Every once in a while, a person experiences an event that changes the trajectory of their life forever.
That’s exactly what happened to Amy Reaves in 2014. She had spent the previous 15 years watching her father battle Parkinson’s Disease, Lewy Body Dementia, and a steep decline in physical mobility. In many ways, experiencing the loss of her father became Amy’s catalyst to learn new ways to stay healthy, fit, and create a better way of life – not just for herself, but for everyone with whom she made contact.
After going through several difficult years in her personal life, Amy found the practice of hot yoga in 2009. Initially, she was just looking for a way to stay active and maybe relax after a long, stressful day of work. She never expected to have deeply profound revelations while in a group setting, but that’s exactly what happened.
“I was so nervous walking into my first hot yoga class! I had never done yoga before, but having attended many group fitness classes in my time, I decided this would be a fun challenge. I walked into the room, found a spot in the corner on the back row and just told myself that I would be open to whatever came. What came was something I never expected. Halfway through the class, I was overcome with emotions. Everything that I had tried to hold back bubbled up to the surface and I laid down on my mat and just let the tears flow. I had never experienced anything so powerful. So freeing. So raw. But feeling so safe at the same time. At the end of the class, I waited for the room to clear, and as I left, the teacher greeted me, talked me through my processing, and encouraged me to come back. The rest is history!”
Amy decided to take her personal yoga practice to the next level in 2014 by attending Yoga Teacher Training. Little did she know, this would also be one of those life-changing experiences. During her Training, she was introduced to Reiki. Intrigued, she added this to the list of things to learn later on.
By 2016, Amy had received all four Reiki attunements and started practicing as a Reiki Master Teacher. She had also become a Certified Natural Health Professional as well as a Certified Intuitive Energy Healer. Amy’s thirst for knowledge continued to grow and over the course of the next three years, she had also become a Traditional Naturopath; a Licensed Massage Therapist with additional certifications in cupping, fire cupping, GuaSha, Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage, The Raindrop Technique and YoMassage; a Board Certified Complementary and Alternative Health Practitioner; and a Certified Emotion Code Practitioner. At any given moment, you can ask Amy what class or course she’s currently studying, and she would be able to give you a short list. “I once read that if we can say we’ve learned everything there is to learn in our field, we should probably stop what we’re doing. I believe that we can always improve. We can always learn more.”
In 2017, Amy said farewell to Corporate America to pursue her career as a holistic practitioner and thus, Pure Wellness, was born. In 2019, Pure Wellness opened their first brick and mortar to serve more clients and provide one place for Amy to practice all of her professional modalities. Throughout her professional career, whether she’s working with clients or colleagues, Amy has always strived to help people become the best versions of themselves. On a personal level, however, she felt like she could make improvements with her physical body and hired a personal trainer.
Never one to do anything half-way, Amy was inspired by her trainer and the progress that they were able to make over the course of several months and went on to compete in local bodybuilding competitions. “Competing on a stage in a teeny bikini was never my goal when I started training. But, my coach continued to encourage me to set big goals for myself. This was honestly an incredibly uncomfortable challenge for me. But the exhilaration I felt while presenting to the judges on stage and the feeling of accomplishment I had when that first show was over was something I’d grow to love!” While Amy doesn’t currently have a show planned, she says that her next competition is never far away.
Many people that Amy has trained with over the years are also her clients. “During the lockdown in early 2020, I hosted interviews with several of my long-time clients to discuss their needs, their goals, and brainstorm ways that I could better serve them. An overwhelming majority of the responses came back with TIME. We all have the same hours in a day, but trying to squeeze in strength training, yoga, work, family, self-care, personal appointments, etc. is just not possible. So, things that we want to make a priority just aren’t possible when we look logically at how much we can accomplish in a 24 hour period.” When Amy started working on a solution to this problem that she and so many of her clients experienced, the concept of Wellness Collective Studios was born.
Wellness Collective Studios is a network of holistic professionals that offer services to their clients under a single roof. The studio, located in downtown Springfield, is nearly 7,000 square feet, featuring 2 yoga/fitness studios (one heated and one not), 5 professional offices for wellness practitioners (massage therapists, estheticians, energy workers and other natural and alternative health providers) a retail space and coming in early 2022, a boutique gym for personal training! “I’m so excited to bring this concept to Springfield! Wellness Collective Studios is going to fill so many needs for so many people. I just can’t wait to see it come to life!”
