Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaret Harstad.
Hi Margaret, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Twenty-one years ago, I owned a business called Muggymoose Adventure Foods. We created culinary delights for outdoor travel. I was living in Minneapolis and going through a challenging time in my life; in need of change. After much deliberation about deciding if I should return to school to get my Master’s degree in Health and Wellness, I decided to take the route of massage school instead, landing on the truth that if it didn’t work out for me, it would less expensive endeavor. I moved to Vermont and started massage school at Touchstone Healing Arts. After I finished this training, I shortly thereafter returned to Minnesota, landing in Duluth.
About two years into my profession, I broke off on my own with a small little studio in downtown Duluth. I literally had a tiny room with a tiny office and a small bathroom. It had hunter-green carpeting and really was sort of a hole in the wall but I was so excited! I also sporadically returned to Vermont to begin studying Thai Bodywork and started to offer this in the studio. There were not many takers in 2005! That was okay because I still had therapeutic table massage as my main offering. I still continued to pave the road of Thai Bodywork in Duluth and was the only therapist to offer this in the Twin Ports for the next ten years at least! Duluth wasn’t so sure way back then!
A few years later, I expanded my studio to hold two treatment rooms and a waiting area. I also continued to grow my offerings, becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher, a Principle-Based Partner Yoga Teacher, and an Essential Oils educator, teaching workshops mainly at Yoga North of Duluth, whom I consider part of my family and support system. I also continued to grow my Thai knowledge, training in Minneapolis, Colorado, and Thailand. There have been so many chapters! It is fun to look and think back over all of them, so many places and so many faces. So many amazing teachers and cohorts.
Around 2016, we expanded the studio to take on a big teaching space…and to create space for my additional therapist Emily Ostos. There had been numerous other therapists over the years that were all short-lived but this one stuck. Honored to have her with me!
At this same time, I also studied Chi Nei Tsang’s abdominal work in Thailand and started to walk down my path of Ayurveda, kicking it off with my Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist certification in 2016. I am still walking down this path and have trained in many Ayurvedic bodywork therapies and am nearly completed with my three-year training to be an Ayurvedic Health Counselor.
In 2018 we moved to our current location in Canal Park looking out over the lake and the Lift Bridge. It is so beautiful! and then just about a year ago, we had the honor of adding an additional member to our team, Gini Breidenbach, who is a Shamanic Energy Medicine healer. Another thrilling addition that I feel will stick!
I have been so honored over the years to work with the community of Duluth. I feel grateful to be a part of their team, helping them towards optimal health in body, mind, and spirit. I also feel elated to have Emily and Gini by my side as I know our beliefs in being highly educated in all that we practice and teach align. I feel a little picky about who I would like to work with at the studio; I have never been interested in owning a big fancy bodywork studio, but have always been interested in maintaining a specialized group of people who give with their hearts, are lifelong ENDLESS learners and are highly trained in their modalities, just like me! We all believe that when you stop learning and growing and giving, you may as well leave this earth… Thank you, ladies!
When people come to our studio, they feel backed by the three of us and they feel listed to and heard and cared for.
The community of Muggymoose is long and strong and united with Duluth and I am delighted to have birthed it.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road to creating Muggymoose, I would say, has been a journey with its ups and downs. I am a business owner, who I would say “zen along” and for some reason always thinks will turn out right. I have always kept overhead within my means and made a point to not get financially strapped.
Certainly, no business comes without struggles. Duluth has grown immensely in the bodywork and yoga field over the last twenty years. There are so many businesses. Some move with open hearts and some do not. I choose to keep my heart open for I know no other way…I can only control what I can control and I support all of the bodywork businesses equally. Everyone has something different to offer and there is room for all.
Probably one of the biggest challenges was the pandemic. We had only been at our new location for about a year and a half. Financially there were many hoops to jump through but we found creative ways to keep ourselves involved, making silly self-care videos and teaching virtually. I felt such a sense of loss; I would come to the studio sometimes and just cry, feeling so beside myself that I might lose this amazing thing that has become a part of me, Muggymoose.
Once we reopened we had some very strong protocols in place, making sure our community was safe and felt that we were doing our all to protect them. We lost some customers that did not want to mask, etc, but we gained and kept many. We felt it was our duty to the community.
The pandemic and how the world is moving now have created a lot of anxiety for people, making it even more needed to have a safe space to be cared for and heard. I am thankful to have made it and still be looking at the lake, welcoming our people to our space.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Muggymoose Massage and Thai Bodywork have specialized in Thai Bodywork and Therapeutic Table Massage for seventeen years.
Other specialized therapies include: Ayurveda, Traditional Ashiatsu, Chi Nei Tsang, Myofascial Release, Ayurvedic Specialty Treatments, Shamanic Energy Medicine and Partner Yoga. Long-standing, highly trained, we value the integrity of experience in all that we practice and teach.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and are any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I have learned to stay true to my own beliefs and values regarding the pandemic, political beliefs and the world at large. It seems to me that these things all run together. The pandemic created a political divide. I have learned to feel comfortable in staying true to my beliefs without outwardly insulting or negating others’ beliefs.
We supported being safe around the pandemic, requiring masks for a long time, and not being pushed by those that disagreed, for we also brought in and protected many who did agree. I also feel more open to expressing that we welcome anyone and everyone, hopefully not attracting those who participate in random acts of violence, even with their words.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.muggymoose.com
- Instagram: @muggymoose
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muggymoose/
- Youtube: @muggymoosemassage
Image Credits
Erika Fryklepak and Hansi Johnson
