The path that led me to become a massage therapist.

I get asked all the time “why did you become a massage therapist?” and “what drew you to this career choice?”   As with most things in life, there is a simple answer and a more in-depth answer to these questions.  Simply put, because I love massages! Also, I love helping people and I have always been a tactile person.   Put those three things together and you get a massage therapist. 

In order for me to truly answer the above questions, I would have to talk about my life growing up; my upbringing, my experiences, where I have been and where I want to go, but that would be a whole autobiography!  So, without going into my full life history in detail, I will just give you the summarized version of why and what lead me to become a massage therapist.  

First, I grew up in a tactile family.  We are all huggers, love a good back scratch, and enjoy shoulder rubs.  They feel good and there is something to be said by these nonverbal actions that convey love, caring, strength, understanding, comfort, and wellness.  I learned from an early age that the power of touch has strong healing capabilities.  It can soothe the body and soul.  It can calm the mind.  As I got older and dancing became my sport of choice, I realized that massages can also help reduce sore muscles and increase recovery time.  I found myself frequently massaging my own feet and calves between practices and competitions. 

I then went down to Eugene and attended University of Oregon to get my four year bachelor’s degree.  During that time, I found myself asking for massage gift certificates for every Christmas and birthday.  I found massages to be a great way to relieve stress and tension, especially after taking all those finals.  I soon noticed that my friends would often have me give them shoulder and back massages, as well as neck and scalp massages. I am not sure how that happened, but I enjoyed giving them!  That’s when I first started to think about becoming a massage therapist, in college. Needless to say, I did stick to my course and completed my four years to get my bachelors degree. 

Then, as with most twenty-something year olds, I worked various jobs after college, from retail, to non-profits, to working for a major health insurance company.  I loved the structured, organized daily tasks to complete and the steady pay checks.  I didn’t, however, like being cooped up inside and working in cubical-land all day.  I have no problem with authority, but I hated feeling like I was in the movie “Office Space” where I would have five different people tell me that I made one little mistake.  That’s when I came back to my thoughts about massage therapy. 

I was about to turn thirty and did some soul searching about what I really wanted to do and who I wanted to be in life. 

What was my passion? 

I wanted to find a way that I could help people.  I loved the non-profit work, but it was all behind the scenes work, not really knowing if what I was doing was truly benefiting people’s lives in a positive way.  I wanted to be more tactile, more hands on. 

Then it all became clear; massage.  I love to receive massages, I enjoy giving massages, and massage is a tactile, hands-on approach to helping others feel better and promotes health and healing.  The decision was made.  I did my research on schools to attend in Oregon and enrolled in East West College of the Healing Arts to became a massage therapist.  It was the best decision I have ever made.  In September 2010, I had become a licensed massage therapist and started my own private practice. I am self-employed, and loving every minute of it.  I found my passion in massage and made it my career.