Healers Art

Whether it was watching dancing, extreme sports, free diving, mountaineering, parkour, or the Olympics, I have always been fascinated by what the human body is capable of. During my time studying at Utah College of Massage Therapy, I was able to put that fascination into practice and deepen my understanding of the human body in ways that I had never thought possible. I learned the specifics of how a body moves and about some very common ailments that happen when a body is not allowed that movement; The ins and outs of the musculoskeletal system and the surrounding anatomy; Learning through hands-on training and application, some of the many different ways to manipulate the musculoskeletal and connective tissues of the body (modalities); Along with too many other lessons, lectures, and tidbits of knowledge to put down here. Easily one of my most rewarding and mind bending years to date.

One of the more notable lessons imparted on me by my instructors was during a career class. We had been discussing as a class about which directions to take Massage Therapy upon graduation. Whether those directions were with well known retreat spas, high level sports teams, or hospitals needing specific types of care, nothing was off limits. This exercise was so much fun because, with the help of our instructor, this was the first time a lot of us realized the breadth of where Massage Therapy could take us. After excitedly discussing what the future could hold, our instructor asked us a simple question. “Now that you have these places you want to work at, and people you want to work with, I need to ask you something; Why would they want you?”.

While this may have appeared as quite harsh at first, it provided a simple catalyst for introspection: ‘If everyone in this class with me was given the exact same information to work with, why would anyone want to hire me on, or come to me as a client, over any of my classmates? And not just my classmates, but anyone who has a license, or will ever have a license.’.

With the intensity, pace, and variety of what we were learning, I could hardly do anything more than keep up; yet, my eyes were suddenly opened to the idea that just having a license isn’t enough. It can get you on someone’s radar, but if you have aspirations beyond working for a business that will accept anyone with a license, then you have to increase what you are capable of.

After that class discussion, I thought more about the title I was striving for “Licensed. Massage. Therapist”: ‘The Licensed part is up to me passing the Utah Department of Occupational and Professional Licensing exam after I graduate. The Massage part is being taken care of by the knowledge and hands-on training provided by the school. But the Therapy part is left up to me.’ ‘The application of the different modalities I am certified in is what constitutes the Therapy.’ This idea stuck with me throughout the rest of my education and I was determined to keep exploring what that meant.

After graduating and receiving my license, I took what I had learned from the lessons, lectures, nuggets of knowledge, and hands-on training; and applied them in as many different combinations of modalities as I could come up with to discover how I could set myself apart when it comes to that ‘Therapy’ portion. Over the next few years, working in many different types of businesses, I learned that I have an aptitude for finding the core causes of tension throughout the body. I also found that in applying the tensegral model of the muscles and connective tissues, it was more effective to work on multiple areas of the body at once; and in certain cases, combining that with specific controlled motions from the person receiving the Massage, would result in a deeper and more effective release of the locked muscles. I also discovered that my passion lies in helping people achieve tangible results when receiving Massage Therapy; and that by being included in the process they are more likely to have longer lasting results. The phrase “every body is different.” has also stayed consistently, sometimes annoyingly, true; and every time I have been arrogant enough to think that what has worked for one person will work for the next, I am humbly reminded of that phrase.

To this day, as I adjust what I do to help the specific issues of the body in front of me, I am constantly presented with opportunities to learn from every individual that I get to work with. It amazes me that I get to assist people in relieving pain and discomfort that may have been plaguing them for years, and that I also get to teach simple and actionable changes that can help mitigate the return of these constant issues.

Each and every person that I have had the pleasure to work with over the years has been paramount in my discovery of what ‘Therapy’ means to me as a Massage Therapist and I am happy to keep learning in small and large ways. I don’t believe that I will ever come to an end of what Massage Therapy can teach me, and I don’t think I will ever stop enjoying what I get to do.

If you have ever received a massage and felt that the deeper persistent issues weren’t addressed, or if you are looking for results that are not only felt days later, but results that you can feel as soon as you are standing, then I am the Massage Therapist for you.