Sara Griscom, LMT – Proprietor

Intuitive Healing, Reiki Healer, Bodywork & Massage Therapy, Intuitive Consultation, & Reiki Master Teacher

Born on Saint Peter and St. Paul’s feast day in Malaga, Spain and raised in her early life in central Mexico with paternal ties to Maine and maternal ties to upper East Tennessee. Sara Xochitl Griscom never doubted the path that led her around the Earth in search of appropriately specialized tools for her innate gifts. When questioned for her reasons for offering her renown work as a healer in Knoxville, TN, of all the possible and potentially more lucrative cities she could have chosen, she often offers no more than a smile, with the simple explanation that “the wind blew me here”.

Griscom graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1990 Summa Cum Laude with a bachelors in psychology and anthropology, a minor in Spanish, and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She continued on to Tulane University working towards a Doctorate in Ethnomedicine with a concentration in Mayan midwives and was accepted into a program that immersed her in a remote Guatemalan villages for linguistics research.

While there, Griscom was embraced by the indigenous people, who immediately revered her as a Shaman- though the role was not among her scope of pursuits. Oxlajuj Tijax, the healer for the region, stayed close to her during her residency and surrounded her with increasingly less and less subtle hints and as to the nature of her gifts. Eventually expressing deep remorse and pained grief as her plans stayed consistent with academia, Oxlajuj Tijax eventually explained to Griscom that she was, regardless of her wishes, required to follow the path of a traditional medicine woman, and that her life would be made difficult, if not completely endangered, otherwise- a truth he knew from his own attempt to avoid his role as the Shaman.

Griscom continued her research and recording of the Mayan language for four consecutive years, and spent her spare time abroad engrossed in training with Mayan midwives, learning traditional bodywork techniques, and permaculture practices. Upon completion of her graduate work, she returned to the South East, attended massage school, and studied with Ina Mae Gaskin, known as the Matriarch of Midwives, at The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee. Soon after, Griscom accepted a position as the co-director of the Mayan studies program at Tulane and was offered a FLAS scholarship for publishing her research. Not long after returning to Guatemala for her new career, however, Griscom became the sole victim of an isolated explosion, implemented by a stranger in a small village, and suffered a ruptured eardrum that left her stranded at her altitude and contained to a hotel room away from wind and noise, for months of painful healing. By what was medically deemed a miracle, she recovered 98% of her hearing.

Soon after being cleared to board a plane, Griscom flew home and was immediately presented with an opportunity to work with Habitat For Humanity in India. Taking all of her immunizations in one day, she boarded yet another plane- this time, pointed East. Again, Griscom’s work became a means for her to immerse herself in the local culture’s traditions, healing techniques, and studies with esteemed teachers. She eventually found her way to the Mustang region of the Himalayas on the border of Tibet- deemed insane by tourists’ standards of preparation for going into the mountains with no more than a wool sweater, gloves, and blanket, Griscom successfully sought out the only midwife for the region, and was accepted by the local hospital to be the midwife’s assistant. With tumult growing within the Nepali government, however, the process for Griscom’s paperwork to clear was put on hold, and she returned to her base in India. Before leaving India again, Griscom learned traditional palmistry, traditional Indian temple dance, studied with Buddhist healers, studied traditional Indian music from a sarod Guru, and, perhaps most significantly, was emphatically inspired to create a center for healing arts that would foster the deep spiritual, traditional, and interconnected ways of life and healing that she had come to experience first hand on her journeys.

Upon returning to the States in 2001, Griscom opened Gypsy Hands Healing Arts on North Central Street in Knoxville, Tennessee and has been continuing her studies, teaching the many who come to her for ancient knowledge, healing people in many types of pain and fostering a healthier community since.

Griscom’s long list of highly esteemed and divinely connected teachers and mentors – beyond those she worked with in Guatemala and India- include Dr. Mona Lisa Schulz, Bobby Drinnon, Zoe Jakes, Rachel Brice, Onça Baraka Mundi, Iris Waimania Davis, Ojasvin Kingi Davis, Kathleen McGowan, and, perhaps most notably, Atarangi Muru, Manu, and “Papa Joe”, Johepa de la Mare- traditional Maori healers who traveled to Griscom’s Gypsy Hands Healing Arts center in Knoxville, Tennessee over a decade ago- purely by their own accord, to train Griscom in their techniques of the deepest form of bodywork practiced by any culture.

Griscom is the only person in the Western Hemisphere with their knowledge, training, and blessings. They continue to visit annually.

Griscom has more recently been asked to carry on teachings and practice of the Haka, a sacred, traditional Maori dance.

As Gypsy Hands Healing Arts, Sara Griscom now been in practice for over 19 years and offers traditional bodywork, energy work, traditional dance instruction, intuitive consultation, reiki instruction, past-life regression hypnotherapy, health and nutritional counseling, mentoring, midwife and hospice services, and provides space for healers and educators from all over the world to share their knowledge and light.

