Emily Fawn Ball
Wellness, Consulting & Sacred Arts

Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Life Coach, Certified Reiki Master Teacher, Ordained Minister, Aspiring Writer, General Mystic: History & Education

Schedule a free consultation or an appointment:
P: 716.725.7184
E: EmilyBallLMT@gmail.com

About Emily

Emily Fawn Ball is the founder and director of the HEAT Center in Buffalo, New York, which houses her healing practices of massage therapy, reiki and bodywork coaching. Off-site she facilitates workshops, other healing sessions, and transformational learning experiences rooted in the integration of body, mind, and energy. Known for making complex concepts accessible, she translates layered frameworks into practical, embodied understanding.

Her work is grounded in the understanding that personal experience is shaped through the interaction of physiology, perception, and energetic awareness. Over time, her practice has evolved into an integrative approach that blends clinical bodywork with energy medicine, supporting both physical and experiential well-being.

Background & Early Influences

Emily’s connection to bodywork, energetic healing, and life transitions has been present since childhood and runs through her family lineage. This early exposure shaped a natural sensitivity to the dynamics of healing, awareness, and personal transformation.

While studying Theater at Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts Russell Link introduced her to guided meditation practices and a broader sense of perspective, curiosity and diversity. During this time she continued to explore movement, rhythm, and holistic practices outside the classroom. This included training in modern dance (Martha Graham Technique) with Dorothy Putnam, Afro-Cuban percussion with Kalissa Cissoko (McGoldrick) and ‘Papa’ Emile Latimer, herbalism with local Buffalonian Rita Ippolito, and self-study in essential oils and healing crystals.

Early Spiritual Practice

Alongside these experiences, Emily’s spiritual practice began to take a more defined shape. Although she had long felt drawn to nature and the elements and had been introduced to meditation at an early age, her practice was initially personal and solitary.

In her mid-teens, she began participating in pagan and Wiccan moon ceremonies and seasonal rituals through a local Unitarian Universalist community. Around the same time, she developed self-guided dream work practices and explored altered states of consciousness as part of her personal inquiry.

By the time she graduated high school, she had already begun to orient her life toward the healing and mystical arts, recognizing this path as a central direction for her future.

Emily studied Sculptural Art and Anthropology at Buffalo State University and the University of New Orleans. In these collegiate spaces, she developed an aesthetic interest in the human form through drawing and sculpture while deepening her scientific curiosity through studies in biology and evolution.

Professional Development in Bodywork

Emily became a Licensed Massage Therapist in 2009, building a professional foundation in anatomy, physiology, and therapeutic touch. Over more than 15 years of practice, she has worked with a wide range of physical conditions and life transitions, gaining experience in how the body holds and expresses both tension and change.

This clinical work deepened her understanding of the relationship between physical patterns and internal states, and provided a grounded framework for exploring energy-based approaches alongside bodywork.

Expansion into Energy Work

At the Finger Lakes School of Massage in 2009, Emily studied alongside a fellow student who was participating in Theresa Wilke’s Energy Palpation workshops, which focused on facilitating energetic development through the chakra system. Theresa served as the school’s director at the time, and this experience helped deepen Emily’s early understanding of hands-on energetic awareness.

As her work progressed, Emily began formally integrating energy medicine into her practice. She became a Certified Usui Reiki Master Practitioner and Teacher, studying through multiple lineages and continuing to refine her understanding of energetic systems.

Her studies include the chakra system, principles of bioelectricity, trauma-informed care, and the ways in which scientific and energetic perspectives can complement one another. Over time, she developed an approach that emphasizes clarity, accessibility, and practical application—making complex ideas usable in everyday life.

The Healing Evolution and Awareness Therapies Center

Emily founded the HEAT Center as a space to bring together her bodywork, energy work, and teaching practices alongside like-minded practitioners and class facilitators. In its first incarnation on Niagara Street in Buffalo, she coordinated the logistics of a multi-use facility, including treatment room and classroom scheduling, practitioner communication, and space and lease management.

During this time, Emily hosted and studied with Donata Ahern, who facilitated a range of mystical and mystery-school style classes. Emily participated in Donata’s two-year Mayan Medicine Wheel series, Dowsing with the Pendulum, and Workshops for the Sensitive & Empathetic—experiences for which she remains deeply grateful.

At the HEAT Center’s current location, Emily continues to oversee internal communications, negotiate lease agreements, coordinate treatment room scheduling, maintain digital operations including website content, and manage day-to-day business operations such as scheduling, client records, billing, and practitioner communication.

Teaching & Energy Mastery

Emily is the creator of Energy Mastery: Building an Adaptive Practice, a progressive training series that guides students in learning how to work with their own energy through a clear, step-by-step approach.

Her teaching focuses on learning how to clear, protect, and direct energy while maintaining flexibility in the process. Rather than emphasizing rigid technique, her work supports the development of an adaptive practice that can evolve alongside the individual; guiding students to build a sustainable relationship with their energy that supports both personal healing and how they show up for others.

