Nick Pavoldi is an Advanced Rolfer and licensed massage therapist.

I went to Massage school in 1995 in Tampa, Florida with the Suncoast School of Massage. It was the day after my 18th birthday and it was the start of an adventure for me. At the time I thought it was something I would do while I was in college to make extra money. But it was something I was pretty good at, and I found some early success at a new spa by John Claude Smille in Stuyvesant Plaza.

I enjoy the work, but I felt that it was more than what I was doing. I began to explore different modalities and see that there was a whole other world out there to Massage called Bodywork. Bodywork uses soft tissue techniques to improve function. Techniques are as varied as the stars and may be deep or gentle. Massage as a tool of relaxation, recovery and rejuvenation is scientifically proven to improve stress, mood and recovery.

I’ve heard that Rolfing hurts, and after I had tried everything for a knee injury I had from running, I decided to give it a try. It was unlike any work that I had ever had. It was like somehow he knew what my structural body was asking for, even though I had no idea how to express it. By the fourth session, my knee pain was gone. By the 10th I had a new career in front of me. This was in 1999 and I had invested in the stock market bubble at that time and made $7,900 — exactly the tuition I needed to begin my training at the Guild for Structural Integration in Kauai, Hawaii.

A few months later I woke up at a training center on Kahuna Road in Kapaa, Kauai. My teachers Hutchins and Nilcie Silvera introduced me to a world of bodywork that I was totally suspicious of. Emmett was unlike anyone I’d ever met. He looked like Yoda, lived in the jungle, was in fact very wise, mythical and had unforgettably magic hands. They were the thunder, lightning and the long low grumble after.

What I began to see was that the Guild for Structural Integration was teaching the work of structural integration — or Rolfing — in the way that Ida Rolf would teach it with one of her teachers. Ida Rolf was a force of nature, not only in her insight into addressing the fascial system as a form of structural change, but in the logical rhythm and progression as a template that when conducted is effective and efficient.

The 10 series is still the bedrock of all the work I do. Nothing is as effective as the 10 series to promote change and support your body’s natural healing system.

I began practicing on my own in 2001 out of my home in Schenectady. By 2003 I was an established solo practitioner. By 2005 Bodywork Professionals was more than just me — it was a collection of like-minded practitioners dedicated to their craft, with a business dedicated to providing them a way to practice, earn a good living, and grow in their trade.

In 2012 I opened my second office in Saratoga Springs. We opened the Niskayuna office with Amy Alcaide as a partner in March 2020 — just kidding, we were open for 4 days. We opened in July of 2020 and have found Niskayuna a welcoming community.

My wife Chanel and I are blessed by five children: Poppy, Everest, Rafaela, Ophelia, and my stepson Reily.

Email Nick AT BodyworkProfessionals.com