Daily Inspiration: Meet Larken Petardi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Larken Petardi.

Larken Petardi founded balanced Therapeutics in 2018. She saw a need to support the Denver community in finding balance in their crazy, work and fun-filled lives. Almost everyone in Denver is some athlete and has stressors on their body. Larken’s main goal is to provide therapeutic relaxation by developing a customized massage and skin treatment plan for each client. She will work with individual needs and her knowledge of an assortment of therapeutic techniques to bring about a state of physical, mental, and social well-being. Larken’s passion for full-body wellness started while in high school. Because of a repetition injury from competitive swimming, she started seeing a chiropractor weekly. When this did not improve her problem, she fell in love with massage therapy, which helped her continue in her sports career. An interest in the human body and wellness continued at the University of Connecticut, where she graduated in 2011 with studies in kinesiology, psychology, and health science.​After college, Larken moved to Colorado to enjoy the mountains and be outside daily with her active puppy. During this time, she found her previous experience, focused health education, plus a passion for working with people was pointing her to massage therapy. She graduated from the Colorado School of Healing Arts with an AOS in Massage Therapy with an emphasis on sports massage. She also holds a certification in lymphatic drainage and reflexology. Since that time, Larken has become a Reiki 3 practitioner and studied Thai massage therapy with Rob Martin. She also became a certified Ashiatsu therapist with DeepFeet Therapy.​While working in massage, Larken also saw the need for addressing skincare needs. Many of her athletic clients were suffering from sun damage and hormonal acne. Recently she graduated from the School of Botanical and Medical Aesthetics and is so excited to integrate this into her practice.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
My career in massage and esthetics has not been the smoothest of roads. It has taken a lot of time and experience to figure out my niche in this field. I also had surgery on my wrist at the end of 2018, which limited my treatment room time quite a bit. I finally felt like it was time to be back in the treatment room full time right before COVID hit. It’s been slow to pick back up, but I’m so happy to be still working with people.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in giving the most about therapeutic work in the most relaxing way. I listen to what is going on in your body or with your skin and create a customized treatment plan just for you. During the massage, I try to avoid clients leaving feeling “beat up” while still addressing their problems. I specialize in deep pressure and stretching. I have just added Ashiatsu to my service menu. This is a modality where I use my bare feet to massage so that I can use my entire body weight for pressure. I also have extensive training in Thai Massage, where I stretch and compress the body. I love the mix of stretching and pressure to find relief for tight muscles and find this to be very relaxing. When I’m working with skin, I avoid tearing the skin down to get the results you’re looking for. I work with what you’re already doing at home and balance and build up your skin flow a glowing, clear complexion. I use vegan and botanical-based products during facial services.

How do you think about happiness?
I’m happy when those around me are happy too. I try to make a butterfly effect happen in my treatment room. If I can make my clients feel their best and smile more, hopefully, they spread that to those around them!

Pricing:

• Balanced Massage $85-150
• Ashiatsu $130-165
• Thai Massage $115-150

Contact Info:

• Address: 100 Acoma St Denver, CO 80223
• Email: larken@balancedtherapeutics.com
• Website: www.balancedtherapeutics.com
• Instagram: @balanced_therapeutics
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/balancedtherapeuticsllc