Massage Therapy Journal Spring 2025

20 • Massage Therapy Journal

I began to connect with my work on an entirely different level that leaves me feeling more fulfilled than drained. I left sessions feeling as though I’d just spent an hour in meditation rather than in a workout. Admittedly, I often fall back to working more with muscle than with intention, but the more I am reminded of how things land when I allow myself to slow down, the more I begin to see more clearly that we can have the same, if not better, results with less effort. “This is the real secret of life— to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now— and instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” —ALAN WATTS Self-care is a topic of great interest for those working in health professions because peoples’ understanding of the quality of care comes first from the quality of their providers’ health. Like climbers rappelling down to rescue our comrades, we have to ensure our lines are secure first. “Lines” can represent a lot more than just physical health and stamina. What we need to feel healthy and whole can include a larger circle of care that serves to support us, like our own personal external and internal support systems. Here, we’ve reviewed some of the internal support systems that can be continually enriched through self-awareness. Your internal support systems are as much a part of you as your thoughts and beliefs. They are inseparable from you and, as such, are woven into your work. Developing a life with self-care doesn’t have to be something you need to make extra time for and balance between meeting the demands of the day. It can be something you playfully invite into how you work with others that is both energizing and sustainable for a long and rich life as a massage therapist.

that I tried my best. Unfortunately, I learned fast that “powering through” is not a sustainable way of practicing and quickly led to my injuring myself in various ways. Then, I began watching practitioners who have been in the massage profession for several years, and I noticed something very different about their approach. After performing a technique on a client they would just stop, sit down and take a breath. Without cue, the client would stop and take a breath as well. The session would then continue with another intervention followed by another moment of pause. Seeing this give-and-take had a profound impact on me because I previously felt the need to keep moving for the entire hour in session. I equated the value of the session with how much time my hands were on the client. In this alternative way of working, the value became the level of presence I maintained with the client and how well I could hold a healing space.

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