Healing Hands

After three days off and not a whole lot of stress, I really didn’t need a massage - but it’s a tough job, and someone had to do it! All for the sake of the blog, of course ... the sacrifices I have to make ...

The talents of Paradise Ranch’s resident massage therapist Leishaan Crane are held in high esteem around here, with multiple guests and even ranch owner Leah Miller raving about her magic, healing hands. But as Leah says, it’s not until you experience it for yourself that you can appreciate just how good Leishaan is, and how relaxed you’ll feel after a session with her.

Leishaan - who incidentally was a wildfire fighter in a former life, a ying/yang career path if ever there was one! - is Buffalo based, but works out of a little room in the fishing cabin at Paradise on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It’s certainly a unique set-up ... you enter through the harness tack room, pungent with the smell of horse sweat and leather ... but beyond the door, it’s all scented oils and ambient music. It’s cosy, quiet and womblike - but also very much in keeping with the rustic location ... with the accompaniment of neighing horses and braying mules in case you forget where you are.

After a six hour drive the day before, I had knots in my neck and butt I wasn’t really aware of. Leishaan is one of those instinctive masseuses, finding crusty sore points and working them loose in a few deft movements. She also knows women’s bodies incredibly well; she found sore points in my rib cage area, for instance, where she says many women carry tension.

With most of her clients local women from Buffalo, Leishaan prides herself on catering to females and their specific needs. She thinks too many women try to live with their pain, using a lack of time or money as an excuse not to seek treatment. But instead of ‘cowboying up’ in traditional Wyoming spirit, she wants women to know that relaxation and healing is a right, not a privilege; and that taking time to indulge yourself will eventually make you a happier, healthier individual. 

This is especially true for ranch guests, who perhaps for the first time are taking time out for themselves. Some are sore after riding; most are simply sore from life. But as I can testify, after an hour with Leishaan, you’ll float out on cloud nine, dazed and loose and ready to face whatever challenges come your way ...