I am Kara Skye Bookwalter, an educator, learner, leader, nurturer, and adventurer. My primary goal in life is to affect a ripple on the world through being and reflecting the person I desire to see. As an educator and learner, I accept and promote the reality that there is endless knowledge to be found – I seek it and I share it with those who will listen. Through bodywork I nurture my community and facilitate self-healing, leading my clients through the journey of living consciously within their own bodies and achieving better movement. Adventuring and learning go hand in hand – I make effort to immerse myself in my physical community and discover the multitude of resources available. I find great joy in connecting the dots, creating a web of exchanging energy, and uncovering otherwise unknown treasures for myself and others.
Through a series of changing majors at Indiana University and acceptance of gifts shared with me by my mother (herself an LMT at Body Be Wellness in Valparaiso, IN), I recognized that my greatest potential to affect a better world is through massage, putting my power directly in my hands. By providing space for clients to relax and making room in their tissues to move better, I clear paths for embodying a myriad of goals, thereby affecting a ripple of peace and progression.
In 2019, I joined the team of educators leading the Therapeutic Massage program at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington. There my ripple of change grows by cultivating skills in new Massage Therapy students. Because my energy is limited and I cannot work with every body in my community, I recognize the importance of having my hands in the soil of the growing field of Massage Therapy.
When I am not doing this work, I can be found practicing yoga, gardening, hiking around the expansive Hoosier National Forest, or enjoying my cozy and creative home with my cats and my partner.
QUALIFICATIONS & CONTINUING EDUCATION
Indiana Professional License: MT21706052
Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP) Member: 1151541
Internship, That’s the Rub Massage Therapy Center, Autumn 2016
Associates of Applied Science Clinical & Therapeutic Massage, Harrison College, May 2017
Reiki Level I, Ahmu Feyrer, August 2017
Pelvic Anatomy for Prenatal and Postpartum Professionals, Melissa Larimer, November 2017
Nurturing the Mother: Spa Pregnancy Massage, Christine Costianes, April 2018
Reiki Level II, Annie Patrick Beuchlein, July 2019
Abdominal Therapy for Professionals 1, Beth Ann Townsend, October 2021
Professional Mentorship, Melissa Larimer, November 2021-present
Centering Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in [Bodywork] Practices, Shana Chivon, February 2022
Abdominal Therapy for Professionals 2, Beth Ann Townsend, June 2022
Nurturing the Mother: Educator Training, Claire Marie Miller, August 2022
QPR Suicide Prevention Training, Chris Stadler, October 2022
4th Trimester Team Volunteer Training, Unitarian Universalist Church, April 2023
PLANT as PORTAL Herbal Apprenticeship, Indiana Herbal Center, April-October 2023
Abdominal Therapy for Professionals: Prenatal through Postpartum, Rosita Arvigo & Beth Ann Townsend, June 2024