After a few lovely months spent healing and learning as a new mother, I’m so grateful to be back at Perilla Wellness. Becoming a mother has deepened not only my empathy, but also my understanding of the physical and emotional journey women go through during pregnancy and postpartum. And now, more than ever, I feel called to support fellow mothers through touch, care, and space to exhale.
The Truth About Motherhood: Beauty and Burnout
Motherhood is transformative, but it isn’t always soft and serene. It’s beautiful and raw, joyful and exhausting. Your body becomes a vessel of creation, your identity stretches in new directions, and sleep becomes a distant dream. But not all motherhood begins the same way, and not all journeys are visible.
Whether you're growing your baby in your body, supporting a birth as a surrogate, welcoming your child through adoption, or navigating the early weeks of bonding and recovery, your experience is real. And you deserve care that honors your story.
For some, myself included, the early days of motherhood are spent in the NICU. A place filled with monitors, beeping machines, and uncertainty. If your baby required extra care after birth, you may have faced intense emotional stress, disrupted bonding, and physical exhaustion that goes far beyond the typical postpartum experience. This kind of start can be traumatic, and it deserves gentleness, validation, and space to heal.
Why Massage Matters in These Seasons
Pregnancy Massage: This gentle, specialized bodywork helps ease lower back pain, reduce swelling, relieve tension, and support better sleep. It’s also a safe space to connect with your changing body—one that is carrying so much more than just physical weight.
Postnatal Massage: After delivery, massage supports recovery by improving circulation, releasing muscle tension (especially from nursing and holding baby), and helping rebalance hormones. It can also offer something rarely available to new moms: stillness, and a moment to receive.
Emotional and Physical Support for All New Moms: If you're an adoptive parent, surrogate, or NICU mom, your body and heart have held so much. Whether you’re healing from surgery, stress, grief, or sleep deprivation, massage can offer grounding in the chaos and comfort when it’s most needed.
A Space for You
No matter how you became a mother, you belong here. We all carry the invisible load of motherhood and I’m here to help lighten that weight. My massage room is a space where you don’t have to explain your exhaustion, or hold it all together. Just come as you are- messy bun, milk-stained shirt, and all.
From one mother to another: I see you. You deserve care, too.
With Love,
Samantha
by Ruth Milsten LCSW-C RYT
By: Ruth Milsten, Licensed Clinical Therapist and Yoga Teacher at Perilla Wellness
A lot of folks have asked me what Somatic Mind, Body, Spirit Therapy is and why I’m offering at a wellness center? Somatic Mind, Body, Spirit Therapy is talk therapy, but with a bottoms-up approach. This means that we bring the body and the nervous system into the room. We identify whether you’re stuck in fight or flight, freeze or submit, and how you can gently make your way back to ventral vagal, which is where we feel safe and connected. I ask clients to imagine that their nervous systems are like a sponge, filled with water (the water is past and current trauma, anxiety, things that have happened to us and more) and we have no way to wring the sponge out. Yes, in talk therapy, we can talk about the sponge-what color it is, what shape it is, how heavy it is, but we can never actually wring it out. In Somatic Mind, Body, Spirit Therapy, we can learn how to wring all of that water out of our sponge. What a relief that is!!
As a trauma trained therapist and yoga teacher, I love using Somatic approaches, as well as Mind, Body, Spirit approaches, such as: trauma release exercises, somatic movement, Internal Family Systems, yoga postures, yogic breathing, guided meditation, astrology, numerology, the Enneagram, sound healing, reiki, assessing and cleansing the chakras and aura and more, to help clients recover and regain balance in mind, body and spirit. This approach is very effective for clients struggling with: past or current trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, freeze or disassociation, fawning or people pleasing, high sensitivity, low self-esteem, chronic stress, life struggles and transitions, grief and more.
The beauty of offering this at a wellness center is that clients can spend part of their therapy session, laying on a heated massage table, and can receive 1-1 sound healing, reiki and energy assessment and clearing, if they want. We will tailor each session to fit your unique needs. If you’re interested in feeling more grounded, centered, calm, self-compassionate and curious, please email me at: rmilsten@hotmail.com, for a free 15 min phone consult, to make sure we’re a good fit to work together.
And here’s something you can do TODAY to calm your nervous system: cross your arms over your chest and gently hold on to each shoulder with the opposite hand. Taking a long slow inhale through your nose, consciously drop your shoulders down, away from around your ears. On the exhale, focus your attention inwards to your heart center and imagine a golden light spreading from your heart through your arms, up to your shoulders, neck and face. Just observe, without judgment, if you feel even a tiny bit more relaxed. Try this once a day and see if you notice a difference. I hope this tip helps!
by Melissa Finocchiaro L.Ac M.AC
A Dream Rooted in Healing
Perilla Wellness was born from a deep desire to create a space that feels more like a home than a clinic—a sanctuary for holistic healing, emotional support, and true transformation.
