I decided to go to massage school in 1991. I had gotten the
book "Hands of Light" and discovered energy work. I realized I should get some
certification to be able to do energy work on people and charge them money. I
didn't really expect to learn much in massage school- I just wanted to practice
what I had learned in the book. After the first class, I realized I had a so
much to learn. After a few classes I became interested in anatomy and injury
work from a very clinical, technical perspective. This was exactly the opposite
of why I had entered massage school. I feel that the combination of anatomically
accurate massage and the energy work perspective make the most perfect blend to
helping clients find healing and recovery from injuries.
2. What do you find most exciting about
bodywork therapy?
I enjoy the fact that each client is unique, and that as a
practitioner, I can keep learning throughout my practice.
3. What is your most favourite bodywork
book?
Kendall and Kendall's Muscles Testing and Function. This book is
about 40 years old, but shows all the tests for each muscle group and detailed
postural evaluation. It is intended for physical therapists, but when combined
with massage, really helps the practitioner to work the correct area of the
body.
4. Which part of the body do you find the
most challenging to work on?
Knees and ankles can be difficult since they are weight
bearing. Even if you release the tissues, the clients are constantly using the
muscles, so they take longer to heal. Shoulder and neck injuries seem to heal
the fastest because the muscles are not constantly under strain, and the effects
of the bodywork in those areas seems to last longer.
5. What advise you can give to fresh
massage therapists who wish to make a career out of it?
Remember that you are communicating to the body below the
level of the persons mind. The body's language is one of movement, pressure,
stretch and resistance. Your bodywork session is a conversation with the body
using this language. Really slow, steady and rhythmical styles of bodywork
communicate healing the best. i.e.- go really slow during your session. If you
are doing fast strokes- you are trying to talk to the body using your mind- you
can't force it. Do the work really slow. Static, sustained pressure and an
attitude of patience will allow the body to heal the best. When working on
clients with injuries, you should learn to test the area, work and re-test
before the session is over. That way you can see if the "conversation" that you
are having with the body is working.
6. How do you see the future of massage
therapy?
There is a trend toward more education and more clinical
training and anatomical knowledge, which is great. Unfortunately, if it is not
coupled with patience, presence and a sense of compassion, we may have a lot of
bodywork "technicians" instead of wholistic practitioners. I see some schools
forgetting to nurture the presence of the practitioner as a healing modality. I
am hopeful that the people that advocate the body-mind connection and teach
energy bodywork and the connection between emotions and physical injuries can
learn to articulate their healing models in a way that is less air-fairy, and
more practical to a main-stream audience.
