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Massage - Natural Talent or Taught Skill?
here's the entry i read (hope you don't mind me posting it here Rudy):
As a teacher of massage and lomi lomi I have learned that for every 100 students I was teaching only 3 (at the most) will possess the natural abilities, passion and drive that make a good therapist an exceptionally and profoundly dynamic therapist. This is where I believe that schooling and national certification will always fail. You can train them and model for them all of the powerful attributes for success, they can pass the hardest test in the world, but they and they alone either get it or they don't. As someone who has travelled the globe learning and teaching massage in numerous cultures, I have been more impressed by some (natural talent) that had never spent a day in school. Their intuitive prowess allowed them to see into my tissues what all of the text books and tests couldn't.
thoughts?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Epiphany Hawkins on
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I have been giving my sibling massages since middle or high school. Given a former friend massages in high school; also my ex boyfriend. All out of boredom and wanted to do something. My ex had told me that I was hitting some of the pressure points in his back, then later told me he had mentioned I should become a massage therapist.
Years later, I attend a massage program because of the benefits and what I wanted to do as a whole (teach, start my own business, flexible hours and medical field). Not once thinking about the past and how it made me feel. As the program went on and we began on the lab/hands-on work, both my teachers have told me I am a natural. Toward the ending of my studies I massaged another student who was doing the work for 3 years (went back to school so he could pass the NCE) who told me that I had a touch, I just to work more on technique.
After I completed my school work and graduated, I started my job at Massage Envy. Less than a year of doing this work, clients would ask me, "How long have you been doing this?" I would mention "6/7 months"...."just under a year." Then they would go on to tell me they thought I was in the field for at least 5 years. Coworkers (at the time) also said the same thing.
So in my defense, I believe for some it's a gift to help them prosper. For others, a skill. But for me I would also like to say it's both. (Not to toot my own horn). While in school, I was thinking about specializing in Neuromuscular Therapy. Funny thing is, I am NOW, 3 years later, signed up for a class to start my specialization. I wanted to wait a while, try some other things, and to take a break from any schooling that focused on what I REALLY wanted to do. After reading up on some modalities, my choices of specializations are Neuromuscular Therapy, CranioSacral, Reiki, and possibly Thai Massage. If anything I would want to do Thai Massage on the table instead of the floor. (New York actually have a special class/program for table Thai Massage that I am looking forward to taking in the future.)
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Cohen on
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It is both.
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Permalink Reply by Kay Warren on
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I feel it's both. There is a gift to touch... those that have it have a much easier time learning the skill. Those who have a gift for it are also better at assessment, and bypassing some of the garbage we are taught to get to the core of the problem. There is skill involved, and you can teach certain things. You can teach assessment like putting together a puzzle, but the intuition, that comes with the gift. Some gifts take time to "wake up". There are things I couldn't do with massage in my 20's because of where I was in my head. Now I'm in my late 40's and they're easy. It wasn't a skill I had to learn, it was a place I had to be in my own head and heart. Not everyone who has a love of giving massage needs to be a professional. The pressure of making a living at something can really take the joy out of it.
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