My Career: A brief history

From 'Five Phase Theory' to my most recent 'Reflex Therapies'

"We are indivisible." Anodea Judith, 'Eastern Body, Western Mind'.

This blog is prompted by my interest in wanting to post on my site all that I know. Oh man, it's so much. Imposter syndrome is a real thing. My best friend will be the first to help me remember all that I have accomplished. I need that reminder quite often. So, in an effort to keep my friendship alive and not centered around only building myself up, I'm documenting my history here.

The birth

Spring of my Junior year I had no direction and no idea what I wanted to do after high school. In 2004, my family strongly encouraged college, as it would get you a "good" job. Cut to, my mother, father and myself standing in the kitchen silent with focus on brainstorming any and all ideas on what I could do for the rest of my life. At 17 years old, that's how I saw the future. The next move I would make would be my last, essentially. Funny how life looks different at different ages. My mothers shoulders are the perfect height for me to rest my hands on, and subsequently detect tight muscles. As we are brainstorming, im rubbing my mothers shoulders, we discuss more school, but I don't feel compelled to study one thing passionately and I didn't intend to waste time or money. I had an interest in my intro to psych class, but it wasn't enough for me to want to spend 7 years studying. Ideas were shared until my mother turns around to face me and way, "Why not massage?" I'll never forget this moment. It was so out of the blue, not one of us ever had a professional massage before. I was so blown away by this idea, I didn't know enough about it to give a confident answer. So, from there I asked so many questions. To my relief, Vocational school was easier to get in to, no elaborate application process or weeks of waiting to hear back. Thus began my Massage and Bodywork career.

The School's philosophy was rooted in the Five Phase Theory of chinese medicine. They offered a practical/mechanical program that would suffice for a basic career in massage and bodywork. They also had an Energy program that would include attunement in Reiki. I chose the comprehensive, let's learn it all baby!

My first day of school was Reiki I. With my catholic upbringing, it felt wrong, mocking almost. However, after consulting a few mentors, and my own intuition, it felt so right.

This school would provide a wide array of teasers for classes and certifications I would go on to study further.

It would take my full lifetime to achieve the level of Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I can assure you that it has shaped my life in such a positve way. To sum it all into one statement it would only be, 'Everything is connected'.

What I was taught

My education included a moderate exposure to the world of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This subject checked a lot of boxes for me, it all made sense. It was a complicated web of causes and effects, but it was a seamless understanding of the human condition. This initial philosophy taught me to stay open to non-traditional causes/treatments which fit my life philosophy of keeping it non-traditional.

If I only learned one thing from my Reiki attunement, it was boundaries. Transferrence is a major issue in the world of energy work. Have you ever had an encounter that seemed to follow you for the rest of the day/week? Identifying our own protection and boundaries of whose ailments beong to whom, helped me to endure long days/weeks and coming up on two decades of working in other peoples bubbles.

As a spry Licensed Massage Therapist, my initial interests pursued how to make the treatment room comfortable so that the client will feel free to relax and allow for repair and recovery to happen. So, Aromatherapy, My favorite class on Aromatherapy was taught by a nurse from Johns Hopkins. This was empirical evidence that the medical community was open to supplemental ways of helping their patients. I look forward to when all hospitals implement the use of essential oils.

A weekend of learning Ayurvedic massage provided yet another perspective on how to read the body and observe what may be malfunctioning. This course provided a bridge between energy work and bodywork.

My earlier years were spent learning about massage and bodywork from other cultures. When I ran out of the fun classes like Thai massage, Partner Yoga (The school allowed it!), Meditation and others, I started to take more medical/clinical classes. These classes would help me understand what our muscles are really doing under our skin. One class I took a couple times was on the shoulder, not only did we get a closer look at how the shoulder structure operated, we also learned how to unlock any limitations were in place.

Active Isolated stretching helped me to learn that different stretches had times and places. This class covered a lot of partner stretching, but helped me to understand when I should do what stretch and for how long. This course was more for me and my own health goals, as I lifted weights and rode my bike at least 100 miles a week at this point. This class was a fun time travel back to my youth sports days, only now i understood why we stretch before and after activity.

When I moved to Austin I met a few people who were big fans of Dalton Myoskeletal So I took many of these classes. This approach included detailed observation, testing and precise techniques to help specific problems/areas of the body.

Manual Lymphatic Drainage changed my life and how I approached bodywork. Up until I was certified in Klose Manial Lymphatic Drainage Therapy I was neck deep in sports massage, working on some strong athletes that just wanted their muscles 'tore up'! This provided a modality for the other end of the spectrum, for the athletes that needed a gentle recovery after their hard efforts( re: big events). I also provided for many people before and after surgeries and those recovering from fun nights out, sicknesses that they were ready to shake and many plain and simple were curious about the modality.

As of the day I write this the most recent education I had was titled 'Reflex Therapies'. This bridged a lot of gaps I was finding between the intention to relax others in massage and the brains control over relaxing. Many people talk about how they can't relax because their brain is just running all the time. With my decades of personal interest in psychology (not to mention my bachelors in psych) I knew very well that emotions inspire motion and vice versa. So how could I work through the body to soothe the brain? I understood the 'fight or flight' vs 'rest and repair'. Up until this class, I would note the daily pace of my client, did they sit for long periods of time? -steady rapid efflurage to encourage blood flow; Were they constantly moving, never sitting? -very slow compressions to slow the brain. Now I have the key to work more directly with the nervous system.

Extra Curriculars

Sure school and formal education can provide a faster track to success, but there's nothing like the streets. In my free time I nerd out on psychology, I loved Chuck Palaniuk as a kid, because he would always have a well written case study, er, human interest. OKay, my streets weren't very hard. I'm proud of my middle class suburban Iowa ubpringing, thank you. But there is something to say about what we learn outside of the structured programs we pay to absorb.

My most influential 'street cred' is my lifelong athletic career. I'd like to thank my mom for making us ride our bikes as kids, or really just do anything outside. I would have been happy sitting in the front lawn playing Barbies, but my little sister and neighbor friends insisted in high activity games spanning half the neighborhood. My parents made me get a job if I wasn't in sports, so Sports it was. Even in college, I continued my weght training that I started in my track and field days. Cut to: I currently keep a weekly schedule of weight lifting, yoga and cycling. So while I kept moving, I wanted to know how I could continue doing what I love....and I love cycling away from my problems.

I started my Undergraduate journey in 2005. I aquired a double minor in Philosophy and Art. The school didnt have enough philosophy classes for me to major in Philosophy, so I settled for my third love, Psychology. An art degree seemed silly, considering my anarchical philosophies on the subject. How can freedom of expression be graded???? My philosophy journey would support my Massage and Bodywork career as one of the professors was a big fan of Eastern Philosophies. It was all coming together. Psychology would help me to understand the individual perspective and how I can appeal in a helpful and supportive way. This would help me to align my intentions with my actions. If you're thinking, 'psh, Carrie, you're not walking the talk' and/or 'this is formal education...', just know it is a constant practice for me, and I'm not counting this as a forward facing element in my bodywork career. This higher education lays the foundation for me to practice my massage education.

Feng shui helped to shape how I view lighting and placement within my space. It's also very reflective of Traditional Chinese Medicine, I really believe this contributes to the client experience. The methods support a soft, comfortable environment that allows the client to trust and let go.

And finally, nearly 18 years of experience. This experience includes dozens of locations hundreds (thousands?) of clients, many different missions and conversations, a lot of mistakes and surprises galore. From working on my grandma and her friends in the assisted living facility at the ages of 80s and 90s, my bodybuilder boyfriend, powerlifters, cyclists attempting 100-3000+ mile races, festival attendants, ultra marathoners (100ish miles of running on trail!!), weekend warriors, rockstars on tour, breast cancer survivors, a whole rugby team, mothers with 'mommy makeovers', terminal spinal diseases, soccer players, my own family and friends, in airbnbs, their homes, my office, backstage, backyards, a boat, hospitals, hostels, outdoors in the texas summer, outdoors in the Iowa fall, my apartment, their mansion... I hope this list keeps on growing.

Currently, I have been listening to books that have been confirming all my theories of how the body and mind heavily rely on each other. The perpetual question is which came first? If you're open to it, I'm willing to test some theories.