Awaken Bastrop promotes wellness community through 3-business collective - Community Impact

[Dacia Garcia]

From the outside, a small yellow house illuminates a cozy atmosphere in the heart of downtown Bastrop. Three businesses call the building home: Admiring You Wellness, True Massage and Wellness and Christopher Andrew Hair.
Meet the owners

Owner of Admiring You Wellness Isabel Meijering opened the practice in Austin in 2020 before moving to Bastrop in 2022. The business offers cupping therapy, acupuncture, life coaching and microneedling, as stated on its website.

“The people here are so loyal and kind and just ready for different experiences than what they've had in terms of health and in the medical system,” Meijering said. "It's been really fun to get to know the community but also to educate and provide services that haven't been here for all that long.”

Meijering won the title Best of Bastrop Acupuncturist in October 2024. She said her combination of emotional and physical health helps her business stand apart in the wellness community.

“I love to blend acupuncture, cupping or herbs with also working on whatever is happening in your mind—limiting beliefs, working on releasing old stagnant emotions,” Meijering said. “It’s a really fun and creative blend of modalities to get a well-rounded approach that I don’t always see with practitioners.”

Meijering provides free 15-minute consultations for new clients who are interested in learning how her holistic approach can be used for any healing or wellness situations they are experiencing.

Admiring You Wellness has services ranging from acupuncture to cupping in addition to life coaching. (Courtesy Admiring You Wellness)

Sara Walli, owner of True Massage and Wellness, offers clients four types of massages: prenatal, integrative, manual lymphatic drainage and a mini-massage for pre-existing clients. She said she focuses on creating a comfortable atmosphere for her work to help clients feel supported in their wellness journey.

“Massage is a way for people to come together as the best version of themselves and it’s a peaceful energy,” Walli said.

Despite being located in the same building, Walli said each business owner creates their own environment in their respective spaces to differentiate themselves from one another.

“Each of our rooms has a different theme, so my room is different from the rest of the building,” Walli said. “Once you come in you don’t even feel like you’re in the regular world, which is what I wanted.”

True Massage and Wellness offers several massage types including prenatal and lymphatic drainage. (Courtesy True Massage and Wellness)

Christopher Andrew Hair was founded in 2017 and offers energetic hairdressing services, which Walli characterizes as hair services with energy work. The services include haircuts, maintenance color, transformational color and scalp therapy. The business relocated to the shared house space a little over a year ago and Andrew was the mastermind behind the collective, Meijering said.

“We refer back and forth together a lot so we’ll get to see our clients coming in to see each other and it makes it feel like a really tight sense of community,” Meijering said.

Awaken Bastrop houses a collective of three business: Admiring You Wellness, True Massage and Wellness and Christopher Andrew Hair. (Courtesy Awaken Bastrop)

The impact

The Bastrop community has been positively receptive to the collective with customers approaching each business with an open mind, Walli said.

“We definitely have some curious people come in and we have a high return rate, like once they try massage or acupuncture or hair, I see their face again,” Walli said.

Looking forward

When asked what the future hopes for Awaken Bastrop are, Walli said the group hopes to continue their work in the local community.

“Just keep growing individually as our own businesses and collectively keep taking care of people,” Walli said.