Offerings

Sara Griscom LMT, proprietor, created Gypsy Hands Healing Arts over 19 years ago in Knoxville, TN to have a place from which to offer her gifts as a Healer to our community- both locally and globally.
She is available for appointments at Gypsy Hands during the week, and hosts world renown Healers, scientists, and educators often throughout the year.
While Gypsy Hands is “home base”, Sara does regularly travel to see clients in other cities. Please call with any inquiries around Sara’s travel schedule.

All sessions are scheduled by 60, 90, and 120 minutes.

Intuitive Consultation
Sara’s gift of second sight has been with her since birth, and translates to the full spectrum of the senses. Her path as a traditional Healer allows her to use these gifts in a deeply individualized, compassionate and concise way. Her academic honors and achievements in psychology and ethnomedicine carry the integrity of her dedication and respect for the unique services she offers.

Maori Massage* & Bodywork
The healing bodywork that Sara provides has roots in many different cultural, spiritual, and traditional sciences. Sara has been appointed to carry on the legacy of Maori Healing through her work at Gypsy Hands, which is an esteemed honor that she alone holds in the United States, and that very few others do otherwise.
Maori bodywork techniques include the deepest tissue work that our bodies are physically capable of, which enables the Healer to release the energy of unhealthy genetic material in DNA and of negative experiences that contribute to the creation of unhealthy genetic material before they manifest physically.
Maori techniques address our physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies, and the strength of this work is felt on each of these levels.

Sara utilizes her complete array of healing bodywork techniques for successful fertility**, to support those with life-threatening illnesses, pre-operative and post-operative care, chronic pain, the correction of issues that promote both chronic pain (physical and emotional) and symptoms of associated illnesses. Of course, Sara’s clients also boast the benefits that all methods of bodywork provide: pain relief, endorphin release, restoration, relaxation, and detoxification.

Reiki
Reiki is a Japanese method of energy healing that activates the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Reiki energy is of a high, pure vibration and is transmitted through the body like a conduit from our universal energy source. Reiki energy flows first to the most depleted areas of concern as it circulates through both the physical body and the body’s subtle energetic fields. Reiki energy is wonderful for realigning what has fallen out of balance, restoring vitality to what has become weak, easing tension, instilling inner peace, promoting clarity and support in surpassing difficult journeys, both physically and on underlying energetic levels. Reiki has been extensively studied in the Western world, and is used in many of America’s leading hospitals to raise the count of healthy blood cells to speed up recovery time for patients and prevent relapse into illness.
Reiki therapy sessions traditionally last for 90 minutes.

Reiki Training***
Everyone is capable learning to receive and transmit Reiki energy. As a Reiki Master, Sara offers the most comprehensive, individualized, and experience-based training available. She teaches students in a one-on-one setting how to understand and maintain their own energy in a balanced, confident way, which is supported by her expanded curriculum of tools and educational material for each student’s personal transformation process. It is necessary for Reiki students to understand their own energy system in order to hold the energy of a higher vibration before Reiki can be made available for a recipient and, unlike many weekend workshops, group, or online classes, Sara ensures that her students are ready to progress in an authentic way that honors the original tradition of teaching and learning the art of Reiki. Gypsy Hands also offers a Reiki student support group for Sara’s students, past & present, at all levels of training.

Nutritional Consultation and Health Coaching
As a certified nutrition & health coach, Sara offers a structured program to analyze contributing factors of health and well-being to co-create a plan for achieving and maintaining the client’s most nourishing lifestyle. This program requires regular meetings so that all avenues of support are utilized in the individual’s path towards correcting habits that are no longer beneficial and in providing the client with a thorough education around practices for sustaining a healthier, more balanced body. Sara incorporates food nutrition, vitamin & herbal supplement education, plans for fitness routines & time management, and emotional support. This empowering program offers a deeper look at underlying triggers for areas of physical concern so that they may be understood, repaired, and realigned for a happier, healthier body.

Sara Griscom LMT is also available for the following:
Craniosacral Therapy
Past Life Regression
Personalized Mentoring***
Intuitive Consultations for Couples
Animal Reiki
Midwifery
Life Transition/Hospice Care

*There are significant differences between Sara’s offering of Maori bodywork and others in the United States (or otherwise) who may offer healing bodywork methods from this indigenous culture, the most crucial being that Sara was identified by Maori Elders who requested that she be trained by them to continue holding the legacy of their work. Some have chosen to abuse the sanctity of Maori Healing with what they’ve learned from the educational opportunities that Sara has provided at Gypsy Hands and introduced to the South Eastern region, and the motivation of any of these individuals to capitalize on the reputation of the Maori Healers is not only damaging to the integrity of Maori Healing work – it is also potentially dangerous for the clients who are unknowingly treated by unqualified therapists.

**Sara has studied under and trained extensively with Mayan midwives in Guatemala, Ina Mae Gaskin, her Maori Elders, and been employed by the Nepali government for the treatment of fertility issues and reproductive health.

***At least one Intuitive Consultation session is required before beginning training.

Please see our Events page for a comprehensive list of meetings, classes, and workshop opportunities available at Gypsy Hands.