My First Experiences as a Therapist were pretty encouraging
I have had many different experiences, some extremely enlightening and enjoyable and others have been a bit scary and uncomfortable. I have found the different sexes can view massage in a very different light.
When I first started massage classes, I had already been working on several different people, my family loved my massages, my friends and those in my social community were always grateful for an opportunity to get on my table. On one particular situation, my pastor’s wife had constant pain in her tail bone. She could not sit or stand for any length of time without excruciating pain. I had just purchased a table for my home use and was “experimenting” on anyone who would dare to lie on my table, knowing I was not certified. My pastor’s wife was one of those people. She was always reticent to be a guinea pig for me, but knew also she needed help in the worst way. She finally consented one day and we made a date for her to come see me and allow me the opportunity to work on her hips and legs.
She was a large woman but not overly obese.
She tried to be pleasant but it was obvious any movement was difficult as she was in constant pain. We talked about most anything while she was on my table I discovered there was a knot around her tail bone area and worked with miniscule strokes with my thumbs to release some of the frozen muscles that were around the coccyx. I started on top of her shoulders as our muscles are all connected and worked down the body to the feet in smooth relaxing strokes. Effleurage is one of my favorite things to do on one who is just all tensed up. Once I was able to get her to relax, then I went back and worked on the areas I found along her spine that seemed to be stiff and would not release under my hands the first time. As I worked with gentle strokes, tiny strokes, I could sense more release as I worked….with an OOH….and AHH from a muffled voice. I worked on the bottoms of the feet and pressed into the bottom of the feet where the pressure points are located that have to do with the lower part of the body. Then I went back up and specifically worked on her lower back with tiny back and forth strokes which will release tiny pockets of built-up toxins. Seems our bodies pile up toxins in the weakest link. With using the short small back and forth strokes I worked till I sensed there might be some relief. I finished just after an hour and she wrapped a sheet around her and sat in the chair and began to visit with me. Her face was calm and serene different from the stressed look she wore most of the time.
I asked, “How’s the pain in your butt?” A look of astonishment came over her face and she responded, I forgot all about the pain, it’s lifted, with a bit of water developing in her right eye. I was elated. That was before I became a trained therapist. She said to me, “You need to get your license, honey. You have a gift.” Being my pastor’s wife, I seemed to take it to heart. I had worked on many other people but her encouraging words seemed to be right from a place of prophetic utterance. It resonated within my soul.
Fast forward, I have moved to Texas to get my license, living with my sister whose generosity made receiving my massage therapy license possible. I really didn’t want to go South at the time, it seemed like God would take no for an answer. I had been laid off from my job at Sony for some time now, and it seemed it might be a good thing to move forward with something different. I had no idea what, so I kept asking, as I still was not wanting to go back to Texas and live with my sister. It did seem like a perfect time to gather my things and make the move, but after 3 weeks, I was still very resistant. Then one day I prayed, “Father I really need to know what you want for me. Where shall I go and what shall I do with my life now that I’m single again and have no real income. My Father spoke, I’ve already shown you what to do and I saw my sister’s face and her offer in front of me as plain as day. I raised my hands and thanked him and began to make plans to sell everything I could rented a U-haul, left my faithful little Honda at my son’s to sell and I was off to Texas.
I learned a lot in massage school, but my greatest lessons were living with my sister and realizing how much healing from my past I needed still to receive. God brought me there for a two-fold experience. Every day is a new day with the Lord and it proved to be such an amazing time of growth. I worked for an auto-parts store in the daytime and went to school at night. God provided a small vehicle for me immediately that was perfect. Jehovah Jireh (Yahweh provides). His provision was over and above.
