Working With Military

Nikki has had a long connection to the Armed Forces: Her maternal grandfather was in the Navy during WW2 and her father was in the Submarine Service during the Vietnam Era. At the age of 10, she purchased a MIA-POW bracelet while at The Wall in Washington, DC and wore that without a break until his remains were located, identified and brought home to rest in Arlington. The tale of Richard Mancini and her connection to him is one near and dear to Nikki’s heart. After his return, she felt naked without a bracelet, but had begun massage school and could not have worn a metal bracelet while performing massages anyhow.

Meanwhile, her best friend was active duty in the US Army and had multiple deployments under his belt. She also had close friends who served as Marines, was able to attend graduation at Annapolis and had another dear friend graduate from West Point and enter into a career with the Army that has taken him through teaching at West Point and working in the Pentagon. Through her conversations with these friends, and her work with her best friend in giving massage to help with sore knees, bad shoulders and general aches and pains that were beginning to appear from his military service, she saw the impact that Thai Massage, in particular, was having on improving sleep, calming the physical responses to anxiety and hyper-vigilance and the general pain relief. She started to offer free massage to Veterans and active duty military; this is something that she honors still. All Vets and Active Duty receive their first 90-minute Thai Massage free.

With a desire to offer more, and gain more education around PTS(d), she sought a training program that would give her more backbone in trying to work with military organizations. She found Warriors At Ease and embarked on the year-long training in adaptive yoga and trauma-sensitive yoga and meditation. With her new tools and certification, Nikki has been able to work with the CT National Guard and Reserve units in the State. She loves being able to offer a variety of ways for our soldiers to find relief from some of the frustrations and aches that plague them.

She now has four new bracelets and wears them as often as possible with the hopes that these MIA will be returned to US soil for their final resting place as well.