not pursue my license. Not until April of 2023. A month later, Love, Tonya Wellness was in business!

I’m now a Licensed Massage Therapist, ISSA Certified Personal Trainer, Licensed Zumba and CIRCL Mobility instructor, and a Black Belt Salsa instructor.

I specialize in clients who suffer from fibromyalgia, because who knows where it hurts more than a fellow fibro sufferer? But my main love is Salsa dancing.

Well, I’m actually torn now that I think about it. I love giving massages to people who truly need it. I’m not talking about for relaxation, not that relaxing isn’t important. It is. But people who suffer from chromic pain conditions have a special place in my heart, and I’m here to serve them. I even came up with a program called Operation Touch. I created this program to help those who need consistent massage for medical reasons, like fibromyalgia, but they don’t have the financial means to spend over $100 per session.

So, that’s the story of how Love, Tonya Wellness was born!