Licensed Massage Therapist in Tampa

Rachel Garcia is a Florida Licensed Massage Therapist, and has been practicing massage therapy for nearly two decades. A recent transplant to Tampa from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Rachel earned a Bachelors degree in Movement Science from the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology in 2013. Alongside her schooling and freelance massage work, Rachel has dedicated herself to the study and practice of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga in the tradition of K Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India.

Formal Yoga Apprenticeship

A student of yoga for nearly 20 years, Rachel has practiced Ashtanga since 2010 under the close guidance of her teacher, Angela Jamison. Angela guided Rachel’s development as a teacher of classical Ashtanga yoga through a formal apprenticeship that lasted 5 years and thousands of classroom hours. Rachel has made four long trips to India to study yoga, the three most recent to Mysore, where she studied Ashtanga at KPJAYI.

Massage Therapy Education

Rachel went to massage school in her home town of St George Utah. She completed the Sensory Development Institute's 706-hour massage therapy program in April of 2001. During her second and third stays in Mysore, Rachel spent the afternoons learning from her Indian massage therapy teachers. Widely known as The Three Sisters, Harini, Shashikala, and Akka have used their gifts to nourish generations of yoga student-pilgrims in Mysore. Harini and Shashikala learned Chavutti Thirumal massage from their grandmother, and Rachel is one of a small handful of people who the sisters have taken as a student of their craft. Rachel practices Chavutti Thirumal – South Indian Barefoot Massage, exclusively, and she derives immense joy from sharing this work with others.

Rachel invests in herself as a student by practicing yoga daily, and by returning to Ann Arbor and Mysore annually to continue learning from her teachers.