Your first lesson is patience

Greetings to all; this is the story of me and my soul search through Massage Therapy,

My name is Adrienne Killinger I am a 28 year old Licensed Massage Therapist MA63051. I work at The Stress Relief Clinic located at 5455 4th St North in Saint Petersburg Florida. I am a strong believer in Massage Therapy, but most importantly I’m a strong believer in me and why Massage Therapy is my passion. 

Lately people have been asking me why I chose massage therapy, and each time I give someone an answer it takes me back to the beginning of my journey of soul searching.  I can recall the moments I started understanding the source of my higher powers, I had asked the question; “What is my purpose in life, what is my reason for living?” I was pulling into my driveway, when I heard the words,” I am a healer.”

Since I didn’t understand my answer, I began looking into anything I possibly could. I became a Reiki Master and yes I must admit it was nice at first to be able to understand the energies within the human body, but still I knew I needed something more, could it be Chinese Medicine how can I heal, and make a living out of it as well?

One day as I was driving down the street I drove by Cortiva Institute better known as the Humanities Center for Massage Therapy. It took me a couple of days before I made the appointment to visit with the school. As I walked in just to take a look around the school, I walked out with papers signed. I had no regrets or questions that what I was doing was my calling.

Florida state law requires 500 hour of schooling before you become licensed. At Cortiva Institute I received 250 hours over state requirements, I graduated from the best school in the state of Florida, a lot of the reasons why I am confident in what I do is due to the education I received at Cortiva Institute- Pinellas Park FL. I want to say thank you to all of the Cortiva Staff, from the President Greg Fears who listened to everyone’s problems to the Director of Career Services Paulette Beaudoin who proof reads everything I write, to the Anatomy Instructor Lee Buderus who sat with me almost daily on his own lunch break so that I could understand Anatomy in my own ways, all the way down to the receptionist Kathy Karau in the main entrance answering the phone with “it’s a great day at Cortiva!”  Any Massage magazine you open Cortiva’s name is in there, here I am as a graduate of the school letting everyone who comes to this page know that; yes Cortiva is the best! Thank you to all of the Cortiva staff and instructors.

I have a mentor Craig Frisbee he is a Doctor of Ancient Chinese Medicine, I met him through another DOM Marc Westergard owner of Phoenix Rising. I set up an appointment with Marc for my mother who just 4 weeks prior to her first appointment with Marc had a stroke and was in the hospital, since I was interested in Alternative Medicine, I had requested that I sit in the treatment room with them during the first session. It was that moment I knew that I had found the answers I was searching for!

My first meeting with Craig, I sat down with him and explained how important studying under him was to me, I needed to know everything he could teach me, and I needed to know it soon! Craig then looked at me and said “By Golly I’m honored, and I see that you are very passionate and I am willing to work with you, but I promise you now Adrienne this is a very slow process and your first lesson is patience.”

I have always been known as the sociable, outgoing, bubbly energetic girl, yet not knowing how judgemental I really was so as I sat at Craig’s dining room table for the first time explaining to him how important this was to me, and listening to him tell me about patience I was thinking inside my head “ What does he know about patience, he’s eating Beef and Mixed vegetables from the Chinese Restaurant, making me hungry, why can’t he wait until after I leave to eat his dinner, or at least offer me some while he’s eating in front of me, how rude of him, plus I’m a quick learner I’ll whip right through this!” Never in a million years would I have ever thought that Craig eating in front of me, and I in turn getting hungry would be part of the lesson of patience. The true beginning of life!

I have been seeing Craig for quite some time now, the main reason I wanted to learn from him, was so that I can utilize the skills he was teaching me in my massage practice to be a better therapist. Never once did it occur to me, that what I am learning for massage, would be an everyday use to make me a better person, after all the first person you have to heal is yourself. I suppose you can say that before Craig entered my world, I never really knew who the true Adrienne was, and since every day is a learning experience, there’s not a minute that goes by that Adrienne is learning more about Adrienne, and there is no one in this world that is more proud of me then me. So in addition to giving credit to everyone who has crossed my path from my educators to my life mentor, it is “I” who has done the work.  

More to come of: who I am, and what massage means to me.

This will be a slow process, and your first lesson is patience………