Kait L. Gardiner
LMT, CNMT, CHN
Kait has had a unique and exciting journey to realizing her passion for health and wellness. Originally from Southern California, she moved to NYC in 2004 after graduating with a BFA in Musical Theatre from Cal State University, Fullerton. She spent many years dancing and performing professionally which began to spark a curiosity for understanding the human body, as well as an interest for fitness and overall physical well-being.
Typical of the athletic lifestyle of a dancer, performer, or athlete she sustained a fair share of injuries and ailments, and struggled through the trials and tribulations of fad-dieting. This inspired her to begin searching for a less complicated, more comprehensive, and sustainable means of “wholistic” health and self-care.
Very soon after starting down this path she realized that her true calling was sharing and imparting these skills and this knowledge with others. Her main goal is to give her patients and clients a better understanding of their own bodies, as well as to empower them with the tools they will need to live healthy, active, pain-free lives!
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Massage Therapy
Kait received her massage education from the prestigious Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences here in New York City. Prior to establishing Gardiner Wholistic Health, she spent many years working as a massage therapist at gym-spas and massage offices. Her thirst for knowledge and education inspires her to continue learning, developing, and integrating different modalities into her work. Some of which include; Myofascial Release, Neuromuscular Therapy (Certified-CNMT), Trigger Point Therapy, pre- and post-event Sports massage, Acu/Kinesio-Taping (Certified), Cupping/Shiatsu/ and other Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques, as well as Stretch and Circulatory (anti-inflammatory) work associated with traditional Swedish styles of massage. Her unique way of being able to hone in on the source of the problem or discomfort allows her to come up with the best treatment plan for each individual patient.
Fitness Coaching | Personal Training
Growing up with dance and sports, Kait learned early on the importance of fitness as a means to stay strong and continue to be active. In order to remain active into adulthood she also realized how important fitness is for ordinary day to day life, especially for things like balance (and correcting imbalance), postural alignment, and injury prevention, correction, and rehabilitation. So it was only natural that she began to pursue a career in personal training and group fitness. She taught a wide range of group fitness classes at a number of gyms here in the city, while also working as a personal trainer to many individual clients. She now uses her skills as a fitness coach to come up with personalized programs, workouts, and training tools to help clients reach their fitness potential, prevent and correct injury/imbalance, and be able to develop better posture, form, and alignment.
Nutrition
Although the role of “Nutritionist” is the newest hat that Kait wears, her interest and love of nutrition started from a very young age. At the age of 12 she decided to become a vegetarian (basically because she wanted to pet the cow not eat it). This triggered a stack of questions regarding what to eat, what not to eat, where to get proper nutrition, is she getting enough vitamins/minerals/protein, etc. Then (for both health and ethical reasons) she decided to go vegan about 15 years later. The new line of questions created by this was ten times as long. But with her love for knowledge and research (and not ever wanting to do things halfway), she began a personal journey of learning and understanding how food and nutrition impact overall health, wellness, and longevity. Then with a desire to share (as well as to acquire more information), she decided to make it official and completed her training as a Certified Holistic Nutritionist (CHN) with AFPA in February of 2019.
Although Kait chooses to eat a vegan diet for ethical reasons, she realizes that this is not for everyone. And as a nutritionist it is her goal to develop a way of eating that works specifically for each individual client. The emphasis being on implementing a more whole foods, plant-based style of eating. By prioritizing on eating whole unprocessed foods like vegetables, whole grains, beans, fruit, and nuts, and working to eliminate the refined and processed foods that can wreak havoc on your body. The overall goals being disease prevention, management, and reversal; developing lifestyle and eating habits that are sustainable and promote overall health and longevity; and learning to make healthy, knowledgeable choices that allow you to enjoy the food you eat while still being able to emerge as the healthiest, happiest, and best version of yourself!