Writing as Expression

Through her Substack platform Tending Fire, Emily publishes her written and audio series. Her authorship reflects the same core intention as her teaching: to make complex inner systems understandable, usable, and integrated into everyday life. 

Within this body of work, Borderlands explores the meeting point between psychology, spirituality, and lived experience.

Ceremonial Work & Additional Roles

In addition to her teaching and practice, Emily is a ceremonialist and ordained minister. She facilitates ceremonial spaces that support trust, reflection, transition, and engagement with personal growth. Her variety of experiences includes officiating weddings, life transitions and crossings, moon ceremonies and more.

Through her MOONWISE ceremonial program—including monthly New Moon ceremonies and ongoing support—she guides individuals in working with living intentions over time. Her work supports the development of curiosity, clarity, resilience, and a more intentional relationship with personal responsibility.

Her work across all areas remains centered on creating environments where individuals can connect more directly with their own awareness, develop trust in their experience, and cultivate a more conscious relationship with their life force.

In Summary

Emily’s path reflects a continuous weaving of lived experience, study, mentorship, and practice. From early influences and creative exploration to clinical work, energy training, and teaching, her work today is the result of an ongoing integration of these threads into a cohesive and evolving approach.

She brings a sense of gratitude to the opportunity to support others through this work, and remains committed to continued learning, refinement, and exploration across her practices. As her understanding deepens, she continues to translate that knowledge into both her teaching and writing, offering frameworks that are intended to be practical, accessible, and adaptable.

Across all of her offerings, Emily’s intention is to support individuals in meeting themselves where they are, while creating environments that foster trust, safety, and meaningful personal development. Her work is centered on guiding people toward their own natural progression, supporting clarity, awareness, and appreciation for life.

To maintain the registration of their license in NY State, Massage Therapists are required to participate in continuing education units (CEU’s) with certifications.
At the bottom of this page I have listed studies relevant to massage therapy since graduating from the Finger Lakes School of Massage in 2009. Also listed are reiki certification classes, coursework related to divine connection/ shamanism/ spirtual quests, and all other education I’ve pursued during my career.

A personal note…

Beyond being a licensed professional I’m a leader, a facilitator, a guide, a soul-usher, a spirit fosterer, a dream walker, an unseen realm traveller, a creative, a teacher, a student; and in all things I am imperfect.
In my life I appreciate the extraordinary magnificence of nature; from the sea worms living in gaseous vents on the ocean floor to the galaxies we continue to learn of, and everything in between.
I enjoy hiking, knitting, painting, writing, travel, dancing, walking, cooking, sculpting, rhythms and sound, swimming, martial arts, gardening, creating in general, sharing wisdom, travel, magic, and celebrating the inter-connectedness of all things (did I mention travel?).
I live with my husband, our two cats and a zillion plants in deep West Buffalo, NY in a house we’ve been renovating for about a decade.
All of my experiences, and my academic and self-guided studies influence my every day experience, the body and spirit work I offer, and support my writing ideas.
I feel genuinely lucky that I’m able to show up for my work-purpose and my creative outlets.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have found a grounding platform to work with people in healing and sharing some of what I've learned on my journey thus far!

Relevant Education:

Massage Therapy & Hydrotherapy Certification & Licensure, FLSM, NY Board of Regents. 2009
Energy Palpation Series, with Theresa Wilkes. 2009
Reiki I & II Certification, with Carolyn Musial. 2014
Viruses and the Immune System, an essential oil focus with Andrea Butje. CEU. 2015
Anxiety and Massage, self study. CEU. 2015
Advanced Prenatal Massage Certification, self study. CEU. 2015
Mayan Medicine Wheel, with Donata Ahern. 2016
Dowsing with the Pendulum, with Donata Ahern. 2016
Active Isolated Stretching Certification, a 3 day intensive workshop at FLSM with James Graffenberg. CEU. 2017
Advanced Physiology of the Skin, webinar with Tammi Sweet*. 2017
Inflammation, Actually, webinar with Tammi Sweet*. 2017
Reiki III, Masters Class, with Melanie Rimkus. 2017
Advanced Reiki Techniques, with Malanie Rimkus. 2018
Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis, self study. CEU. 2018
Love Your Liver, webinar with Tammi Sweet*. 2018
Physiology with the Heart, webinar with Tammi Sweet*. 2019
Heart Coherence, webinar with Tammi Sweet*. 2019
The Endocannabinoid System, webinar with Tammi Sweet*. 2019
Psychology of the Body, self study, CEU. 2020
Anatomy & Physiology, a 12 week study with an herbal focus, with Tammi Sweet*. CEU. 2020
Life Coaching Certificate Course, self study course certified through The Academy of Modern Applied Psychology, with Kain Ramsay. 2021

• *Tammi Sweet MS, LMT, is one of my all-time favorite educators, both in-person and online. She offers classes & webinars through Heartstone Online, a whole-hearted physiology education platform. If you want to know more about the human body, it’s functions & reactions, I highly recommend any of her classes!