The Massage Pundit

There are at least six books entitled “Walking Between the Worlds”.  I’m borrowing the phrase, in this instance, to apply it to the practice of massage and the other things we do in my clinic, which include chiropractic, acupuncture, spa treatments and aesthetics. 

I attended a massage school that has a big focus on energy work, psychosomatic work (mainly on yourself), clearing out your old B.S. (belief systems) and spiritual growth.  It just so happened that the school was located two miles from my house when I had my mid-life crisis and decided to shift careers; I didn’t choose it because it was a woo-woo school, but it wasn’t a deterrent.  I’m a stubborn old wench, and nobody could persuade me to believe in anything I don’t want to believe in.  As students, we weren’t encouraged to believe in anything in particular, just to examine our ingrained learning and to be open to new experiences.  The telephone repairman came in one time when we were having a holotropic breathing session, and asked me if the place was some kind of cult.  We all got a big laugh out of it. 

I practiced Healing Touch for five years before I attended massage school.  I’ve taken a lot of body/mind/spirit oriented classes, for lack of a better term, and experienced a lot of things both in those, and in private sessions with a variety of practitioners, that people might think of as woo-woo (of course, some people still think massage itself is woo-woo), and found a lot of them to be extremely effective and valuable for getting rid of pain, both physical and emotional. In the privacy of my massage room, if I detect that a client might be open to a little clearing in one of those methods, I’ll offer one, but it isn’t what I’m known for. 

I’m coming up on the fifth anniversary of having my clinic open next week; my business has evolved to the point where there are a lot of doctor referrals and about 40% of our business is insurance-based.  Energy work modalities including Reiki and Healing Touch are listed on our brochure with the other services we perform. We sporadically get clients who book energy sessions, and of course every massage practitioner who does any energy work is certainly doing some during massage.  However, of the half-dozen physicians that are actual clients in our office as well as people who refer to us, I don’t think any of them has ever availed themselves of an energy session or referred anyone for anything other than massage, except one doctor who refers for acupuncture. 

I’m a continuing ed provider and host a lot of other instructors at my facility, and I seem to be bombarded by people who want to offer metaphysical classes, or their services, at my facility.  While I might want to avail myself of some of this–somewhere else–I have made the conscious choice to run a more medical type of business, and I won’t be hosting a workshop in Karmic Cleansing by Getting in Touch With Your Animal Spirit or How to Ascend to the Intergalactic Cosmic Federation anytime soon.  I don’t think it would help the credibility that I have worked hard to establish with the physicians in our community.

When you decide what direction you want your business to go in, choose the direction that makes you happy, and the one that you think will help you meet your personal and financial goals.  If you feel comfortable offering tarot readings or past-life regressions on your menu of services, go right ahead.  There’s room in the universe for all of us, the medical massage therapists and the woo-woo massage therapists and everybody in between.  We even cross over and visit each other sometimes.

 Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen