Islander Maria Toro has expanded her massage practice, Le Guerisseur — which was voted “Best in Seattle” by Allure Magazine in 2010 — from Queen Anne to the Key Bank building on Mercer Island.

Toro started her practice in Seattle in 2001, emphasizing “natural health through healing massage.” She said her techniques are focused on physical therapy: structurally changing and physically healing the body from a medical perspective.

In fact, her initial plan was to go into the medical field. She switched gears after tagging along with a friend to an orientation session for massage school. When the instructors started talking, she said she got full body chills, and knew it was the career for her.

She graduated at the top of her class, and since then, has been helping people “relax, restore and renew,” and recover from everything from car accidents to jaw pain. “Le Guerrisseur” translates to “the healer.”

Toro decided to move her practice east to meet her clients halfway between Seattle and Bellevue. She said she didn’t want to help people relax, only to have them get stressed out by the traffic coming back to the Island or Eastside. Her new space is serene, safe and convenient.

Four generations of Toro’s family (on her mother’s side, with the last name Smith) have lived on Mercer Island, and she moved back a year ago. She is an avid horse rider and member of the Saddle Club, as well as an athlete who has run the Mercer Island Half Marathon three times and is prepping for the Honolulu Marathon this year.

She said she usually schedules massages right before and after races, but that massage isn’t just for athletic recovery or injury rehabilitation.

“Massage is important on a regular basis,” she said. “It’s maintenance for your body, like taking your car in for a tune-up.”

A perpetual student, she has continued her education in many areas, including earning an inter-oral jaw massage certification to help people with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). She offers injury treatment and therapeutic bodywork, deep tissue massage, sports massage and hot stone massage, and can integrate many different aspects into treatment: aromatherapy, sound healing, reflexology and even medicinal gemstones. She is also interested in acupuncture and naturopathic medicine.

She said that her clients “present something different every time they walk in the door, so it’s nice to have that toolbox.”

Toro’s Mercer Island practice will be open all day on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and in the morning on Monday and Thursday before she heads to Queen Anne for afternoon appointments.

For more, see her blog at relaxwithmariajtoroqueenanne.blogspot.com or visit her office at 2731 77th Ave. SE, Suite 206.