I was 19 the very first time I had a massage therapy session from a trained person, this being long before massage was as developed as a profession as it is now. The therapist was a nurse who had graduated from a massage school. The cost was ten dollars back then. I entered her session room, which was decorated with muscle and bone charts, with a sense of adventure and trepidation. I left with my life changed, and, even though it took several more years before I actually enrolled in massage and other healing arts schools over the years myself, I knew this was a powerful healing modality that had the potential to meet a being on many levels- physically, emotionally, subtle energy, mental.
( What takes place in a bodywork session? https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/0bad54_32bad38d9fde471aa9b17831fbff4c61.pdf)
Fast forward to now, where we offer a treasured bodywork (Massage Therapy is the proper term as given in the Diploma) program to keep this tradition going forward. I say treasured because I have not forgotten the lessons of that first session, and we have incorporated the energy and lessons of my subsequent training at Kripalu Center (1992, Massachusetts), and Florida School of Massage (1993), and additional important CE I have pursued over the years. Those lessons are to convey just as much in the way of care, of focused nurturing energy, of humility - as skills and techniques.
We are very careful to teach approaches that are effective without pain . There is no truth to the saying "no pain no gain". Healing and well being should be a joyful co-creative experience. Massage techniques can relieve pain in many ways by affecting tissues qualities that may be restricted upon nerves. Session of bodywork can improve sleep quality, emotional well being, trauma states, orthopedic challenges, and structural balance.
Come check it out at our Student Intern Clinic ($30) , or with a professional LMT charging at sliding scale. We do not accept tips . Welcoming questions as always- about the work, the sessions, the modalities, and what a newcomer can expect!
