New shop promotes massage with a focus on self-care

Oksana Rahbari is not a typical massage therapist. Her goal in opening Therapeutic Touch was not just to give excellent massages for people looking to heal, but to have them understand how they can experience new, necessary forms of personal wellness.

“I want to expose people, to teach people to take care of themselves,” Rahbari said.

Rahbari, of East Moriches, has been doing massage therapy for two years at a local gym, when she decided to open her own space this summer. She held the grand opening for her studio at 493 Montauk Highway in East Moriches on Sept. 22. Before that, she was a stay-at-home mother for nine years. Rahbari is a licensed massage therapist, and is licensed in massage cupping (a long-used service recently made popular by Michael Phelps), and manual lymphatic drainage.

When she was young, Rahbari had a bad experience going to get a massage. Her goal in her work is to not let that happen for others. She turns her service into a personal experience, listening to the client and steering them toward whichever type of method would bring them the healing they are looking for. 

She has seen the positive results of massage, and attributes her own health and well-being to the fact that she has learned how the practice can be helpful. She wants people to be aware of how taking care of yourself is just as important as it is for non-living things like our houses, cars, etc. 

“You have to take care of yourself now, before things start breaking down,” she said.

Rahbari plans to expand her practice to include collaborations on other wellness services. She wants to bring in someone who can do acupuncture, someone who can teach yoga techniques and more. She’d also like to establish personal wellness workshops to give people the tools they need to practice self-care. 

Therapeutic Touch Massage Therapy & Wellness can be found at 493 Montauk Highway, East Moriches. Call 516-508-0606 for more information or to set up an appointment.