From Rescue to Ritual: My Journey Into Healing & Holistic Wellness

From Rescue to Ritual: My Journey Into Healing & Holistic Wellness

By Kristina – Fire Island Massage & Wellness

My journey into healing didn’t begin in a yoga studio or a wellness retreat, it started in the back of an ambulance. At just 18, I became an EMT, volunteering with Bay Shore Rescue. I was drawn to the intensity, the service, the adrenaline, and the opportunity to help others in their most vulnerable moments. What I didn’t realize at the time was that this path would plant the seed for something much deeper: a lifelong devotion to healing, not just in emergencies, but in the quiet, ongoing ways we care for our bodies, our spirits, and our connection to the natural world.

After years in emergency medicine, I felt the pull to explore the other side of the healing spectrum, where prevention, restoration, and deep listening live. That journey has led me to study and practice a wide range of alternative and ancient healing modalities, each one adding a layer to the work I now offer through Fire Island Massage & Wellness.

I’ve trained in massage therapy, advanced alternative bodywork, and the sacred practice of Lomi Lomi. I became a 400-hour certified yoga instructor and specialized in women’s health and wellness. I dove into the intuitive wisdom of herbalism and wild foraging, learning how the plants around us offer profound support for our cycles, immunity, and emotional balance.

My path expanded into Amazonian and Indigenous healing traditions, including Kambo, a powerful detoxification medicine that uses peptides from the giant monkey tree frog to activate deep systemic cleansing. This ceremonial work has been life-changing, both personally and professionally. I’ve trained extensively in Kambo and now serve as an assistant teacher in the Kambo Frog Detox Training Program, with a specialization in supporting women through transformation and healing.

I’ve also explored the sacred feminine through womb healing, tantra, and holistic approaches to sexual and reproductive health. I believe that the body holds deep intelligence, and when we honor it with presence and reverence, healing becomes not just possible, but inevitable.

More recently, I’ve expanded into functional detox practices, including ozone therapy and phlebotomy, allowing me to support clients through both ancient and modern approaches to purification and vitality.

What ties all of this together is my devotion to holding space, for people to remember who they are, for the body to reset and repair, and for the spirit to come home. Whether I’m guiding a private yoga session, facilitating a detox, performing therapeutic bodywork, or creating personalized wellness rituals, I’m always working with the same intention: to help you reconnect to your own innate healing power.

This path has been anything but linear, but every modality, every teacher, every client has helped shape what I now offer: a deeply integrated, soul-centered approach to healing that honors every layer of your being.

And it all began with a simple desire to help.

Ready to experience healing that meets you on every level—body, mind, and spirit?

Let’s co-create a journey that honors your unique path. Explore my offerings or reach out to begin your personalized wellness experience today.