Experiencing the call to joint ministry, responding with integrative therapy

As Sister Eileen McKenzie and FSPA Affiliate Sharon Chavolla tell the story, their chance encounter on a sidewalk in La Crosse, Wis., two years ago must have been guided by spiritual involvement. A casual conversation between them gave way to the discovery of striking commonalities—a love of Mexico with respect for the local Hispanic community and commitment to social justice, as well as healing ministries in holistic medicine. When they both revealed discernment for growing their respective ministries and “awakening desire for joint ministry,” recalls Sister Eileen, “a partnership sounded like shared ministerial serendipity.”

Their common vision came to fruition in early 2010 with Sister Eileen’s Community Acupuncture and Sharon’s Wellspring of Peace Massage opening as an integrative therapy clinic in La Crosse’s Jackson Plaza. Just four months later they have fine tuned their cooperative business plan—working independently in the shared space (and referring back to each other) to provide group acupuncture, Maya Abdominal Massage and many other integrative therapy services to all members of the community on a sliding scale fee basis. The sign on the door advertises both businesses and by word of mouth alone, the venture is now operating at full capacity.

“Community acupuncture exemplifies the FSPA belief that relationships are important in the power of healing,” says Sister Eileen. For the past year she has committed herself to the ministry of caring for the FSPA at St. Rose Convent and Villa St. Joseph on an individual and group basis, and she also provides group acupuncture treatments to cancer patients and their caregivers through a ground-breaking partnership with Franciscan Skemp Healthcare. She sees the individual acupuncture market as saturated in the current health care setting and the practice of community acupuncture as a growing part of a social justice movement that’s here to stay. “The goal is to provide access to affordable care while securing a living wage for acupuncturists.” The benefit to her clients—those suffering from pain, anxiety, menopause, addiction and other health and wellness issues—is the opportunity to experience the comfort of healing together with family and friends.

Massage, herbs and plants, and prayer: these three holistic healing tools are incorporated into one of Sharon’s offerings—the ancient practice of Maya Abdominal Massage. Sharon traveled to a jungle in Belize to study the Arvigo Technique method with renowned naprapathic physician Rosita Arvigo, who herself apprenticed under a legendary Mayan shaman. The noninvasive practice can balance the physical, emotional and spiritual elements surrounding a woman’s core—the uterus—and work to realign abdominal organs, restore healthy blood flow, alleviate symptoms of common maladies like PMS and ovarian cysts and even aid in the prevention of cervical and uterine cancer. Sharon also reports a 30 percent success rate for women experiencing infertility. “I am now working with a woman who, after three miscarriages, is in her fifteenth week of pregnancy.” She says that abdominal massage can even help men experiencing prostate problems.

“For me,” says Sharon, “Maya Abdominal Massage is a way of life, of spirituality, of blessing.” She serves FSPA as an integrative therapy provider (including geriatric massage) for the Villa sisters and as a prayer partner, and says that when she enters the Adoration Chapel for her hour of prayer she carries with her those she ministers to through massage. “I really appreciate working with Sister Eileen in a Franciscan venture enveloped in the spirit of Francis and Clare, and it’s wonderful to be a part of an FSPA ministry. I’ll do whatever I can to support them.”

Both Sharon and Sister Eileen intend to expand their respective ministries and their commitments to FSPA and the La Crosse community—Sharon by teaching integrative health and self-care education classes at the clinic (a mission to “empower women to heal their minds and bodies,” says Sister Eileen) and Sister Eileen, who together with the VA Medical Center in Tomah, Wis., is working to instate a program that provides acupuncture treatment to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Community Acupuncture and Wellspring of Peace Massage is located at 1011 East Ave. S. in La Crosse. Call 608-738-6372 or visit www.fspacommunityacupuncture.com.