Ramona Healing Arts
Ramona Allen is a painting artist in Gorham, Maine.
“I got inspired to begin painting during the winter of 2020. It was a hard one for me, I was struggling with some seasonal depression. The days were short and dark and I needed something to brighten up my days, I needed some stress relief. Being in the health and wellness field, I decided to like practice what I preach to my clients: that you need to take time to take care of yourself and do something that you enjoy. I decided to invest in painting. It’s something that I'd always had an interest in but I'd never taken the time really to invest in the materials.”
Photos by: Zach St. Ward
Ramona is so thankful she took the leap last winter because soon after she had to put her reflexology practice on pause for COVID and had lots of time during the quarantine. I was so interested to learn more about Ramona’s career in reflexology. “It is when you use your hands to apply pressure to the reflex points that are located in primarily the hands and the feet. And it has lots of health benefits. Mainly, my practice was focused on stress relief and also as an adjunct to therapy for people struggling with PTSD. It works on the nervous system and it really helps other forms of therapy to function better.” - Ramona.
Ramona studied psychology in college and focuses on crisis and trauma counseling. She has set out to be a trauma and crisis counselor and that led her to practicing reflexology. It calms the nervous system opening the door for other treatments to work.
Photo by: Zach St. Ward
She had a full schedule before the pandemic, seeing 15-20 clients a week. She shares that she was glad she picked up painting as giving all of her energy outward was taking a toll on her mental health. Painting was like self care. She never considered painting professionally or creating anything that would be sellable. Who knew that not long after, her reflexology space would turn into her very own gallery.
Photo by: Zach St. Ward
“As far as the healing arts go, you know, I really did miss that connection that I had with my clients. Yeah, not being able to connect with them hands on, not knowing how long I would be good again, and missing that connection. So originally, Ramona Allen healing arts was my Instagram feed for my reflexology practice. And I would post different things relating to health and wellness, mostly with holistic or alternative medicine. So I began to share my artwork on there thinking that it might inspire someone else maybe to explore their creativity, not thinking that it would be something that would move into a career with sellable art.”
Ramona’s art began bringing joy, hope and light to everyone in a dark time. People began reaching out to her and sharing what they experienced through viewing reach piece. This gave her back the connection she was missing from having clients. What I've heard from others who know Ramona is that she is great with listening to their stories. She takes their story and turns it into a piece of art.
Photo by: Zach St. Ward
I asked Ramona if being in Maine has helped her business. “Maine has kind of like a nationwide appeal. And I talk about the fact that Maine seemed like a foreign land before I go, there's something about it. That just draws the interest. When I have done traveling, it's really neat to talk to other people and see their reaction when they find out that I'm from Maine. People like to buy from Maine.” - Ramona
I was so glad to finally have Ramona join me for an episode of the Makers of the USA Podcast! Listen to this episode to hear all about Ramona’s work in painting and reflexology!
View & shop Ramona’s work here: https://ramonaallenhealingarts.com/
Thank you to Town & Country for sponsoring this episode.