When I was young, I saw a terrible experiment performed on little monkeys to find out the importance of a mother’s touch. What the scientists discovered from this atrocious act was that without the touch of something warm and soft and caring, even animals will fail to thrive. I was fairly young when I discovered this experiment, but I was automatically enthralled. I never wanted to see animals as part of experimentation again, but I also wanted to learn more about touch and the need we all have for it.
Recently entomologists discovered that of all creatures in the whole world, spiders have maternal instincts, specifically those spiders that carry their new born young on their backs. The spiderlings that fell off a mother spider’s back matured much faster, but were less capable at surviving. The spiderlings that remained on the mother’s back matured slower but had a higher likelihood of becoming adults. For me, this restated the importance of touch, of caring, of being cared for.
When I perform Full Body Healing Massage, these sorts of thoughts and feelings are uppermost in my mind. I often say to clients, ‘everyone needs their mother!’ as I tuck the sheets around their shoulders and help them feel safe and secure on my table. I have believed for most of my life that we as a people need to stop saying ‘I don’t care’ or ‘nobody cares’. Usually if someone is saying they don’t care, it’s because they care desperately and are in pain. And when someone says ‘nobody cares’, it’s because that person is drowning in hopelessness and despair. When these people show up for me now, come to my table, I am eager to show them that caring doesn’t have to hurt and doesn’t have to feel like exposure or over-vulnerability. Caring is good. And Everyone deserves it. Everyone.
I have a firm belief that our issues show up in our tissues. If we are experiencing trauma, challenges or even simple daily stressors that we aren’t dealing with, our bodies will suffer. The more we rush, the more we overindulge, the more we stuff our true feelings down into our guts and our bellies, the more our bodies suffer for it. It’s not easy, however, to find ways to handle our day-to-day stress; we have been moving closer and closer as a species towards being able to express our feelings and handle our issues as soon as they occur but we aren’t quite there yet.
Life’s struggles are hard on everybody. People still hold in their tears. People still overeat to handle their emotions and loneliness. And people still pretend they’re okay when really, they want to cry, scream and fall to their knees. All of this unspent emotion and despair can hurt people’s bodies by causing pain and aches that normally wouldn’t be there. People can experience headaches, muscle aches, joint pain and internal issues in their bellies.
In the beginning of my career as a healer, I was ego based and thought that I was going to heal people. I was quickly relieved of that notion by my shamanic teacher. She showed me that learning Reiki, in both the Usui and Karuna styles, meant that I was privileged to help people by merely being present. Their healing wasn’t in my hands, even if they were on my massage table and asking for help. It was never and will never be my role to take away someone’s life lessons. My honoured position was to stand next to them, to witness their journeys, and to help them along their path. What that path is, sometimes they and even I can’t tell. That’s what makes life beautiful.
What makes me get up in the morning, besides the sun, the outdoors, my children – what makes me get up in the morning is knowing that today I might bear witness to something magnificent. It might be someone releasing tears, releasing bad memories, working through daily stress or re-experiencing childhood trauma. Sometimes it’s hard to care for people, especially when I have to see those tears and those hurt and harmed bodies. Sometimes it’s hard to listen to the stories. Sometimes, it’s also hard when someone can’t talk or can’t share because they haven’t found that strength just yet.
When someone comes to my table, it is my honour and privilege to offer them genuine caring. It doesn’t matter if the person is a stranger or someone I know. It doesn’t matter if they’re good or if they think they’re bad, and yes often they think they are. I do my best to offer them a nonjudgmental experience where they can share – or not! There is never any pressure for someone to share their stories.
Originally I offered Reiki as my only service. I then became a certified Mental Health Counselor and offered life coaching. When I moved to Victoria, BC, I learned the art of Healing Massage. The course was brief but the learning was immense. And the first time I performed a massage on my own, I felt Reiki flowing through me like it never had before. I saw the client’s body, I felt what it was asking me to do, I saw the Spirit Guides belonging to the client as well as my Spirit Animals rallying to assist. It was incredible, and even if it was only a massage for the client, it was an eye-opening experience for me. Never before had I been able to work within someone’s aura like I suddenly could.
I started offering Full Body Healing Massage as my main service. Next I learned Indian Head Massage. Coupling that with the full body massage, I offer people a ‘massage plus’ experience; a full session of healing massage, followed by IHM and a crystal facial where I use Starlight Ruby wands to help a person’s face relax and release. The entire experience is incredible! I also use my Reiki skills in each and every session I offer. I can’t help it, and wouldn’t want to if I could.
Since learning Full Body Healing Massage and IHM, I have also learned Crystal Healing Therapy, Sound Healing Therapy and other modalities. I am always learning, and eager to add new tools to my toolkit. Anything I can learn to help me help others excites me so much.
I am honoured and privileged to be able to do what I love as my living. Massage and healing are my main focus in life, after my family, spirituality and beliefs. Helping others can be as simple as being with others while they help themselves. Sometimes it asks more. But this is why I get up in the mornings. This is what makes me happy, makes me fulfilled and gives me purpose.
If you would like a Full Body Healing Massage, or one of my other services, I would be happy to be there for and with you.
