Holistic doesn’t mean “just natural.” It’s not the opposite of clinical, and it’s not about rejecting products, science, or modern techniques.

Holistic means whole — we look at the full picture: the skin, the fascia, the lymph, the nervous system, emotional patterns, and the way someone is experiencing themselves in their body.

Your skin doesn’t function in isolation.
How you breathe, how you hold tension, how you process stress, how safe you feel — it all shows up on the face and in the skin.

A holistic approach works with the entire system, not just the surface.
Sometimes that means sculptural massage. Sometimes gua sha. Sometimes breath and nervous-system settling. Sometimes product support. The work is knowing what is needed and when — not forcing an outcome.

This is the foundation of Tending Practice education: skillful touch, system awareness, and presence.

Licensed estheticians (and equivalent practitioners) who want hands-on mastery, better client outcomes, and a calmer, more intentional way of working. This is for those who want to return to touch as a skill.

This space is for wellness professionals who want to reconnect with the art of working with the body, face, and nervous system.

Who Can Learn Here

• If your license or scope allows you to work with the face, you are welcome to the hands-on facial massage workshops.

• If you’re currently a student in an accredited licensure program, you may join as long as you are supervised and/or allowed to practice facial massage in training.

• If you live somewhere without licensing requirements, you may participate, but it is your responsibility to know your regional laws before registering.

• If you are exploring the integration of nervous-system awareness, presence, and slow touch in your work, you’ll find what you need here.

• If you want to learn how to tend to your own face, I offer beginner resources and guided self-massage classes periodically.

The Real Heart of It

This education isn’t only for estheticians. It’s for anyone called to work with touch, presence, and the nervous system as part of their healing or service-based practice.

If you’re unsure whether a class is right for you

Reach out.

You can email me or schedule a short Q&A call.

I’m happy to help you figure out where you fit and what training makes the most sense for your scope and goals.

Hi, I’m Joann — a licensened holistic esthetician, Certified Ayurveda practitioner, licensced educator, and sound healing guide with over a decade in the treatment room and two decades within the healing arts.

My background includes extensive training in sculptural face lifting, buccal (intra-oral) massage, Vodder-method lymphatic drainage, and traditional Ayurvedic therapies.

I teach from the nervous system up — meaning we slow down, we listen, and we work with the body instead of on top of it.

My work blends:

• Advanced manual technique (sculptural, fascia-aware, lymphatic, gua sha, buccal)

• Ayurvedic understanding of constitution and pattern

• Somatic presence and pacing

• Sound and breath for regulation

I’m less interested in “performing technique” and more interested in helping practitioners truly feel what they’re doing — in their hands, in their bodies, and in the room.

When you learn this way, your work becomes more confident, more intuitive, and more effective.

Whether we’re mapping jaw tension, practicing lift, or talking through the emotional undercurrent of burnout, my goal is always the same: to help you feel resourced, steady, and connected to your purpose as a practitioner.

This isn’t just continuing education.
It’s a return to why you started doing this work in the first place.

My trainings focus on hands-on skill and nervous-system-led pacing—not just adding a new tool to your menu.

You’ll leave with real technique, presence, and confidence—not just a certificate.

A basic familiarity with facial massage is helpful, but you don’t need to be advanced. I teach slowly, clearly, and step-by-step so both newer and seasoned practitioners can learn effectively.

Mostly hands-on. We learn through repetition, touch awareness, correction, and embodied practice—not memorized sequences.

Yes. When your touch changes, your results change—and clients feel that. These trainings help you build a practice your nervous system can sustain and that clients return for.

Kansas City Metro + on-site trainings for spas and wellness spaces.

Anyone whose license or scope of practice includes work with the face.

Students currently enrolled in approved esthetics or cosmetology programs are welcome to attend with appropriate school/instructor permission.