EASTHAMPTON — In celebration of its one-year anniversary, Sisu Wellness Center is hosting a Mind Body Spirit Expo at its 40 Maine Ave. location on Sunday, June 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The event is free admission and Sisu Wellness owner Natasha Perrone said the public is invited to stop by to learn about the budding hub for mind, body and spirit wellness connections.
“We’re in a residential area so I’ve had people that live down the road not know we are here from the outside,” said Perrone on the center’s location. “I’ve heard over and over from people coming that this is a hidden gem so we wanted to celebrate being there for a year and offer this big expo so that people from all over can come and check it out.”
The event will celebrate one year of Sisu Wellness and its mission of empowering individuals to take control of their health and wellness through education, support and personalized care. Perrone has practiced Reiki for over 15 years and was doing part-time work with clients throughout Hampshire County.
“I’ve don’t a lot of training. I’ve trained in a lot of different modalities, different types of Reiki. I’ve always kept it affordable and didn’t raise my rates for 14 and a half years. I built up a steady clientele,” Perrone said.
Eventually Perrone came across the center’s current property a year ago and went forward in creating Sisu Wellness Center, a home for her work and others in wellness.
“I was able to build my business through word of mouth. People in the area really spread the word to family and friends when they find something of value for them, so it really just spread,” Perrone said.
Perrone explained with the center she rents out rooms inside to other people running similar wellness businesses, which in turn has created a wellness hub at the location in Easthampton.
“They can charge what they want, take their own payments, but they’re part of a community,” Perrone said. “People have a multitude of wellness needs so I wanted to create this space where people can go and have access to many different services.”
Another main focus was the incorporation of mental health with the healing arts. They have two full-time mental health therapists at the center as well as various talents in the healing arts including massages, Reiki and reflexology.
“I really wanted to create a comprehensive, well-rounded, one-stop-shop for people to come for their wellness needs,” Perrone said.
The location also features a warehouse that has become a community Zen Den for frequenters of the wellness center. Through this portion of the center, they run other events like jewelry making, craft classes, yoga, pilates and more.
Perrone added her staff features high quality talent, including a Tibetan massage therapist who is a medically trained Tibetan doctor.
“The main focus of Sisu is to keep everything affordable,” Perrone said. “I wanted to make a place for experiential learning again. Where people can learn and have experiences in person.”
The celebratory Mind Body Spirit Expo will be on site inside the warehouse and the entire property will be open for people to walk around and explore what Sisu Wellness Center has to offer. The day will feature demonstrations, free chair massages, free samples of products, sweepstakes and more.
Perrone said there will also be opportunities for people to speak with some of the staff within the Sisu Wellness Center and learn more about what offerings are available for them.
Also featured in the expo will be eight local vendors on hand with Feel Good Shop Local, a local online shopping site that helps independent businesses sell their products. Perrone explained she previously sold some of her organic products through the online store and had built a connection with the owners leading to this opportunity.
“Local artists and creators apply to be part of them and it’s really just built from there. It’s a one-stop checkout and people can go online and shop up to 72 artists now,” Perrone explained. “So far, we have eight artists coming from Feel Good Shop Local. They’ll build a little set in my Zen Den, and people can come by and support local artists. That’s a big thing for me too, supporting local people and helping get the word out there.”
Perrone added that the center and the expo celebration are in the same spirit of her passion to bring people together and create community.
“We just want to get people to come out and meet some of the top-notch practitioners in their field who have landed at Sisu. Everybody has an individual business, but we’re a community at Sisu,” Perrone said.
To learn more about Sisu Wellness Center, its wellness offerings or the expo, visit sisuwellnesscetner.com.
Perrone said she is very much looking forward to the expo celebration and hopes to see Sisu’s status as the wellness hub of Hampshire County continue to grow as more people learn about their offerings.
“I think it’s only up from here. I’m so pleased at the growth of the business. Like I said, for me, the biggest thing is the quality of practitioners that have joined. As far as the event, we want to let the world know we’re here,” Perrone added.