Fast forwarding, the end of class was just around the corner. One of our requirements was to give the public massages. We learned on each other, but it was important to work on strangers to get the experience and feel of what it might be like to have new clients. I had several people who ended up asking for me again and again. I found out that one of the massage therapists had overheard a client say. “I’ve never had such a release in my neck. She fixed my neck.” I had another client who had knee issues and spent the better part of the time working on her knees and around the area. She said her knees had not hurt her since. I believe God gave me grace and such unmerited favor during those days. It seemed even though I was so traumatized by my divorce and other things that happened after the divorce, I still felt those childhood fears return and again, the feeling of being a misfit permeated my life. Nevertheless, God blessed me and showed me He had brought me there and it gave me more assurance and courage than I might have had, otherwise. He was so “omnipresent.”
I graduated and began to look for where God might want me to work. It seemed I needed to move out from my sister’s place and every place I looked for a job or a place to live the doors were closed. I had been talking to a long-time friend during this time in the evenings after school on my way home most every evening. His wife had left him and we had always enjoyed visiting with each other when we all used to go to church together in Dallas when I lived there. He asked me to come to Washington to find out if there was hope for some kind of relationship there. Since every other door seemed to be shut, I prayed about going. I had my eyes closed as I was praying. In my minds eye, I saw a map of the US. There was a road from Texas to the ocean ….a winding road, but led me straight to the ocean. I thought that was strange, since he lived in Seattle several hours from the ocean.
I arrived and my first job was to give his sister a massage. She was leary of anyone working on her back because of the rod that had been placed there after a car accident. I asked her if I could gently use back and forth strokes and if it caused her pain I would let up but wanted to be specific on all areas that seemed to give her problems. She agreed. I worked on this lady from head to toe……and during this time was so specific in the areas I felt needed attention. I had the time of my life. I so enjoy giving care and love to the body through massage, as it is such a feeling of euphoria for me. I used the same small strokes I used on my pastor’s wife all down her back and took special care to work on her lower back with gentleness and finesse. My hands and fingers seem to always go to the right places. It really amazes me how much I love working on people, as I find I could work on them for 2 hours and never get tired. I do not understand this love of serving I have in my heart, but it is there so deep and seems to serve me well in my newly discovered calling. I could call it a job, but that isn’t how I view it. I see it as a ministry.
After a few months with staying with his mother, I moved in with a 99 year old woman who would hire me to take care of her. I would have the opportunity to utilize all the healthy life style I had acquired during the last 10 years after the demise of my marriage. I had always eaten healthy but it became a ritual and a hobby to bring health to my body, soul and spirit. Part of the deal was to give her a massage every other week or at least once a month. What a blessing it turned out to be. She was a love. I would read books to her every night before bed. We enjoyed each other and I love reading to her and caring for her.
I had another client who had been run over my a car at 13. His leg bothered him throughout his teenage years, it was always getting infected, so they decided to amputate his leg at 18. He was in such pain, not just with the amputated leg but his good leg.. He had fallen when trying to be a bus boy and his good leg flew out from under him going straight out to the side. It damaged ligaments in there as well as some tendons. My chiropractor sent him to me for help. He had constant phantom pain….which is a feeling that the leg is still there and damaged. The surgeon had gathered all the nerve endings and put them in the back of the leg just above where leg was severed and right below the knee. I worked again with tiny back and forth strokes again, on that area to relieve the tension and stress the ball of nerves was causing him. He stood up and was so grateful for the release of pain behind his knee. The next time he return I worked on the good leg. The TFL was so tight on the side of the hip it felt like a bone. I pushed and pushed on this muscle and worked and worked on this area for almost 45 minutes. When he stood up to leave, he was shocked at the difference in his good leg. He was very excited and said he couldn’t wait to return to my table. I was so grateful that the Lord allowed me to work on very special clients that truly needed assistance from deep pain, not just those that wanted a relaxing massage. I most always was sent those that were in excruciating pain. What a joy it is to have someone on your table that can hardly move and then to see them return to almost normal after a few sessions. I feel so privileged and honored.
I’ve learned not every client is suited to every massage therapist. I’ve found that there are some clients I can’t work on as our energy seems to be quite different. Some male clients I’ve turned away as they are expecting more than just a massage. I’m strictly professional and will not tolerate that kind of behaviour on my table.