Meet the Owner - Shukti
Greetings everyone! MY name is Kris but you can call me Shukti! I am a fully insured LMT in Las vegas Nevada and I am also certified in California. I created Shukti Vaya Bodiworks to offer an approach that is personal rather than formulaic. Every body carries a different history. Every athlete, performer, creative, executive, traveler, and professional places different demands on themselves. What someone needs today may not be what they need next week. My role is to listen carefully, adapt the session, and create space for the client to feel supported. My perspective on the human body has been shaped by sports, injuries, massage therapy, luxury spa environments, holistic wellness, breath work, sound, frequency, and continued study. These experiences taught me that the body is not separate from the rest of our experience. How we move, breathe, recover, perform, create, and respond to life are all connected. Music, art, and movement have always been significant parts of my life. Growing up, I played basketball and ran long distance. The physical body is always something I connected with naturally, long before I understood how body kept score. In 2017, I discovered the bodybuilding community in Las Vegas. I was Inspired by Latorya Watts, who was Miss Olympia at the time. I decided to step outside my comfort zone and ask her coach to help train me in two NPC bikini shows. With a great coach, hard work, lots of bodywork and recovery treatments, I placed in both.That experience taught me about discipline, training, physical awareness, and what it means to commit fully to a goal. It also gave me a deeper appreciation for the demands placed on the body by athletes, performers, and anyone
whose work requires strength, endurance, precision, or sustained physical output.
Then, in 2019, my life changed. I was involved in a traumatic car accident that became a near-death experience. I sustained cervical and ulnar injuries, and the experience also brought me into a period of anxiety and depression. Let alone, long before I started school, I had TBI which was caused by a fracture to my skull. That same year, I graduated from Northwest Career College in Las Vegas as a massage therapist. During my training, I studied kinesiology, anatomy, pathology, deep tissue,sports massage, Swedish massage, Shiatsu, reflexology, and spa therapies, including hot stone massage and foot treatments. I had always envisioned having my own practice. Moving forward into my career as a bodyworker, my injuries became a teacher. Through chronic nerve pain and a dysreguated nervous system, they brought me down a path of having to pay closer attention to
my own body and changed the way I experienced bodywork. I became more aware of tension, sensation, breath, movement, recovery, and the relationship between what I was feeling physically and what was happening within me emotionally and spiritually. I began to wonder what existed beneath the physical body. Not long after my accident, I met a yogi who introduced me to White Tantric Yoga. It was my first meaningful experience with breath work, and it was life-changing.That experience opened another door to frequency therapy. I eventually found a frequency center in Malibu, where I was introduced to advanced frequency, sound, and biofeedback technologies. Being in that environment sparked a new curiosity about vibration, sound, and the ways these experiences can influence our awareness. I began exploring sound, vibration, frequency, meditation, and energy work more deeply. Through that process, I was not only learning about the body. I was learning more about myself.
After Covid, In 2020, I moved back to California and began working at JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, recognized at the time as the largest spa in Southern California.Working in such a large-scale luxury spa environment gave me the opportunity to experience bodywork within a highly structured, service-driven setting. The spa offered an extensive range of
treatments and wellness experiences, including massage, facials, body treatments, hydrotherapy, salon services, relaxation spaces, and Ayurvedic-inspired therapies. As a spa specialist, I was introduced to Ayurvedic-inspired body treatments and aromatherapy. I began to understand how intentional touch, therapeutic oils, heat, rhythm, and sensory detail could come together to create a more complete experience of care.The scale of the spa also exposed me to a wide range of
guests and needs. Some people arrived seeking recovery after intense training or travel. Others needed relief from the physical demands of work, performance, competition, or long hours. Many were simply looking for a quiet place to reset.That experience taught me how to adapt. It taught me how to work with different bodies, lifestyles, and expectations while maintaining
professionalism, presence, and attention to detail. Eventually, I found my way to We Care Spa in Desert Hot Springs in 2021. We Care is internationally known for its immersive wellness and detoxification programs. The experience is not designed as a traditional day-spa visit. Guests often stay for several days or weeks while participating in a structured program centered around fasting, detoxification, nutrition, movement, rest, and holistic education. The program included guided fasting, fresh juices and soups, colon hydrotherapy, digestive support, body treatments, massage, exercise, meditation, yoga, educational sessions, and other wellness practices intended to support a period of rest and reset. The environment is designed to remove people from their usual routines and give them space to focus on their health, habits, and relationship with their bodies. Guests come from around the world, including entrepreneurs, global leaders, creatives, and people seeking a more intentional approach to wellness. Working there gave me a deeper understanding of how the body can change through consistency and sustained care. Because many guests stayed for days or even weeks, I often had the opportunity to work with the same person repeatedly. I could observe how the body responded over time. I learned about digestive health and massage, cupping, and detoxing body treatments. I also learned how important it is to meet people with sensitivity, especially when they are moving through physical, emotional, or lifestyle changes. We Care taught me that wellness is not always about doing more. Sometimes, it is about creating enough space to slow down and listen. Working with people from different backgrounds and levels of public visibility reinforced the importance of discretion, professionalism, and trust. That taught me another side of bodywork: care, presence, privacy, consistency, and the importance of creating an experience where someone can truly let go. Being part of those journeys made me look more deeply at my own. I began asking myself: How can I truly be there for someone else if I am not also tending to my own emotional and spiritual needs? That question became an important part of my evolution. From 2023 to 2025, I explored the spa setting at Big Horn Golf Club in Palm Desert. They had a huge population of golf, tennis, and pickle ball players. I was a magnet for a wide range of clients who suffered from injuries and surgeries. One thing I always valued about working in the spa was the freedom I had to create a session around the person in front of me. I never wanted bodywork to feel like a routine. Every
body is different. Every lifestyle is different. Every performance schedule, training cycle, travel itinerary, and season of life creates different demands. What someone needs today may not be what they need next week. In 2025, I moved to Hollywood and decided to work mobile and experience the spa at Equinox part time. I realized that I did not want my work to be limited to one room, one city, or one type of client. I wanted to be able to take my work with me wherever I go. Mobile bodywork has
allowed me to meet people in the environments where they live, work, train, create, and recover. That may be a private residence, hotel, creative studio, training facility, or another setting where privacy and convenience matter. In October 2025, I became certified in Sports Recovery Massage under Sansak Chokprasertnam through the World Association of Nuad Thai & Spa
Championships. In 2026, I discovered Sarga Massage through Chuck Hong in Las Vegas. I completed the Sarga Basics and Advanced courses and am continuing my training toward becoming a certified Sarga therapist. My learning does not stop here. I am continuing to deepen my practice and will further my studies. I look forward to bringing those experiences back into my work and continuing to share what I learn. Each stage of my training has added another layer to
my understanding of the body. Sports and bodybuilding taught me about discipline and performance. Injury taught me about listening and recovery. Massage school gave me a technical foundation. Luxury spa environments taught me about care, detail, and service. Holistic wellness introduced me to the importance of rhythm, rest, and sustained attention. Breathwork, sound, and
frequency expanded my awareness of the relationship between physical sensation and inner experience.Together, these experiences shaped the philosophy behind my work. Shukti Vaya came to me during a breathwork and meditation practice. I was lying down when I felt the vibration of the words. This is when Shukti Vaya was born. For me, Shukti Vaya represents an intuitive relationship with energy, awareness, and transformation. It reflects the understanding that the body is not separate from the rest of our experience. How we move, breathe, recover, perform, create, and respond to life are all connected. Bodiworks is my way of bringing these experiences together. It is not just bodywork, but it is also an ongoing exploration of the relationship between the body and the human experience.