She starts by taking a big, full breath.

An image of the Father, the Son, and then back to the Father populate her mind’s eye. She repeats this cycle several times, eyes closed, she opens her heart to prayer and imagines holding her client like a small child - rocking them up to the Father and back to the Son. At times, her arms in the air, might literally take the position of cradling a baby and rocking back and forth as she invites the Holy Spirit into the space.

Massage is like dancing, she says. You can’t just stand there. There’s such a beautiful flow of energy.

Hayley Banteaux works and serves as a licensed professional massage therapist (LPMT) as well as a trained spiritual director who is connected closely to Retreat House Spirituality Center. She’s also a painter and a lover of God and people. Her strong, tanned arms and open heart comfort the bodies and souls she tends to.

The richness of her faith, creativity and ministry offers inspiration, healing and affirmation to those she encounters. Enter into some of her sacred story:

Beginnings

A wooden stool.

The Book of Common Prayer.

A small Sunday school room at an Episcopal church in America.

An 8 year-old Banteaux standing on the “little bitty” stool so she could perform marriages between the boys and girls in her class. Her fascination with the prayer book led her to memorize matrimony vowels contained in the pages. She remembers feeling like the priest, holding space and assembling her classmates to gather around as they celebrated union with God and each other.

When asked why she felt called to do this, Banteaux replies that she was simply being obedient. She felt God was calling her into those moments, and according to her, all she did was listen.

Some more beginnings and spiritual downloads

On May 22, 1999, Banteaux experienced a download and says God moved her to begin painting to externalize some of what was within. Her paintings started showing in galleries in New York and Santa Fe. In 2000, she moved to New Mexico. During this time, she crossed paths with a man who practiced various forms of indigenous bodywork. She remembers his invitation: Hey, do you want to learn this stuff?

When she was young, she loved touch and tactile activities. The invitation seemed natural.

She started learning some indigenous practices from her friend and also started working with clay. The kneading motions transferred easily to the bodywork she was offering

A call within a call

Banteaux eventually migrated to Dallas and worked for more than 17 years full-time as a massage therapist at the Ritz Carlton. While she loved her work, she also found herself feeling spiritually dry. With a desire to learn and grow with a like-minded community, she confided in her friend Diane who recommended that they pray about it.

So they started praying.

Two days later, through a mutual connection, Banteaux was introduced to leadership at Perkins School of Theology Certificate in Spiritual Direction program at Southern Methodist University (SMU). The rest was history. She enrolled in training to become a spiritual director just a few weeks later.

In sharing her story, she delights in describing how God has woven her experiences and gifts into her call as a spiritual director and massage therapist and when asked how other people would describe her work, she replies with both hesitancy and humility that some call her a healer.

She notices so much of her true self was wrapped around her calling and would peek through all along.

Who and What is Christ for you?
For Banteaux, Christ is in everything. She describes Christ in every leaf of every tree. As our breath, the sun, the moon. Her companion and the one who loves us the most. She approaches her work with this same universal, loving-kindness. Some clients come for therapy, some for spiritual direction, some for massage - maybe a little of all.

Holy listening is the key to guiding her sessions, and Banteaux says listening to what goes unsaid many times shows her where to focus. She calls this a tango with the body.

Banteaux reminds us that God is in us and all around all of the time. She encourages to slow down, to listen and to heal what needs healing.

We are grateful.

Hayley Banteaux works and serves as a licensed professional massage therapist (LPMT) as well as a trained spiritual director who is connected closely to Retreat House Spirituality Center.

This article was written by Emily Turner Watson. She is a trained spiritual director, storyteller and writer. Connect with her here.

To read more about Hayley’s dance with the Holy Spirit and love the Trinity*, you’re invited to read Cultivating Appreciation for the Holy Trinity, a reflection accompanied by a meditation she wrote for Retreat House.

*Retreat House Spirituality Center is an interfaith community providing programs and support for people of all faiths and/or none.

All nature images by ETW.