My Eclectic Massage Practice
I think I can say with some confidence that my experience to date has not been the typical 30 years of living in a human body that most people have. I have had many physical training types and with that comes exposure to different treatment practices. Some experience have stood out to me more than others, and those that really worked for me are the ones that most inform my massage practice with my clients.
Movement
I started dance when I was five. By the time I was ten I had done various styles including ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, musical theatre and character/Demi character styles. I also did both artistic and rhythmic gymnastics. All of this I did competitively and for two decades, dance training and performance consumed my life. I was always moving. As a professional dancer one of my favourite workshops was that of Countertechnique by Anouilh van Diik (who at the time was directing Chunky Move, a dance company in Melbourne, Australia). Her teachings integrated a detailed knowledge of anatomy with tools that enabled you to move more efficiently through space and increase longevity in your body. I enjoyed exploring opposition in the body and giving the anatomy a direction rather than using sheer force and muscle tension to create a movement. Another dance experience that really shifted my experience in my body was learning to improvise with choreographer (and good friend) Paul Jackson who used detailed scientific imagery to inform movement improvisational scores. Visualisation remains one of my favourite tools for body connection and sometimes I ask my clients to visualise certain things to help deepen the release work in my massage practice.
Anatomy
I will admit, I find the Latin names of the muscles of the body difficult to remember. However, I still declare myself an anatomy nerd. My father is the main source of this passion. When I was a teenager my Dad became a personal trainer. He was studying anatomy and body mechanics along side my pre professional training and we would often discuss training methods together and share notes. He has an incredible knowledge for the body and has always been a huge advocate for massage and self massage. When I was a pre-teen I injured my hip, and my Dad helped the healing process by following the physiotherapists’s instructions on how to massage and release my ITB and thigh muscles. This was long before foam rollers were a trend like they are now. I supervised everyone in high school and took Physical Education (PE) as an elective. Despite not knowing anything about sports I got top of my class in my anatomy and training programme papers. I continued my passion for anatomy in university where, at the Victorian College of the Arts I completed a Bachelor of Dance which included both weekly kinesiology and feldenkrais classes. They were my favourite classes and changed the way I existed in my body let alone how I moved my body. Kinesiology is something I would love to continue to learn about, as the imagery I learnt at university in these classes are things I work with with almost every massage client.
Teaching/Instructing
Over the course of my dance career I taught many dance classes and workshops and eventually became a barre fitness instructor. I love teaching because I love sharing knowledge and enabling others to learn about their body. Education is a pillar of good healthcare and being a massage therapist gives me the unique privilege of being able to facilitate the self awareness process for each individual who comes for massage work.
By the time I got my certificate in therapeutic massage in 2019, I had already been working with a lot of the ideas I use in my massage practice. Only receiving the formal massage training has given me the best platform in which to work with these ideas with clients. I love my work, and I have many things I want to continue to learn and build on in years to come.
