When I was seven years old, my mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Raising a nine-year-old and two seven-year-olds proved challenging, but MS made it more challenging. Initially, her symptoms were manageable, but as the disease progressed, she has days where she is bedridden and can barely walk. Seeing my mother taking pharmaceuticals with harsh side effects left me troubled and wondering if there was a way that I could help her with this disease. When I was younger, I would often rub her feet, hands, and head while she was bedridden in hopes it would ease some of her discomforts.
I wanted to provide holistic care for her and others and this is when I realized I wanted to become a massage therapist. Since then, I have yearned to care for the person as a whole: mind, body, and spirit. Pursuing a greater level of understanding in holistic care is an essential step towards fulfilling my passion to become a massage therapist. I believe massage therapy is a passageway through the body to care for the mind and the spirit.
The most interesting thing that I have learned in massage therapy school so far would be understanding how important it is to center and ground yourself as the massage therapist before giving a massage and how every person’s energy is not only different but how it can be emitted. I have found very quickly how important it is to center and ground yourself before giving a massage. Before clinic, my teacher guides us in a meditation to help with this. I believe that grounding and centering yourself as a massage therapist is one of the most essential aspects of providing a therapeutic massage. Visualizing feelings of comfort, trust, and care diffusing from you and passing this along to the client will allow you to provide a massage with intention.
Also, I say the following quote before each of my clients: “I am grounded. I am centered and I am strong. The energy of the earth flows through me. I am protected and I am safe. I am grounded.” This allows me to be present and aware of myself and what energy I am bringing into the room as well as allowing me to stay aware of the client’s comfort and needs. It allows me to let go of the stress or any hard emotions that are currently going on in my life and allows me to be present in the moment with the client.
I have always felt a person’s energy while I am in the room with them. I never realized how intense that energy can be felt while giving a massage until I went to massage therapy school. During my first clinic, my first client came in and I immediately felt her stress radiating in the room. Soon, I was able to practice maintaining energetic boundaries with the help of my teachers. I believe it is important for massage therapists to not only pay attention to their client’s issues but their own issues as well. I have realized that being aware of my own emotions and troubles helps me recognize which emotions are mine, and which ones are the client’s emotions. Being in tune with my own body first allowed me then to be in tune with the client.
My advice to future students who are about to begin a massage training program: appreciate the knowledge that is passed down through teachers, separate the massage therapist’s needs from the client’s needs, and know that each person’s body is different. Before class begins, our teacher guides us in an opening mantra for Thai massage practice to the Father Doctor Shivago, also known as the “Medicine King” that was the personal physician of the Buddha and the Indian King Bimbisāra. The English translation is as follows:
“We invite the spirit of our father, the Father Doctor Shivago, who comes to us through his saintly life. Please bring to us the knowledge of all nature, that this mantra will show us the true medicine of the Universe. In the name of this mantra, we respect your help and pray that through our bodies you will bring wholeness and health to the body of our client.
The Goddess of healing dwells in the heavens high, while mankind stays in the world below. In the name of the Founder, may the heavens be reflected in the earth below so that this healing medicine may encircle the world.
We pray for the one whom we touch, that he will be happy, and that any illness will be released from him.”
Though this is a mantra for Thai massage practice, I feel that it can be applied to all modalities of massage therapy. It is truly a privilege to acquire the knowledge needed to understand and practice the healing touch of massage therapy and I believe it is important to respect and acknowledge passed down to students. I suggest not only doing this while you are a massage therapy student but as your progress in your journey as well. Even after we graduate from this program, we will forever be learning something new and is important to be thankful for this knowledge.
Since each person’s body is different, not every massage is the same. Realize that while you may prefer a firmer touch or would prefer to focus on a certain area of your body, does not necessarily mean that your client will want the same. Address the client’s needs while reviewing their intake form and during the massage. Practice makes perfect! Practicing the modalities you have learned throughout school frequently with various clients will allow you to fine-tune your skills tremendously. While in massage therapy school, provide constructive feedback to your fellow colleagues and ask them to do the same.
As Amrit Desai put it ever so elegantly, “do everything with so much love in your heart that you would never want to do it any other way.” I believe that if you have a passion for wanting to heal others with your touch, massage therapy school is exactly where you should be. Not only will you end with the gift of giving and healing, but you will also be surrounded by like-minded individuals that will support you in ways you never knew you needed.
