Kevin Harrigan, owner of Natural Body Health & Wellness, says his clients call his center Ann Arbor’s best secret. But with an average of 50 to 80 clients per day, it might be safe to say the secret is out.

Natural Body Health & Wellness is a demonstration facility for equipment and therapies for natural whole-body health. For a fee, clients can use the equipment as often as they like on a drop-in or a contractual basis.

The center is best known for its Migun Thermal Massage Bed, a device that uses heat and massage to aid with physical disorders.

Harrigan explains that he came to own the facility by first being a loyal Migun user. While carrying out a home construction project, Harrigan was injured and began seeing a chiropractor three times per week. He said the eventual career change was a big step for him after a 15-year career in sales engineering.

“My sister mentioned Migun. I’d never heard of it,” explains Harrigan. He searched out a facility in Ypsilanti. “I realized the benefits, and began needing less chiropractic care.”

Harrigan eventually bought the facility after its owners decided to move out of state. He moved the facility to 500 Eisenhower Parkway in Ann Arbor, and enjoyed a successful business until things took a turn in 2008.

“We saw a dramatic change in October 2008 when the economy started slowing,” he says. “The average of selling 10 units per month came to a definite halt.”

He decided to add additional products to his center for clients to use. Harrigan says his philosophy for the business follows a Korean model, where clients get free use of equipment or pay a nominal fee, and are not pressured to buy.

“We’ve survived. I feel fortunate,” Harrigan says.

According to a press release, Natural Body Health & Wellness has added many new technologies, including an infrared sauna, a $16,000 Range of Motion cross-trainer and a sonic vibration therapy system.

The equipment sounds ultramodern, but Harrigan says the research and science behind it is decades old. Harrigan says items like the sauna and the vibration system are becoming popular among some physicians and sports specialists, but he says he's pleased to make the items available to his clients and the public.

The additional equipment means Harrigan needs a larger facility, which he moved to in January, although he says equipment sales are still slow.

The new location, at 361 W. Eisenhower, fits into the vision of the center, according to manager Kyle Schlabowske, who notes that the new facility is just down the road from the old location, and closer to Whole Foods Market.

“We saw 124 new clients in the first four weeks after the move,” Schlabowske says.

The business is located in a building that also houses a massage therapist and a chiropractic office. The center has bamboo flooring, warm glowing salt lamps, and space to expand.

“It’s a good atmosphere, more relaxed, more chill,” Schlabowske says.

The room to grow is also important to Harrigan: “My goal is to have a complete wellness center, to enhance what we do.”

He would eventually like to add space for yoga, personal training, a salt spa, and even a raw food bar.

Natural Body Health & Wellness 361 W. Eisenhower Parkway, Suite B Ann Arbor, MI 48103