Michelle Richards, LMT, CPC.

Hi and welcome!

I am Michelle and this is some of who I am and what I do. I am a Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Professional Life Coach, and Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher. I am a mother, lover of nature, dancer, traveler, explorer of inner and outer landscapes, and I love to teach mindfulness! My first introduction to meditation was watching my Dad meditate when I was young. He would get up early, light incense, lie down on the floor and close his eyes. And after a while he would get up. It was all very quiet, somewhat mysterious and left me with a feeling of everything being ok. I was drawn to meditation myself in my 20’s and dappled in it without any real instruction or understanding of what I was doing. It wasn’t until I attended an S.N. Goenka 10-Day Meditation Retreat in 2006 that I received the clear guidance I was seeking from a source I trusted. That experience had such a profound effect on me that I was inspired to stay committed to a home practice and continued retreat practice. Seeing, feeling, and knowing the changes I felt within my own being was very encouraging and empowering. Quite soon after I received a clear knowing that my life’s purpose would be to teach. In the Fall of 2007, I pursued my passion and began teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). I find it utterly fulfilling to watch, listen, and witness people find their strength, stability, and trust in themselves-to find a way of being that is deeply meaningful and at times life changing. In May 2019 I graduated from a two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training with beloved teachers Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach and continue to expand my understanding and offerings. Through 8 and 4-week courses, workshops, and retreats I have been guiding hundreds of people over 16 years in uncovering and reconnecting to their own innate wisdom. I am honored and humbled to share such meaningful work with you.

And here is some of my background leading up to where I am now. I moved to Montana in 1991 after graduating from the University of Vermont with a degree in Environmental Studies. I had landed my “dream job” in Glacier National Park! Over the next few years, I worked in the backcountry on Peregrine Falcon, Bald Eagle, and Grizzly Bear studies. Glacier Park is still one of my favorite places on Earth. Eventually I became a Certified Massage Therapist and continue to practice 26 years later at 211 Central Ave in Whitefish. My massage is an eclectic mix of everything I have ever studied - Swedish, Deep Tissue, Neuromuscular, Polarity, Reiki, and much more!

In 2005 I became a Certified Life Coach through the Academy for Coach Training (now known as Invite Change) in Seattle. My mindfulness-based life coaching style utilizes my love and reliance of mindfulness with life coaching skills. I love to assist people in realizing their potential, fulfill simple goals or life long dreams. Coaching combined with mindfulness offers a unique and powerful way to make lasting change. I find my coaching skills inform my teaching as well.