Vanin, Sara, LMT, NCBTMB

Sara Vanin is an Illinois licensed massage therapist (LMT), a Shiatsu and Zen Shiatsu practitioner and instructor (Ohashi Institute NYC, 2001), an Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) Holistic Health Coach, a Himalayan Institute (HYMC) 200hr Certified Yoga Teacher, and an aromapoint therapist. She has been practicing Shiatsu and healing arts since 1997.

Graduated from the Ohashi Institute in 2001, Sara became a Shiatsu instructor under the mentorship of Ohashi Sensei and his niece Kumiko Kanayama, in 2005. Furthermore, she continued her post graduate studies at Zen Shiatsu Chicago, at the Tao Shiatsu Center in Madison, WI and with internationally renowned shiatsu practitioner and teacher Clifford Andrews (Shiatsu College, UK). She is also studying Clean Language with “Words that Touch” author, Nick Pole (UK).
She has studied AromaAcupoint Therapy with Peter Holmes, L.Ac., MH (author of “Aromatica” vol 1 & 2) and Tiffany Pollard, L.Ac., and is continuing her studies of Aromatherapy with Jeffre Yuen, the Aromahead Institute and the Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy.

Sara earned her massage therapy diploma at Pacific College of Health and Science in Chicago, in 2008.

Sensitive to the toll that mental and emotional stress have on the body, her work specializes in the application of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Zen Shiatsu meridian science to the treatment of chronic pain and emotional stress.

Additionally, combining her bodywork practice and aromapoint therapy with yoga and health coaching, Sara specializes in helping women of all ages develop a better relationship with food and themselves. Learning to honor the body and trust its cues by understanding what drives compulsive eating pattern, allows us to find greater joy and fulfillment in all areas of life.

Over the years, Sara has worked with adults, seniors and teens. She has extensive experience working in her own bodywork private practice, in acupuncture clinics, hospital settings, integrative centers, including an emotional wellness center.

In addition to her clinical practice, Sara has been teaching Shiatsu, Ethics, East Asian Clinical Massage, and has been a Massage Clinic Supervisor at Pacific College since 2007.
During the years at Pacific College, she has also served as Clinic Manager, assistant to the Massage Program coordinator, and as Chair of the Massage Department.
She has also taught Shiatsu, Chinese Medicine and CE classes to massage and bodywork students and therapists extensively in diverse educational settings in the Chicago area.

If you are interested in learning more about our acupuncture degree programs or our massage therapy certificate and degree programs, please visit the Pacific College of Health and Science’s acupuncture programs page or the Pacific College of Health and Science’s massage therapy certificate program page.

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