KAREN LAFRANO LMT, RYT

Licensed Massage Therapist, Educator, Somatic Bodyworker, Reiki Master Teacher, Energywroker, Yoga/Meditation Instructor, Certified Aromatherapist & Cannabis Coach

BIO:

Karen LaFrano is a graduate of the Wellness and Massage Training Institute (WMTI, 2000). Her work is rooted in meeting people where they are, recognizing that every person, and every body carries a unique history, pattern, and capacity for change. By honoring the body's remarkable adaptability and resilience, Karen creates treatments that are thoughtful, responsive, and individualized.

Her bodywork combines compressions, movement, myofascial engagement, and perceptual listening to work with the body's natural patterns rather than against them. By recognizing how tension and force are distributed throughout interconnected structures, she invites the body and nervous system to settle and soften from the inside out—often helping to reduce whole-body discomfort while improving ease of movement and overall wellbeing.

Karen's professional experience includes sports massage, structural bodywork, and collaborative clinical practice alongside physicians, physical therapists, and chiropractors. She has worked with clients ranging from professional athletes to medically fragile children, experiences that continue to shape her thoughtful, adaptable approach to care. As an All-American in Track & Field and a member of a coaching team that earned six National Championship Titles and personally coached nine All-Americans, she brings a lasting appreciation for movement, performance, recovery, and helping individuals realize their potential.

Since 2004, Karen has been a core instructor with LaFrano Massage Dynamics (LMD), teaching continuing education alongside Chuck LaFrano. Together they have developed, and teach courses including Sports Massage, Scar Tissue Massage, Somatic Bodywork, Tensegrity & Bodywork, and Floating Joint. Their work emphasizes therapeutic presence, clinical reasoning, perceptual skill, and sustainable body mechanics, encouraging therapists to observe before intervening and to work with the body rather than on it.

Karen is also a Reiki Master Teacher, Registered Yoga Teacher (CYT-200), and certified Cannabis Wellness Coach & Educator. She offers Cannabis Meditation, Coaching & Education, helping individuals better understand the endocannabinoid system and explore cannabis as one of many tools that may support comfort, wellbeing, and thoughtful self-care.

At SoderWorld Wellness Center, Karen offers massage therapy, Reiki, yoga, meditation, and Cannabis Meditation, Coaching & Education. Whether working one-on-one or leading a group, she creates a calm, supportive space where clients can slow down, reconnect with themselves, and discover greater comfort, awareness, and ease.

Karen is also the founder of Self Care In Balance, where she continues to develop educational programs, wellness coaching, handcrafted botanical products, and resources that encourage thoughtful self-care and lifelong wellbeing.

Self Care in Balance LLC