“I didn’t want to be a massage therapist; I wanted to be a healer.” Those words said by Skip Kanester, Instructor of Tui Na at IPSB College of Massage & Integrative Health, made Oscar Arce perk up. For 26 years Arce ran his own carpet cleaning business. When the economy took a downturn, he pondered other careers. Even after starting classes at IPSB College he wondered, “What am I doing in massage school? I have an interest in massage, but a career?”

While taking classes, Arce noticed he was drawn to the Eastern modalities of touch. During this time Kanester offered Arce some advice: “If someone’s goal is to be a healer, as opposed to a therapeutic bodyworker, a traditional source system like tui na and Traditional Chinese Medicine is a great place to start.”  Arce also studied Jin Shin Acutouch with instructor Barbara Clark.

Arce’s wife, Laura, had been suffering with extreme pre-menopause symptoms and Celiac Sprue.  Arce wanted to help ease his wife’s suffering, so he took what he learned from school and blended smoothies learned in the “Food as Medicine” class. Within three weeks her red blood cell count was 12.5—up from 6. He then combined tui na with Jin Shin Acutouch.

Today, Laura has none of her presenting symptoms. From a hunch that massage school might be a place to explore a career, to understanding the power of touch in healing, Arce now has a new career objective of opening a clinic which will focus on helping clients eliminate food allergies. And it all started with the words: “I wanted to be a healer.”

Location: 9025 Balboa Avenue, Ste. 130, San Diego. For more information, contact Chance Billmeyer at 858-505-1100 or [email protected], or visit ipsb.edu.