Who We Are
AYA Academy was founded by Monica Durante, clinic owner, Registered Massage Therapist, Ayurvedic therapist, Stretch therapist, Birth doula, and Energy worker with over 15 years of hands-on clinical experience.
Throughout her career, Monica has explored a wide range of healing traditions and therapeutic practices, developing a deep respect for the intelligence of the body and the powerful role that skilled touch, movement, and energy awareness can play in restoring balance and vitality.
AYA Academy brings ancient traditions together with modern manual therapy to train practitioners who want to deepen their understanding of health, energy, and the art of healing.
AYA Academy is also a collaborative learning environment. Our instructors are skilled healthcare professionals who bring real-world experience, deep knowledge, and a genuine passion for their craft.
Each teacher shares practical insights drawn from working directly with clients, offering students the opportunity to learn techniques that are both grounded in tradition and refined through real-life practice.
Together, we are committed to passing on meaningful skills that help practitioners support balance, vitality, and healing in themselves and the people they serve.
Why Our Training Is Different
At AYA Academy, we believe the art of healing cannot be reduced to a set of techniques.
It’s about developing sensitivity in the hands, awareness in the body, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be well.
AYA Academy is for practitioners who want to expand their craft and reconnect with the art of healing. They will develop sensitivity, awareness, and a deeper understanding of how the body restores balance.
Our trainings are guided by experienced practitioners who bring together ancient knowledge, modern insight, and years of hands-on practice.
We understand the most powerful practitioners are not defined by the number of modalities they know, but by the depth with which they understand the human being in front of them.
The AYA Academy Manifesto
Human beings are not machines. The body is not simply a collection of muscles, tendons, and joints that occasionally break down and require repair.
The human body is intelligent. It breathes, adapts, heals, and communicates constantly through sensation, movement, and rhythm.
For thousands of years, ancient traditions around the world studied this intelligence with great care. Systems such as Ayurveda, yoga, and other body-based healing arts developed profound methods for restoring balance in the human organism.
Modern healthcare has brought remarkable advances in science and technology. Yet in many ways we have forgotten how to listen to the body itself.
At AYA Academy, we believe that the future of bodywork lies in remembering this wisdom. We train therapists to work with the body’s natural intelligence through awareness, presence, and skillful touch.
Our teaching draws from both modern clinical practice and ancient healing traditions, offering therapists a deeper understanding of how the body functions as a living system.
But technique alone is not enough. A great therapist must also cultivate attention, self-awareness, and respect for the profound responsibility of working with another human being. To care for others, we must also learn to care for ourselves. The longevity of a therapist’s career depends not only on technical skill, but on balance in the body, the breath, and the mind.
AYA Academy exists to help practitioners deepen their craft, protect their own vitality, and rediscover the deeper purpose of therapeutic touch. Because when we learn to truly listen to the body, we do more than relieve pain. We help people return to balance. And in doing so, we participate in one of the oldest healing traditions humanity has ever known.
Contact us
Interested in working together? Are you an instructor looking to teach? Do you wish to take a course that’s not on our website? Let us know! Send us your questions and we will be in touch with you shortly!