Layers…

The layers of the body: my evolution as a manual therapist for the last 10 years.

I have been moving through an interesting shift inside my practice as a manual therapist in this year of 2024. Ten years after I started massage school. I have started to see my own patterns in treatment and the friction inside my mind between eastern and western perspectives. Or more literally, the friction between strict anatomical and physiological perspectives vs. holistic perspectives.

I have spent all of my career reading, exploring, training and experiencing holism in the humans I work on but I still have stubborn structures in my mind about body-work. So while I see each human as a single interconnected presence; The body mind and spirit as inseparable every sensation, breath and feeling is part of the same tapestry — sometimes I catch myself still chasing pain in an anatomical sense.

I plan on writing quite a few pieces about this journey as I pick apart and challenge my style of body-work and look toward what I have learned over the years and what I want to spend more time putting into the work I do on the table. I want to be a manual therapist for the rest of my life and I am old enough to know that spending time narrating, visualizing and challenging your thoughts and patterns of behaviours is fundamental to a life (or practice) that grows and matures.

I can’t start writing anything of this nature without stopping to make note of one fundamental part of all my work. My clients. I am going to attempt to put into words the depth of gratitude I feel toward each client I have ever had the privilege to work with. My life and work are built on a foundation of trust— trust that my clients place in me to care for their bodies, not only in isolated sessions but often over years as they navigate the complex and ever-shifting landscape of their lives.

I am profoundly curious and passionate about the human body and this work is a journey on my side of the table, as much as it is on the client’s side. Each person brings their own unique blend of needs, stories and rhythms to balance. Being a part of that process feels incredible. It is a joy and an honour to be invited to support everyone I meet on their path of living life in these human bodies.

My current patterns that irritate me because I “know” better are as follows; providing familiar sessions to long time clients because I do not want to disappoint them. I often feel obligated to offer as much satisfaction as I can because I respect the money and time my clients invest in me. But this often leaves me working with old tools and skills instead of allowing my more holistic approach that I have cultivated in my MIND to come through in my practice. Of course there is the ever present elephant in the room that if you book in because your neck hurts, you’re going to be very irritated if I do not put my hands on your neck. These small but important pieces often dictate what happens on the table more-so that I would like, in the limited time I have with my clients.

My “routine” massage sessions follow an established pattern from the early years of my career, I of course have evolved a lot of techniques over time, but overall I still feel very boxed in by the standard 60 minute massage model. In that model— clients often expect that my hands will be on them for those full 60 minutes. The reality is as I am evolving and maturing as a practitioner is slowing down enough for the body to respond and doing less per session. Which feels like blasphemy to say out loud.

But in truth, most of my success stories come from slowing down to the individual body’s pace. Which is often much slower than my mind, or my client’s mind. And much slower than our expectations.

It is a struggle to acknowledge and practice that truth, but as I head into 2025, I plan on honouring the slow. Slowing down and filling myself so that I can stand by my table with a full cup. Slowing down with my clients to allow the depth that is waiting just beyond our busyness. To honour the stillness that is the fulcrum of healing.

I look forward to seeing you on my table and continuing our mutual evolutions.

To another 10 years of manual therapy!

Samantha