Under a bank of windows on the second floor of 945 Great Plain Ave. sits an unassuming sign for Blue Lotus Healing Arts. You might miss it. But if you venture upstairs, you will find a quiet sanctuary offering services such as acupuncture, massage therapy and yoga tucked away from the bustle of the street below.
On Sunday, Nov. 2, Blue Lotus will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an open house. “This is all about a big thank you,” said owner Kirsten Allen. “This is why we are excited to celebrate 10 years. We really want to formally thank everyone who has been through it with us through thick and thin.”
Longtime friends, roommates and studio cofounders Allen and Kathleen Krivak have known each other for nearly 30 years. Practitioners of five-element acupuncture and Buddhist meditation, the two provided treatment out of their home in Newton for several years before deciding it was time to do more.
“We needed a space for people to move,” said Allen. Needham had not only the right space but also the right vibe. “What was notable for us in Needham was that New Leaf was here. We love that place. Then Stacey’s Juicebar moved in and we were like, ‘Ok, this is a good wellness space, good energy.’”
After building out the space with two studios and a separate area for private treatment rooms, Blue Lotus opened its doors in the fall of 2015. Over time, they’ve added a variety of workshops: reiki, nutritional support, and recently, Tarot Tuesdays.
Karen Kuwayti, who often attends two classes a week, found Blue Lotus right before the pandemic. She said she wants more people to learn about it and know there’s another wellness option in Needham. “It’s great to have this in the center of town,” she said. “It’s part of the vibrancy, and I want to shop local. You don’t know that there’s this amazing space in here, then you walk through the door and it’s like this zen, informal atmosphere. It’s bright, clean, open, accessible and welcoming.”
Like Kuwayti, once people find the studio, they come back. “We have incredible loyalty,” said Allen.”It’s a very fulfilling space and practice, and I’m very grateful that we’re here and very grateful we get to do the work we do.”
In a town with many young families and professionals, Allen, Krivak and their team have helped with conception and pregnancy, relationships, vocational transitions and worked with people through many other life changes using methods such as acupuncture and energy healing. Krivak, who is trained in the Lakota native traditions and Celtic traditions of shamanic work — something she said she doesn’t advertise — said people find her and travel for healing treatments.
“As a yoga teacher, what’s interesting about the availability to do workshops is that as a teacher, you can do something you’re really passionate about,” said Ellen O’Hara, who joined Blue Lotus last year and is also the studio manager. “That’s something that really drew me. Workshops can be anything: physical yoga, sound journeys, energy healing, breathwork. We’re flexible. We can make things happen.”
“We’re in tremendous change,” said Allen. “The ohm is all about unity, and this is the healing we need. We need to heal the fragmentation, remember each other, remember who we are together on the mat. With all of this change, there is stress and there is exhaustion. This is where people come to breathe. And with breath, there is space.”
And why a blue lotus?
“It’s a metaphor for life itself,” said Krivak. “The lotus represents the ability of a person to start off in a place that’s maybe unhappy and come out into the light because the lotus itself starts in the muddy waters of the pond and into the light.” And blue is the color of the throat chakra, which is associated with speaking one’s truth.
Sunday’s celebration will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and features four free half-hour yoga classes, three short talks, food from community sponsors and a raffle for several prizes including massage and acupuncture services. The talks are open to all, but anyone interested in a yoga class should register online.
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