Charlotte Bodywork.com ~ About Me

How I came to be a massage therapist:

I am often asked, "how did you get into massage?" For any of this answer to make sense, you have to have a bit of the life change story that comes along with it. In 1997, at the age of 23, I had a sudden, serious illness that resulted in major surgery, a two week stay in the hospital, and a 17 week trip back to surgical recovery. With no insurance, and a $40K collective medical bill, I returned to work stressed out and wondering why all of this had happened to me.

I became intrigued with the medical profession after this, my first stay in a hospital. I saw both good care and bad care. Great bedside manners and those that needed new professions while I was there. When I returned to work, I saw many people everyday that absolutely hated their jobs and felt trapped by 'having' to stay in their careers. I realized that this was a self-percieved 'have to' and that I could do something about my career path. I realized that life was not something that just happened to you. We all make our own choices and the state of our life is a reflection of that. So, I set out to try and find, what I felt, would be a great, life changing career for me.

Then one day, I saw an ad in a local paper that said, "Massage Therapist Needed". I clearly remember thinking, "Wow, it would be great to have a career where you really felt needed everyday." I phoned the man who had run the ad and talked to him for quite awhile about what it was like to be a massage therapist, what was involved, what the work field was like, what education was needed, etc.. He pointed me toward a local massage school that he felt really had a good quality of education.

I called up Southeastern School of Neuromuscular and Massage Therapy and ordered their course catalog. I found out they were having "open house orientations" to learn more about the field, the kind of work they taught, and a demonstration of neuromuscular therapy, so I decided to attend. There must have been 30 people there that night. Everyone asked a few questions and then the demostration was given. The instructor asked if there was anyone there that night that had been having muscular pain problems and would like to volunteer for the demo. He chose a girl who had been in a car wreck about 3 or 4 years ago and had been having intermittant headaches ever since. After 10 minutes, you could have heard a pin drop in that room. The work wasn't at all what I had percieved ALL massage therapies to be. (I think I had envisioned what you see on tv - someone draped in a towel oohing and ahhhing while there were being given a relaxing massage.) He remained seated at the head of the massage table and worked slowly with her head, neck, and shoulders. It was amazing. Everyone was silent.

After about an hour, he got up and asked her to do that same. She didn't even look like the same person. It was if a part of her 'weight' had been lifted. She looked amazed, confused, surprised, and most of all - grateful. It was at that moment that I knew that this was exactly what I had been looking for. This was what I wanted to do. I returned to work the next day, saved up every penny of the tuition, and many months later returned with 'cash on the barrelhead' for my training. About 4 months later, I quit my job and never looked back.

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