Shaking the Table
Why we will never be an online school
“You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.” - Steve Jobs.
I heard this quote on a podcast I was listening to, ear buds in, as I was heading out of Balance Massage Center recently. It stopped me in my tracks in the stairwell while I was lugging three giant bags filled with the day’s linens, my backpack, my purse, and two trash bags to go to the dumpster on my way to the car. I am the type of person that carries ALL of the groceries in at one time, determined to achieve efficiency through the one-trip-wonder. I hit the Back-15-Seconds button. Then I dropped my 7 bags and listened again, making a mental note to write all this down when I got home.
Jobs' quote hit me hard because it clarified the unease I have been feeling these past few months about massage education and the unfortunate direction I’ve been seeing it heading. I opened Balance Massage School of Vermont with a profound mission to shift the very foundation of massage therapy in Vermont. I believe this work requires practitioners who are more present, compassionate, and self-aware. We work one-on-one with people, verbally and physically, and this can be an extremely vulnerable experience for clients. Every single person on the planet has a history with trauma, whether it is “Big T” trauma like abuse or “Little T” trauma such as being picked last for the team. These experiences all have an impact on us and, often without knowing it, we hold them in our physical bodies. Uninformed treatment from any massage therapist has the potential to cause further harm rather than to help. I am on a mission to shake the table, as it were; to increase awareness about the depth of the work we do as massage therapists, and this can only be accomplished through in-person, face-to-face education.
We are not just touching another person’s physical body when we give them a massage, we are coming into contact with the store-house of their lived experiences. The pain, joy, fears and hopes that reside in their structure (their physical body) and their energy (the makeup of their being). This is not to say that every massage treatment results in a life-changing emotional release. However, as professional practitioners, it is imperative we have a thorough understanding and profound respect for the depth of our work and its potential impact on a client’s whole being – physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional.
Massage therapy has been around for hundreds of years as a way of healing and aligning the mind, body, and spirit. It is an ancient craft with its educational roots planted firmly in teachings passed down from teacher to apprentice through generations of healing hands. Massage school has traditionally been a revered year of introspection, self-understanding and growth, risk taking, alignment, and courage building. Beyond the self-growth, a sense of true companionship along the path can be experienced with classmates and instructors. I have life-long soul friends from both massage school and the massage teacher training program I attended. These experiences opened me up, held my hand and led me down a path of true healing. But most importantly, they showed me the kind of massage therapist and instructor I both need and want to be.
There is something about being in the presence of others who are also pursuing growth and healing. There is an energy, a lightness about the space; a trust and camaraderie between souls on similar journeys. There exists a sort of energy stacking that happens, when members of the group build upon the courage of others through mutual trust and vulnerability. The momentum of the group pushes the boundaries of stagnation and comfort zones, which is the essence of expansion. We learn and grow with each other, because of each other, and for each other.
With the advancement of technology and the rising culture of convenience, online learning has entered the arena of massage therapy education. I’m aware of it popping up everywhere and marketed as convenient education, but recently I’ve seen it gaining traction with an exponential increase in schools offering a shift to virtual classes. The learning and healing I experienced through my own in-person, real life training would never have happened through a computer screen. My deep understanding of what it means to connect with another through the human experience would not be fully realized.
I love technology and the ability to connect with loved ones far and wide as much as anyone. My family is sprinkled around the US and England, and my kids get to “see” their cousins through facetime on a regular basis. It’s fantastic, but there is a limit. These zoom chats and facetime interactions do not come close to the real thing. Online learning within the field of massage therapy has a place. It’s wonderful living in Vermont and having access to virtual education from around the world. However, this should be reserved more for continued education and workshops, after the therapist already has a strong foundation of massage education, experience, and a deepening self-awareness. I believe there is a high cost involved in obtaining massage certification through a program that has a substantial portion delivered online. It is trading quality for convenience, depth for ease, and computer screens for connection.
As I have said many times before, massage therapy is more than sound technique, proper body mechanics, and knowledge of muscle attachment sites. These are all vitally important to the field of massage therapy. But the key is that before it is any of these things, massage therapy is a journey of trust. Before a person will ever be able to trust you with their story, their vulnerability, and their body; you will first have to learn how to trust and believe in yourself and the gifts you are here to share. At BMSVT, that journey of discovering, developing, and affirming self-trust is at the center of everything we do. The art of massage therapy – the profound truth of it – can only be taught in the safe container of the massage classroom. We can sense another’s energy and being when they are next to us. We can see their facial expressions and pick up on subtle cues. We gain experience reading others through body language in class, and build trust in ourselves and the work we do.
Learning in person allows for a fullness and richness within the educational experience. We work with people - in real life – through the medium of touch rather than a keyboard. We not only need to learn the art and science of massage, but also the soft skills – which I refer to as ‘courage skills’- to interact with and impact the people who come to us for healing. The complexity and gravity of the human experience is at the heart of what we do.
At BMSVT, in addition to learning techniques and modalities, each student is introduced to a number of “healing practices” that not only help them better understand why their clients have come to them, but also better understand themselves. Authenticity, empathy, unconditional positive regard, mindfulness - these are just a few of the areas we focus on while we learn about muscle structure, physiology, pathology and kinesiology. By taking a whole person approach to learning the art of massage, we learn how to read and reach out to clients where they are in order to empower them toward a place of safety, balance, and peace.
As massage therapists trained in the art and power of touch, it is never our job to do the healing for our clients, but rather to provide them with both an invitation for healing and a safe space – a safe container – in which to begin that work. In this way, over time, we empower our clients to shed what no longer serves them. This is the foundation of massage therapy, and it can only be learned through connection, trust, and compassion; in real life, in the flesh, face to face, and heart to heart. With love, I wholeheartedly reject distance as the new form of togetherness.
Much love,
Steph