by LEN LEAR

With all that Bridget Yanni has been through in life, it’s quite an accomplishment that she is able to lead a normal, fulfilling life today, much less be a role model who is contributing so much to this community. Bridget, 37, raven-haired and powerfully built, grew up in Mt. Airy and attended Holy Cross Elementary School (her mom worked in the Holy Cross rectory and still does). Today she is the founder of The Amma Center for Bodywork and Massage in Glenside, but the road there was filled with speed bumps and potholes.

Bridget (nee Sharpe) would be the first to say she was not a stellar student. One of five siblings, she left Cecilian Academy to attend the Parkway School in center city, but she dropped out at 16 when she became pregnant. At 17 she married Mark Yanni, a construction worked she met when she was 14 and he was 19. Bridget gave birth to a daughter, Angela, but when the baby was just one and her mom was 18, Mark committed suicide.

Bridget was left both emotionally and financially devastated. With no high school diploma (she eventually earned a GED) and very little money, she wondered how she could possibly support both herself and her baby.

“I started looking for jobs,” explained Yanni, “but what was I qualified for? I did babysitting and worked in a bagel store and an ice cream store, but they were minimum wage-type jobs.”

Finally, a friend suggested she ask for work at Fiesta Pizza at Germantown Avenue and Gravers Lane. She proceeded to get a job there as a waitress and worked on and off for Fiesta for 12 years. She also worked at Campbell’s Place (thanks to a friend, Charlene McNamara), another Fiesta Pizza in Jenkintown and a produce store in Jenkintown for two years cutting fish.

At the age of 26, however, came a seminal moment that changed Bridget’s life in incalculable ways. Her spirits plummeted when an unrequited love affair crashed and she was “dumped.”

“I started looking inward at my character to find out why this man was not in love with me. I decided that I was not very lovable and made up my mind to change myself.”

Bridget walked into the Starlight Journey Book Store in Jenkintown, which sold New Age, self-discovery and self-help books. She asked for a job, not so much for the insignificant salary but so she could read the store’s books without having to buy them. She was hired and stayed there for one year.

“I started reading about spiritual matters which I had not given any thought to before,” explained Yanni. “I learned that I had been engaging in ‘co-dependent’ behavior, that the world is a buffet and that I had been feeding myself McDonald’s spiritual food instead of the really good stuff. So I continued on this spiritual journey — not religious but spiritual.

“I began to realize just how cold and callous I had been to people, although I previously thought I was fine. Before, I might get angry at a customer who had simply asked for a glass of water because I was busy at the time. I became a nicer person, more loving and reliable. I began to truly respect people much more and treat them better.”

Eventually, in 1996 a customer at the book store named Pat Robertson invited Bridget to attend her free meditation classes at the Erdenheim Chiropractic Center. A friend, Nancy Righter, who worked at 3000 B.C. In Chestnut Hill, told Bridget how much the meditation classes had changed her life.

“I wanted a deeper connection to myself, so I took the classes,” explained Bridget. “Pat also brought in teachers for other disciplines like ‘polarity therapy,’ massage therapy, soft tissue re-education and jin shin jytsu. I loved it all; I knew this was a calling for me, life-transforming.”

After the training, Bridget worked at a day spa in New Hope and 3000 B.C. And she did massage at Erdenheim Chiropractic and at Arnold’s Way, a health food store at 276 N. Keswick Ave. in Glenside. She and a chiropractor, Dr. Mike Farrell, attempted to open a yoga wellness center in Glenside, but it never got off the ground. She continued taking classes for both “body work and soul work” at the Fox Chase Medical Mission Sisters’ Center for Human Integration.

In May of this year, Bridget’s dream was realized when she opened the Amma Center in the same space previously occupied by Arnold’s Way. (Amma is a Japanese word for therapeutic massage.) In addition to massage therapy, she and her staff offer a 10-session series of “body work,” including those disciplines mentioned earlier and analyses of clients’ posture and mental, physical and emotional well-being. The first nine sessions are two hours each, and the last one is three hours. (Staff members are Rose Lieber-McKee, Arthur Rivers, Angela Yanni, Debi Shuman, Doire Hewitt, Michelle Kriwasch, Denise Quinn, Constance Faaizah Saafir and Mary Theresa Vogler.)

“This kind of thing is not for everyone,” conceded Bridget, “but there is a huge demand for it, more than enough for all of the people who do this kind of work. More and more people realize they have to get in touch with their inner selves to have a fulfilling life.”

Marcie Berman, a psychologist and Jenkintown resident, has been going to Bridget for years. “I have had many massages with other practitioners,” she said, “but this was my first experience with the spiritual aspect as well. Here you get the physical benefits in addition to the holistic connection between the body, mind and spirit. It’s a whole different dimension. As a psychologist, I have a pretty good handle on this kind of thing, and I can tell you my experiences here have actually changed my (psychology) practice. I even refer patients to Bridget.”

Bridget’s boyfriend, Tom Dennery, is a Kensington native who was an all-American soccer player in the 1980s. His brother, Mike, played pro football for the Oakland Raiders in the 1970s, and his dad, Vince, played for the New York Giants from 1939 to 1941. The family business, Dennery’s Sporting Goods, started in Kensington in 1947 and is now on Rising Sun Avenue in Lawncrest.

Tom and Bridget share a number of remarkable, albeit sad, coincidences. For example, Bridget’s brother, Tom, jumped off a bridge on April 4, 1990. Tom’s brother, Vince, jumped off a bridge on April 7, 1990. The funeral for both was April 9, 1990, and the burial for both was at the Holy Sepulcre Cemetery on the same side of the cemetery, 150 yards apart. “I drove right by the Dennerys as I left the cemetery,” said Bridget, “although I did not know them at the time.”

Tom’s mother’s name is Dorothy, and Bridget’s brother, Tom, had a Godmother whose name is Dorothy. Bridget went to Cecilian Academy, and Tom went to St. Cecilia’s.

“The universe is a great mystery,” said Bridget, “and it reveals itself to people in different ways. I was raised Catholic, and I have a love for the stories taught to me about Jesus, but I don’t believe the universe gets caught up on names or symbols. It is what it is, and if you don’t try to guess or label it, it might show you something extraordinary and change your life.”

For more information about The Amma Center, call 215-572-9881.