By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
Regina Cruz fastens lights into place and turns on her lobby music, which she explains is a recording of singing bowls. Her arms go into motion as she demonstrates in the air how music is made when specially designed musical bowls are struck with a mallet.
“I chose singing bowls because they are known to have a relaxing and healing effect on people,” Regina explained. “I want people to come into my spa and right away feel the sense of being at peace.”
Speaking with her hands and a brilliant smile, Regina’s expressive, magnetic personality bursts out as she shares her story about her life and her passion for helping people reach their goals through her esthetician work or through her body massage treatments.
Regina Cruz, along with her husband Steven Harmon as her business partner, opened Total Body Niche in League City last fall. The first month didn’t go as planned because November 2023 brought some heavy rains, and a leak in the roof closed the spa for several weeks.
But out of the bad situation came a positive change of cabinets and countertops that blended perfectly with Regina’s vision for how her spa should look and feel to bring a total body feeling of relaxation and healing.
Shortly after meeting her husband, Regina shared with him her dream of owning her own spa.
“When I told him, he said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Regina shared.
She was a bit taken aback by his unwavering belief in her.
But he had no doubts.
“She’s a shining star and puts off a lot of energy. She had the passion and the intelligence. I knew she could do it, even if she didn’t fully believe in herself,” Regina’s husband said.
Though her surface-level confidence sometimes wavers, her internal confidence is strong, and she has known for almost her entire life she would one day go into some form of healing arts that would most likely be outside of the typical path.
She remembers a time as a child when a doctor drained fluid from her inflamed leg. Even with the treatment, her leg continued to be problematic. This led her grandmother to take little Regina down to a church near the Texas and Mexico border.
“I remember my grandma bringing me into an area with candles and photos of people pinned above the candles,” Regina shared. “Then my grandma pinned a photo of me with my bad leg next to the other photos. She said a prayer, and from then on, my leg really didn’t bother me anymore,”
She finished her story of healing and continued to share more about her grandmother’s ongoing love and profound influence in her life.
Reinga found her path into a massage therapy license as she was scrolling through internet job postings. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but she knew she wanted to get out and help people.
One of the jobs listed was posted by an individual who needed someone he could train to provide relief from the pain caused by several medical conditions, one of which was neuropathy. The catch was that he wanted deep tissue massages, and Regina at that time had no experience in massage therapy.
Though she had no experience, she reached out to the person who listed the ad, and after a face-to-face meeting, she agreed to begin training and working with him. She took quickly to the concept of using her hands with applied pressure to help alleviate the man’s pain.
“When I started, I just kept observing how he moved, how he would get up or how he would sit down and started to learn how I could best help him,” Regina explained.
Through her keen observations and willingness to learn, she realized she had a talent. Her client wanted to refer her to other people in need, but she knew the next step was getting a license so she could be an official massage therapist.
As fate would have it, while completing her yearly auto registration that year, she looked around the parking lot and saw a massage therapy school.
Regina didn’t hesitate. She went directly into the school and signed up. One certification wasn’t enough for her, so she also worked on becoming a licensed esthetician.
“I knew I wanted to provide a whole-body treatment plan to my future customers, and becoming an esthetician would allow me to achieve that goal,” Regina explained.
Regina was determined that one day, she would have her own private business, so while in training, she came up with a business name and logo for her future endeavors. And right out of training, she worked for several companies, all the while holding fast to her commitment to running her own business one day.
Today, at Total Body Niche, Regina offers clients her expertise as a massage therapist along with some wisdom. Her sessions begin with her instructing clients to select an intention and allow their minds to focus on their intention and stay present in the room rather than drifting off to their problems and worries.
If after working with a client she feels stretching will benefit the individual, she will make that suggestion and serve as their guide through stretching exercises.
Allison is a client who saw Total Body Niche while driving by and called for an appointment.
“I have sciatica and neck pain, and I know when it flares up, I have to get some relief,” Allison shared.
Allison’s first session was a massage. Then she went in for a stretching session and has since had another massage. She has plans for more sessions.
My body was so tight. The stretches felt so good,” Allison shared.
As her client base continues to grow, Regina sees the future of Total Body Niche in the historic area of League City as being bright.
“Everything is just clicking here, and I love it that everyone is just so kind and helpful,” Regina shared. “Strangers want you to succeed, and that’s a good feeling.”
