I remember sitting in a meeting several years ago wondering how I got there. Not how I physically made it to the room and to my chair, but the turn of events in my life that placed me in a career that I was not feeling very happy with. I was grateful with the opportunity and gave it my best every day, it was a great job. I just felt like I should be doing something that provided more meaning in my life and really felt like I was helping people.
When I mentioned this to my inner circle of friends, they provided feedback like, “follow your heart”, “you’re not getting any younger”, “you’d be crazy to leave such a great job”, and even “these are your prime earning years, stick with where you are”. And so, I did stick with it, but every day my mind entertained little thoughts about what I would really like to be doing with my life.
Several years later, it was a conversation with my mom during time shared with her in hospice care, that changed those little thoughts into something tangible. Mom’s hospice nurses shared with me how therapeutic touch made a significant, measurable difference with depression, anxiety, pain, and comfort experienced by hospice patients. One nurse told me how she relied on massage therapy to help her with the chronic pain she lived with caused by a terrible car accident she was involved in. Therapeutic massage helped her continue a career that she loved. This was when I decided to change my path and with mom’s love and encouragement, I began the journey to become a licensed massage therapist.
The year that followed was certainly demanding. I started my days at 4:15 AM, driving to school, packing breakfasts and lunches, and learning how to study again. I found classes like musculoskeletal and anatomy very challenging yet so very interesting. I had hundreds of flash cards and anatomy coloring books to help me learn muscle insertions and origins. I had classes in physiology, pathology, prenatal massage and eastern methodologies. After eight months and a lot of hard work, I graduated. One week later I passed my board exam. Now I’m licensed in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. I realize this would not have been possible without the support of my husband, my dad, best friends, instructors and fellow students. I am so grateful for each of them.
So here I am, a licensed massage and bodywork therapist. How is it? I can honestly say that I love it! Why?
For reasons like this:
- I had the opportunity to work with people involved in the Helene relief effort. A man, carrying his chainsaw with him, came to me and asked if I could help with the pain in his neck and shoulders and I told him I would certainly try. After about 30 minutes of massage using several techniques learned in school, he stood up, lifted his arms and rolled his neck. A smile formed on his face, and he asked if he could give me a hug.
- I spent a day working in adult day care. I massaged feet, hands, arms, and shoulders of twelve lovely people. Some were a little apprehensive at first, never having a massage. There were smiles, there were stories, and I was asked to come back and see them again. How wonderful for me!
Here I am in my new journey as the Bodywork Traveler, bringing therapeutic massage and bodywork to individuals and the workforce. My mission is to ease the discomforts and pain that my clients experience, so they can live their fullest life.