Holistic. Healing. Oasis

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Positive changes have begun flowing through the historic community of Cambridge. Among them is Michael Rosato’s iconic Take My Hand mural of Harriet Tubman, located behind the main downtown thoroughfare of Race Street.

Within viewing distance of that heartening signpost, another noteworthy harbinger indicating a favorable forward shift is Fair Winds Wellness, a haven of holistic practices, opened by Marie and Shawn Nuthall in June 2019, just 9 months prior to the pandemic.

Marie, a degrees and licensed acupuncturist, and Shawn, a certified Yoga instructor, used the lockdown time to remove a wall and increase studio space for the growing yoga side. They also live streamed yoga sessions, which reached viewers from around the world.

One reason the couple came to Cambridge was to offer helpful healing modalities such as acupuncture, massage, yoga and nutritional guidance in a greatly underserved area, Marie mentioned.

To do so, they breathed new life into a former orthodonture facility, creatively reinventing one side as an airy yoga space while maintaining the structural integrity of the aesthetically redesigned other “practice” side, containing four individual rooms for acupuncture treatment by Marie, massage by Margaret Dressle, and by Teresa Deal, and nutritional therapy by Staci H. Walden.

During the two months between purchasing the building and opening the center, word of mouth quickly spread.

“While we were there swinging hammers, covered in duck wallpaper and brown paneling, people kept showing up on our doorstep, asking what we were doing,” the couple recalled. “It just started attracting people who wanted to become a part of it.”

One of those was Walden, “a beautiful, beautiful soul,” according to Marie, who has been with Fair Winds since it opened. “Twenty minutes after stopping by, she called, saying ‘I have to be a part of what you’re doing.’”

While the latter may not be as familiar a therapeutic component as massage, yoga or acupuncture, nutritional guidance makes sense, Shawn said.

“The gut, brain connection is so important,” he said. “What you feed your body affects how you think, and ultimately, how you feel.”

Along with their individual areas of expertise, the Nuthalls bring combined dedication to the enterprise, which has been a labor of love, buoyed by a passion for helping people feel better through natural means, drawing on their own resources.

“For us, this isn’t just a business; it’s a way for us to share our hearts with the community,” Marie said. “However we can soften or create ease in your life, that’s what we want to do.”

“Our goal is to ensure that each person who comes in leaves feeling that they have been cared for and treated with love and respect,” Marie added.

Fair Winds strives to “meet people where they are,” Shawn noted. “We’re offering, what I consider, a tremendous palette of colors which can help improve your life. But it requires you to first pick up the paintbrush,” he added, explaining the critical component of proactive energy clients bring on their own.

Inspired to earn an M.A. in acupuncture from the University of Maryland’s Integrative Health program, Marie has been practicing since 2017.

Shawn has extensively practiced and taught yoga, which he discovered during the aftermath of his 20-year-old daughter’s death by suicide.

“It’s no mystery to anyone who’s experienced severe grief, but there’s an actual physical pain involved, like a constant weight on your chest and your shoulders,” he said. “That’s the kind of unbearable weight I felt, like the world was going to just open up and swallow me. I had the urge to keep moving, and tried different exercises and yoga. I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time, but I felt better, mentally, after practicing yoga. I know a lot of people come to yoga seeking relief from a bad back, sciatica, or other physical ailments. I came through the mental health door.”.

Steve Butcher, a local Zen Buddhist monk, hosts a free, informal Monday Zen Meditation session, open to all. Among recent participants was a 92-year-old man, who was offered a chair for personal comfort, a hallmark of Fair Winds’ focus on welcoming, individualized and compassionate service.

A popular “Yoga & Acupuncture” session meets the last Sunday of each month at 9:30 a.m. featuring a mixed level yoga class followed by a 5-point acupuncture treatment given while participants rest in savasana (final resting pose).

Fair Winds has also featured special, transformative sound bathing sessions on several occasions, as well as several parent and youngster yoga classes.

“We’re really open to any suggestions people may have; if you have an idea for a class or workshop, bring it on,” Marie said.

“There are some modalities offered here that people still tend to keep on the back burner for

‘when I’m in pain’ or for when ‘I meet somebody who has that problem,’” Marie said. “But, you really don’t need a specific reason. Acupuncture, for instance, is so helpful, and so pervasive in bringing well being; you can have things resolved that you didn’t intentionally seek out.”

“Everyone starts this journey at a different place,” Shawn said.

“We knew, going in, that for most people, massage is the most recognizable, accessible service,” Marie added. “But once they come for that, they seem to want to try other things we offer.”

In her own case, she seems to recall first trying acupuncture treatment for an elbow (or other) injury, recalling it as “my ticket in the door, my initial reason.

“And then, it helped me on so many levels, more than any other therapy or physical modality, I realized ‘there’s something more to this, I need to know more.”

Now, she helps others discover that same truth. S

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