Dolphin-inspired
Jeanne Russell
By Jeanne Russell
Owner of Dolphin Touch Wellness Center
Tell us about your business. I own Dolphin Touch Wellness Center located in Kapa’a. It’s a center for the enrichment of body, mind and spirit. Everything we do is inspired by the energy and vibration of the dolphin. We empower each practitioner who works here to grow and develop his or her own business, such as acupuncture or Pilates. And we are here to serve the needs of Kaua’i by providing a beautiful space for healing, transformation and illumination. There are a lot of healers on the island, and what’s nice about having this center is for them to have a place to showcase their work or have a place to work out of.
What services do you personally offer clients? What I do is Dolphin Touch, which is a combination of reiki energy work and bodywork. I use a water table to really relax people because the water totally supports the body and helps to put them in a relaxed state of mind.
What is reiki? For example, if you have pain in your elbow, what that is blocked energy; the energy is not flowing freely through the meridians. The energy comes out through my hands as I’m touching you and pushes through those blockages so that the energy can flow freely. Massage can make you feel good physically, but the reiki and the energy work goes through the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body, so that it’s a more comprehensive approach to healing rather than just a physical approach to healing.
What else do you offer at the center? We have a number of free events to help people on their path. These are some tough times we’re going through for a lot of people, and it’s just nice to know that there’s a place you can come to and maybe take a class and maybe do a meditation or get a healing session. Your life doesn’t have to be difficult or hard. There are people out there to help.
What kind of products do you sell? In our gift shop area we have a lot of jewelry that’s made on the island. We also sell crystals and books, many of which were written by people on the island. I’ve also created meditation CDs that help the mind to relax.
What is the significance of dolphins? The dolphin always has been a special being to me ever since my childhood, even though I grew up in New York and the closest dolphin was at the aquarium. I ended up doing my master’s thesis at the New York Aquarium on the nursing behavior of beluga whales, and I got to see a beluga whale give birth and really connected with the marine animal kingdom, and I have just been loving dolphins ever since. When you’re swimming with them, it’s like time stops and you’re just being transported into this other world.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your business? There are so many of those. But I guess having so many people come in who leave here feeling whole and healthy and a new person. Just seeing the transformation in people who have gone through the treatment.
How do you measure success? The modern world is about profit, so you measure success by whether you are able to stay open and profitable in business. But that’s only one aspect of it. I measure success by repeat customers – the people who return that have an experience and they liked what they experience and they come back.
What motivates you to get up and go to work every day? It’s easy. Just being here, knowing that every day is a new adventure. You never have the same experiences day-in and day-out. It’s always a wonderful connection with people. I’m a people person; I love to connect with people and love to hear their stories – it’s always different. You never know who’s going to walk through that door.
