Bodywork, acupuncture, nutrition part of wellness practices in Lakes and Plains Building

Kris Nourse, David Fultz and Cadance Paulaha. Photo by Kristal Leebrick

In the Lakes and Plains Building, the former union hall at 842 Raymond Ave., three independent practitioners offer a variety of wellness therapies and services.

David Fultz, a licensed massage therapist who once offered massages at Holly House on the corner of Como and Carter avenues, has since hung out his shingle in the states of Michigan and Virginia, moving to accommodate his partner’s job changes.

Fultz has moved back to the Twin Cities and opened for business in 2016 in the Lakes and Plains building, specializing in neuromuscular therapy.

“With 18 years, it’s kind of morphed into integrating the mind-body experience,” Fultz said of his approach. “I went from nuts and bolts clinical to openness to emotional and even spiritual elements of wellness.” While he is “not a talk therapist,” Fultz said, “we’re not as separate as we thought.”

He said his long experience in massage practice has taught him sensitivity. “People come in typically with some goals in mind,” he said. “I’m very aware too that people relax their muscles at the their own pace.”

Fultz noted that clients may park behind the Lakes and Plains building and enter through the front door.

Kris Nourse, well-known to many in the neighborhood as a massage therapist, has now become a Rosen Method Bodywork Practitioner. She is in the final year of training with Peter Levine’s Somatic Experience Trauma Institute toward certification.

“Somatic Bodywork views the body and self as inseparable,” Nourse explained. “When a body is touched, the whole person is accessed. Aspects of the subconscious such as emotions, beliefs, and past experiences are made more available to the conscious mind. The combination of touch, dialogue and heightened inner awareness can create lasting positive change for health and well-being.”

Nourse continued, “I use a range of touch skills that help clients connect with themselves and find relaxation. Instead of applying a technique or forcing muscle tissue to release, I respond to the body’s signals and work with the innate and subtle systems that have been holding tension or pain, until the body shifts on its own.”

She added, “This is different from a typical full-body relaxation massage, or from traditional neuromuscular or deep-tissue massage that manipulates and directs changes in the body.”

Acupuncturist Cadance Paulaha said she is happy to have found her niche among the wellness practitioners in the Lakes and Plains building.

“I feel very fortunate to both live and work in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood,” she said. “Seven years ago I began my wellness practice in the Healy Building on Como Avenue. When that building was replaced with apartments, I was thrilled to be able to stay in [St. Anthony] Park and that’s when I moved to the Lakes and Plains Building to work alongside like-minded wellness practitioners.”

Paulaha’s approach combines several therapeutic traditions. “Everyone’s road to vibrant and optimal health is different,” she noted, so she offers “a range of natural, non-invasive treatment options, including acupuncture, herbs, nutrition and applied kinesiology/muscle testing.”

Clients come to her office for a variety of reasons, she said. “Many people are wondering why their energy, sleep, mood or general well-being is not what it used to be,” she said. “Individualized nutrition plans, created through testing for change in the body’s muscle strength when different nutrition or environmental stressors are introduced, can make a big difference. Also, acupuncture is good for many issues including pain, digestive problems, chronic conditions and stress.”

Her background in engineering, perhaps a little unusual among wellness practitioners, gives her an analytical bent, she said.

“I strive to find the best means available to help people. As a former engineer with a four-year double master’s degree in acupuncture and herbal medicine, as well as advanced certification in applied kinesiology and nutrition, I have extensive experience with problem solving,” Paulaha said. “It is a pleasure to apply this experience to help you discover unique issues that stand between where you are today and optimal health.”