I’ve always been drawn to helping people. After experiencing the life-changing benefits of acupuncture firsthand in my twenties, I knew I had to share this powerful medicine. My dream was simple yet profound: to offer a nurturing, peaceful environment where authentic healing could begin.
Early Struggles and Unwavering Purpose
When I decided to pursue acupuncture in 2010, I was a struggling single mother determined to create a better future for my son and myself. Despite the fears and obstacles, I moved us to Maryland to attend acupuncture school.
Starting Perilla Wellness after graduation was not easy. I was facing a mountain of student loan debt and almost no training in how to run a business. The early years were filled with long hours, financial uncertainty, and moments of deep self-doubt. I wore every hat, made mistakes, and often felt overwhelmed trying to build something lasting from nothing but a vision and heart.
Still, what kept me moving forward was a deep sense of purpose—an unshakable belief that this was what I was meant to do: help others heal.
Even during the hardest times, life kept unfolding in beautiful ways. My son thrived in our new environment. I met and married my husband, and together we welcomed our daughter into the world. These milestones reminded me that growth often happens alongside struggle—and that building something meaningful is rarely a straight line.
Growing the Vision: From Hidden Gem to Wellness Sanctuary
In 2018, I moved the business to a hidden gem at 1481 Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard—a peaceful, tucked-away location that immediately felt like home. It was here that Perilla Wellness truly began to blossom, nurtured by trust, community, and the heartfelt care that remains the core of everything we do.
In September 2024, I expanded the dream even further, leasing the entire house to create more space for our growing team, expand our holistic wellness offerings, and build a true sanctuary for healing and connection. Every step of growth has been guided not just by strategy, but by heart.
Perilla Wellness Today: A Home for Healing
Today, Perilla Wellness is more than a holistic health center. It’s a reflection of my journey and a commitment to serving others with authentic, heart-centered care.
Our offerings—acupuncture for pain relief, emotional health support, allergy treatment, therapeutic massage, energy healing, and counseling—are all designed to help you reconnect with your best self.
At Perilla Wellness, we believe true healing happens when you feel safe, seen, and supported. Every treatment, every interaction, is infused with the values that inspired me to begin this path: kindness, integrity, and the unwavering belief that healing is possible for everyone.
Welcome to Perilla Wellness. Here, you are not just another appointment—you are family. 🌿
Love,
Melissa
Spring is a season of renewal, but for many, it also brings the unwelcome symptoms of seasonal allergies. From sneezing and congestion to itchy eyes and fatigue, allergies can really disrupt your ability to enjoy the beauty of spring! At Perilla Wellness, we specialize in helping you find relief through both traditional acupuncture treatments and Soliman Auricular Allergy Treatment (SAAT). While both treatments are effective, SAAT can eradicate both food and environmental allergies, plus MCAS and histamine intolerance- just by using a few tiny needles in the ear- amazing right?
But for me, Melissa, founder of Perilla Wellness, the journey to mastering allergy treatments is deeply personal—and it comes with a side of cannoli.
A Personal Story: Saving Noah’s Love for Cannoli.
As a mother, you’ll do anything to help your child, even if it means convincing a stubborn teenager to let you poke them with needles. My son, Noah, has had a severe dairy allergy since he was little. Being Italian, this was a big deal. No cheese, no creamy pastas, and worst of all—no cannoli. Every family gathering was a struggle for him. He’d sit there, watching everyone else enjoy their pasta and dessert, while he nibbled on something sad.
After learning the Soliman Auricular Allergy treatment, I begged him to let me treat his allergy with SAAT, but he was skeptical. “Needles in my ear? For allergies? Mom, I think I’ll just stick with my cashew milk yogurt,” he’d say. But one day, luckily, he finally caved.
The results? Life-changing. After just one treatment, Noah was able to enjoy his first cannoli in years. I’ll never forget the look on his face—pure joy, mixed with a little disbelief. These days, he’s making up for lost time. And me? I’m just happy I don’t have to sneak dairy-free alternatives into the lasagna anymore. But in all seriousness, his dairy sensitivity was intense. Causing lots of strange symptoms from inflammation, when he had accidental exposure, pain, and anxiety from the worry of when the pain would hit him.
This experience was a game-changer, not just for Noah, but for me as a practitioner, and a mom. It inspired me to bring SAAT to Perilla Wellness so I could help others find relief from their allergies and reclaim the foods—and moments—they love most. Now I just need to convince my 9 year old to let me treat her for her seasonal allergies! She's getting close and I know she'll let me know when she's ready.
The Saat protocol involves muscles testing for allergens followed by a tiny needle placed strategically in the ear to eliminate the allergen. The needle stays in for about 3 weeks and then we remove and recheck. Many people experience extraordinary, long lasting relief from this one treatment!
To learn more about this amazing treatment call us at 410-934-4677 or schedule here Link
Hope to see you soon and help you enjoy the things YOU love again!
~Melissa
Noah enjoying Cannoli again!!! :)
