About Lena
Lena DeGloma (née Posner) is a NY State Licensed Massage Therapist and a Certified Birth Doula. She specializes in pre/postnatal and labor support massage as well as therapeutic deep tissue work for people with chronic pain and injuries. She approaches her clients from a holistic perspective and regularly integrates herbal medicine, essential oils, hydrotherapy and cupping therapy into her work. She gives talks and teaches workshops on natural pregnancy care, childbirth options, and labor support massage for couples. She has supervised student massage clinics, taught massage courses and written prenatal massage curriculum at Queensborough Community College in Bayside and the Finger Lakes School of Massage in Ithaca. Before moving to Park Slope she lived and practiced massage in Ithaca, NY.
Education & Training
Lena studied massage therapy at the Finger Lakes School of Massage in Ithaca, NY and at The New Dawn Center in San Isidro, Costa Rica. She is a New York State Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) and Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCTMB). She studied herbal medicine at The New Dawn Center in Costa Rica and at the Heartstone Herbal School in Van Etten, NY. Lena is a Certified Doula (CD), trained by homebirth midwife and educator Susanrachel Condon of Niara Healing Arts. She is currently training as a Childbirth Educator through the Childbirth Education Association of Metropolitan NY. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) with Highest Honors in Psychology and Women’s & Gender Studies from Rutgers University in New Jersey. While at Rutgers she also studied French language and literature in Paris, France and regional politics in Zagreb, Croatia.
Given her background, she looks at health and wellness through many lenses. She takes into account the physical, emotional, social, energetic, and spiritual levels. She is a continual student, especially within the healing arts, and so her practice is constantly expanding to include various new modalities so that she can approach her clients from a more holistic perspective. She plans to pursue a master of science in clinical herbal medicine starting January 2013.
Before her work in the healing arts...
Lena worked as a coordinator of a peer education program on issues of gender-based violence and on a domestic violence response team. She also directed a variety of community-based campaigns in New Brunswick, NJ where she worked on issues relating to democracy, human rights, education, anti-war work, and a variety of other local issues. She also lived and worked on organic farms and sustainable eco-villages in Costa Rica where she studied tropical herbal medicine, organic gardening and permaculture principles, holistic health, nutrition, massage therapy, and Spanish language.
Other Interests
When she has some free time she plays guitar, makes jewelry, draws mandalas with oil pastels, crochets, and makes herbal concoctions. She also loves traveling, hiking, kayaking, camping, horseback riding, skiing, practicing yoga, and cooking and baking.