Life is full of moments, some more significant than others. The moment you find your purpose is one to be treasured. Some people experience an early certainty about their calling, while others grapple with questions and inner turmoil before taking the first steps down a new path.
For Jennifer Hagner, her passion emerged quite early in life. As a child, she was paid a quarter to give her family back massages; now she’s a practitioner in Indiana. “I’ve always been fascinated with both the human body and the power of touch,” Hagner says. “There was no question; I felt massage therapy was a part of who I am.” In other cases, like that of Florida resident Shawn McCraw Sr., some must wander a bit further in their journey to fully understand and embrace their passion. “I worked at Winn-Dixie, UPS, First Union National Bank, and Southeast Toyota before realizing I should follow the path that was meant for me,” McCraw says.
Falling into the Field
Some massage therapists are introduced to the field through their own experiences receiving therapeutic touch. Shelby Lynne, a massage therapist from Ohio, describes her situation after falling from a hayloft as a child. “My parents took me to see an amazing chiropractor and his wonderful massage therapists. It only took a couple sessions with them for me to feel a huge difference in every aspect of myself. They educated me about my aches and pains, and I was amazed. I knew then I wanted to do massage. I love being able to do the same for my clients as those wonderful people did for me.”
Enrolled by Fate
Many practitioners are drawn to massage therapy because they truly care about making others feel better, and they understand massage has an incredible ability to comfort those in pain. It is easy to feel helpless when a loved one suffers due to a medical condition, but these massage therapists were able to provide relief while discovering their calling.
When Sandy Xayasouk, a massage therapist from Iowa, visited her great-grandmother in France and saw how much pain she was in, she instinctively rubbed her back. Her motivation was simply to ease her great-grandmother’s pain—she had no idea this kind gesture would lead to a career in massage therapy. “Seeing her pain-free, angelic face made me feel so at peace,” Xayasouk says. “I vowed to my great-grandmother that I would go to school for massage therapy and return to France to stay and take care of her.”
A well-known benefit of massage therapy is that it stimulates circulation and improves blood flow, which proved vital for another massage therapist. Marsha Kinsey’s son was born with a heart defect and was blue from lack of circulation. “A nurse told me to massage my newborn son,” Kinsey recalls. “As I massaged him, his color changed to pretty pink. I will never forget that day.”
Sabrina Merritt from Oregon was in the middle of her massage education when her sister was diagnosed with cancer. At the time, Merritt was enrolled in an oncology massage class and realized how bodywork could apply to her sister’s condition. “The moment I learned there was actually something I could do to help her was a divine moment,” Merritt says.
Like a Light Came On
Bob Jensen, a New York-based massage therapist, had a deeply emotional and psychological connection to realizing his passion for massage. In a previous career, Jensen taught rescue techniques and search-and-recovery protocol to police, fire, and EMS personnel. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Jensen was watching news coverage when he saw something extraordinary. “The TV cameras showed a group of massage therapists working on some rescue workers, helping them to keep going,” Jensen says. “It was like a light came on to help me climb out of the depths of despair. Because I knew what the rescue workers were feeling, I knew that I’d be able to connect with them through massage and help them to let go of their own pain. A lot of my work these days focuses on clients with posttraumatic stress disorder.”