From the Inside Out

In an inviting, spa-like space, a community of like-minded practitioners are bringing together holistic health, beauty and well-being for a one-of-a-kind wellness experience.

by CARA MCDONALD

The idea came to Dr. Heather Rassel when she was meditating, something she does almost every day—not just an idea, actually; more like a complete download, a vision with all the parts and pieces. A plan for more than a chiropractic wellness center— a way to create a community of like-minded health, wellness and beauty practitioners who are independent yet delightfully complementary. And above all, in a space that was as welcoming and healing as those who practiced within it.

Rassel, a chiropractor, was raised in a very holistic household. She was born at home; her parents valued and trusted the inherent knowledge and recuperative healing powers of the human body. Both of Rassel’s parents were also chiropractors (there are 30 total in her family, and her mother built The Chiropractic Well-Being Center in Okemos in the early ’90s). While chiropractic practice focuses on the role of the spine and nervous system affecting overall health and body function, it generally assumes that well-being is affected by everything in an individual’s environment and lifestyle.

“I had a more traditional chiropractic practice for seventeen years and was very content, but it was always at the back of my mind to create a collaborative wellness space to more completely serve the patients I cared for,” Rassel says.

The result of that moment of zen is JOVIA Wellness, a beautiful, high-vibe energetic space for personal growth, healing and clearer expression of one’s inner vitality. Rassel opened JOVIA Wellness in June 2018, and currently, seven separate businesses are practicing within it:

1. Pure Chiropractic, Dr. Heather Rassel, DC

2. Amazon Blonde, Wendy Schaub, hair stylist

3. Cana’s Beauty & Wellness, Cana Guernsey, skin care specialist

4. Dr. Carley Fardell, DC, chiropractor

5. Traverse City Total Care, Dr. Robert Rees, DO, with a focus on bioidentical hormone therapy replacement

6. Keep In Touch, Eileen Byrne, licensed massage therapist

7. Better Balance Wellness, Sarah Orth, exercise physiologist/holistic health coach

From the moment you step into the cozy reception area, you’re wrapped in calming shades of violet and blue. The front desk curves like a wave—what Rassel calls a feminine flow of energy—under 20-foot ceilings with skylights. Here, clients will wait before or after services, cuddling with a blanket and a cup of organic peppermint tea. There are Japanese-designed massage chairs and a stash of noise-canceling headphones for those needing to tune out. Rassel created a blend of 12 essential oils to invoke a sense of peace, grounding and happiness, diffusing it throughout the space.

“I’ll come and find people sitting back in the massage chairs and reading a book,” she admits. “They say, ‘Take your time, Dr. Rassel, I’m here a little early…’”

Her practice doesn’t take appointments—it’s walk-in only, with an as-you-need-it, spontaneous feel (other practitioners at JOVIA have their own booking systems and business models). It’s a unique model, but one that lands with her patients. “There are plenty of ‘back doctors’ out there, and I’m more of a nervous system, family wellness provider helping your body function at a higher level. People may have ailments initially, but I like to guide them to not only feel better but also help them to express more of the vitality they were created with.”

JOVIA is a living, breathing entity, a dynamic community whose feel shifts as its practitioners do, with an initial spiritual and meditation emphasis when it opened in 2018, to what Rassel now describes as having a strong element of inner and therefore outer beauty that is safe, natural and holistically aligned.

“Above all,” she says, “we want our clients to walk out saying, ‘I feel better in my body and my life.’”