About Jessica Libero Edwards, LMT

Jessica attended The Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy in Westport and in 2006 completed the Clinical Program: a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, 1048-hour, 2-year program.  She is licensed to practice therapeutic massage and bodywork in CT and NY, is a member of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), is Nationally Certified by the Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork, and is a contributor on the AMTA’s Peer Review Board for The Massage Therapy Journal. 

Jessica is an Usui Reiki Ryoho Master Teacher and has been practicing Reiki since 2004.  Her lineage is directly linked back to Mrs. Hawayo Takata, the first known Reiki practitioner and teacher in the U.S.,  and Dr. Mikao Usui, the first known teacher and documentor of the healing system.

Jessica continues to deepen her love and respect for the study of anatomy, assessment, and bodywork through varied continuing education courses annually.  She also stays abreast of current research and trends in the field so she can provide the best possible practices available.

"I believe in integrating my education of the therapies along with yoga while using my intuition as my guide.  I have seen the best results from my clients from this method--incorporating modalities and assesment techniques--and they have a sustained mode for healing and health."

Jessica has been practicing yoga for ten years and is a Forrest Yoga and a Yin Yoga Teacher.  She attended a Forrest Yoga class after trusting her gut one day while reading Ana Forrest’s personal journey.  It was that first Forrest class where Jessica decided to one day take the Forrest Yoga Foundation Teacher Training which she completed in July 2009 with Ana Forrest at Fresh Yoga.  Jessica is currently enrolled in the Forrest Yoga Mentoring Program.

"Forrest Yoga is a fabulously rich practice that is safe, fun, invigortating, challenging, and what I've always described as "the yoga that really gets in there."  What Ana has implemented in her style is not only a fascinating physical workout but a deeply emotional and spiritual practice that that can bring about true transformation."

Jessica also completed the Yin Yoga Teacher Training in March 2009 with Josh Summers at Back Bay, Boston.  The integrative quality of yoga, meditation, and Traditional Chinese Medicine fit in ideally with the work she already does.  Although a meditation practitioner for several years, it wasn't until practicing Yin that she was able to really sit still, relax, and be truly present in her body during contemplative times.

"Watching the mind while being in a pose for several minutes, that is such blessing to me.  Finally, somebody came along and taught me a different way of meditation that included using my body, which I was so cut off from for most of my life."

Merging her deep love for and knowledge of therapeutic massage and bodywork into her Forrest and Yin Yoga classes, Jessica provides attentive hands on assists and compassionate, purposeful touch.  Students recovering from trauma, addictions, abuse, and anxiety benefit greatly from Jessica’s dynamic and spiritual classes.  Jessica weaves the intelligence of anatomy, the flow of breath, the vivacity of massage and acupressure, and the awareness of meditation together in order to help one begin to discover a new and beautiful path to freedom. 

“A passion of mine is to guide my students through the sacred process and exploration of harnessing their own potential for healing—using the breath to experience the body in its most accurate state: the here and now, which often leads them to feel something real for the first time.  This is my passion because this is what happened for me through the practice of Forrest and Yin Yoga."

Jessica received her BA in English Literature with a Concentration in Creative Writing from Connecticut College.  She is a published poet, a visual artist, and a narrative nonfiction writer.