Donna Lewallen is the only, and highly trained, certified Manual Lymphatic Drainage massage therapist in the Santa Rosa Beach/ Destin/ Miramar Beach, Florida area. She is also the only certified Complete Decongestive Therapist on the Emerald Coast. Her education for MLD was an initial 17-hour course with Institute for Integrative Heathcare Studies in 2007. That only ignited her passion for MLD to go deeper into her studies at Norton School of Lymphatic Studies in 2009-2010:(www.nortonschool.com), which was a 147.50 hour CDT course. Here are a few facts to keep in mind when considering the hiring of an MLD practitioner: • MLD is not taught in the basic education of a massage therapist. MLD is not a simple technique and requires years of mastery on the part of the practitioner. • MLD is not something that can be self-taught; an experienced professional must guide the student at every turn. Experienced educators of MLD are few and far between, and often travel around the country to give exclusive, extensive classes on the lymphatic system and also the manual techniques involved. •MLD is NOT the same as a Swedish or 'light' massage. It is not gliding; does not require lotion; is not fast or hard. Working with inexperienced MLD practitioners can be ineffective and even harmful. Each area of the body requires an exact sequence of precise hand movements applied in a specific series of repetitions. MLD must be performed in accordance with the body's natural direction of lymph flow, and this can take hours upon hours of instruction.