Time to Be Present Wellness

Time to Be Present Wellness occupies a storefront suite on West Orange Avenue in downtown DeFuniak Springs, a short walk from Lake DeFuniak, and it packs an unusually wide range of healing modalities into that single address. Massage therapy anchors the schedule, with Swedish, deep tissue, hot stone, and prenatal work all on offer, aimed at relieving pain, reducing stress, and improving overall well being rather than simply providing a spa treat. The studio also runs Qigong and Tai Chi classes, guided meditation, and sound-bath and chakra-balancing sessions built around crystal bowls and vibrational tone, giving visitors several different entry points into the same underlying goal of slowing down.

Acupuncture and Oriental medicine round out the clinical side of the practice, with facial acupuncture, cupping, gua sha, herbal medicine, and acu-point injection therapy available alongside the bodywork. That breadth comes from a small team of specialists rather than one generalist. Founder Nicole works as both a massage therapist and Qigong teacher, and licensed massage therapist Christine handles bodywork under her own state license. Shannon Faulk, a licensed acupuncture physician and Reiki master, leads the acupuncture and energy work, while Carly brings more than 17 years of experience to the sound-bath sessions. Tammy Kearce, certified in 2025, teaches Tai Chi and Qigong, and Amy Meyer facilitates embodiment and creative wellness work that leans more toward movement and self-expression than traditional massage.

The studio describes its approach as holistic, aiming to empower visitors to take charge of their own health through education, support, and personalized care rather than a one-size-fits-all treatment menu. That shows up in small touches like a free weekly Tai Chi and Tea session on Wednesday afternoons, pairing gentle movement with herbal tea in a no-pressure, drop-in format that gives newcomers a low-stakes way to try the practice before committing to a class series or private session.

The studio also rents out its space for continuing education and training programs, with room for four to six massage tables plus chairs and bolsters, and a projector and screen included for instructors who need to present material. That dual identity, working studio by day and rentable classroom space for visiting educators, keeps the address busy with a rotating mix of local regulars and traveling practitioners.

For visitors exploring DeFuniak Springs, the studio is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and closed Sundays, hours generous enough to fit around a day of sightseeing around the lake or a stop at the Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood. Booking runs through the studio’s online scheduling system, with several practitioners keeping their own individual booking links for specialty sessions like sound baths or acupuncture, so it is worth checking which practitioner handles the specific service before reserving a slot.

The studio’s location on West Orange Avenue puts it a few minutes from the shops and cafes of downtown DeFuniak Springs, which makes it easy to build a wellness stop into a longer day of exploring the historic district. A traveler could spend a morning walking the Circle Drive loop past the Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood, then head over for an afternoon massage or a sound bath before dinner, using the studio as a reset point rather than the whole itinerary. Locals treat it the same way, folding a Wednesday Tai Chi and Tea session or a monthly massage appointment into an otherwise ordinary week.

Whether the goal is working out travel tension with a deep tissue massage, trying a sound bath for the first time, or easing into Qigong on a quiet Wednesday afternoon, the studio’s suite on West Orange Avenue offers a calmer counterpoint to a busy beach itinerary, all within easy reach of DeFuniak Springs’ historic downtown core. For anyone building a Panhandle trip around more than sand and surf, a stop here adds a genuinely restorative half day to the schedule, run by a team of licensed and certified practitioners who treat the work as a practice rather than a side hustle.