Who Am I, and Why Am I Here? (part 2)
June 9, 2022 Author: Renée
Cue 2020. Because of the pandemic, the jobs I had been working suddenly weren't anymore. All of a sudden, I had a LOT of time on my hands. Time to think. Time to consider what I REALLY wanted to do with my life. Was I going to go back to massage when it was all over, or should I find something else to do? I'd already tried laying down my career several times over the previous few years (one of which being that time in school wherein I wrote that Life-Changing Essay).
The more I learned about trauma in my personal healing journey, the more I began to envision what "my kind of massaging" might actually look like.
The more I learned about trauma in my personal healing journey, the more I began to envision what "my kind of massaging" might actually look like. By the end of 2020, I had decided that I would indeed stay in the massage field; and furthermore, I would do everything in my power (and rely on a lot more of God's power) to figure out how to bring my long-ago dream of "helping others who had experienced what I had to not be afraid to be touched anymore" to life.
Since then, things have been falling into place in ways I could not even imagine before. I started my business and signed a lease. I started seeing clients at the beginning of 2021. I moved to a much nicer office location in the summer, and registered the name "Reconnect DFW." I started connecting with mental health professionals– and began finding even more relevant, though not massage-specific, resources on trauma as an unexpected result.
I was finally able to attend that far-away, previously cost-prohibitive class at the end of 2021. Oh, how well worth the wait it was! In addition to that class, I have since found some excellent massage-specific classes pertaining to working with trauma– and these have been online, so no travel expenses or time off needed.
In my quest to become a trauma-informed massage therapist, I have learned SO much about trauma, how it affects the physical brain as well as the mind, and how it affects the body.
I have also been reminded just how important touch is to our well-being. Trauma tends to cause people to dissociate– to avoid relating with the physical parts of themselves that were impacted by their trauma. By providing safe, validating touch on the client's terms, I facilitate a "re-connecting" between the client and their body. I help them to learn how the brain and the body can be on the same page again.
There is so much more rolling around in my brain that I want to say, but this has become quite long enough for a first blog post. Suffice it to say that because of a conversation, a dream was birthed; because of an essay, I found my voice; and because of a pandemic, I am living my passion. This little business of mine has become a vehicle for combining the three in ways I never dared to hope.
Back to "Who Am I, and Why Am I Here? Part 1
