By Todd Travis
When Cody Adkins decided to launch The Art of Healing in Greenwood, he didn’t realize he would also be going on a healing journey himself. As a former pastry chef, he wanted to branch out into a new arena after feeling burned out on making pastries. “I knew I always wanted to have my own business and do something that would impact my community in a positive way,” Adkins mentioned. Going to massage school opened the doors for him to find several avenues for wholistic therapy including massage therapy, floatation therapy and infrared therapy. “I wanted to bring that all together – massage therapy with floating and infrared. We also do other modalities like cupping and body wraps and energy work. Just recently, we began offering skin care, waxing and esthetics,” Adkins explained.
Adkins opened The Art of Healing in September of 2015, excited to begin a new venture as an entrepreneur. Just eight months later, he lost all feeling below his belly button and didn’t know why. He was eventually diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease that affects the nervous system. As he dealt with the effects of MS, his interest in healing and wholistic therapy deepened. “It was like a blessing in disguise. It helped me dive deeper into what was causing the MS and pushed me further into the holistic world of healing. Floating and Infrared have been two of the things that have helped me manage my nerve pain and help reset my brain,” Adkins said. “We have people that walk through our doors with all kinds of autoimmune disease and cancer. We’re happy to serve people from all different walks of life.”
With September being the birthday month of the business, The Art of Healing offers free services to veterans all month long. “Veterans can come in and do a free 30-minute float or infrared and they can come as much as they like during the month of September. For anyone who is not a veteran, we are also taking 50% of our proceeds from our 90-minute floats and donating them to the veterans hospital downtown,” Adkins noted. “It’s a way for me to give back to the community. I’ve had veterans tell me that the floating works better than their morphine, and that’s just a huge statement right there. Things like that help reassure me that I’m doing the right thing and doing what I’m supposed to be doing in life.”
Things got even more interesting for Adkins when his fiancé got a big promotion that required a move to Tennessee. As a result, he is now relying on his spa manager to help him run the business as he can only be in so often with a 4 ½-hour commute. “It’s been a balancing act. I know it’s what I signed up for, but it’s been a challenge,” Adkins said. “At the end of the day, I love my business and I love what I do. It’s never been about making money for me; it’s been more about how I can help change peoples’ lives and make an impact.”
More information can be found about massage therapy, flotation therapy and infrared therapy on The Art of Healing’s website: theartofhealingindy.com, as well as a complete list of services which include facials, waxing, essential oils and more.
