Massage & Bodywork magazine once asked in the Speak Your Mind section, “What is the best compliment you’ve received as a therapist?” I didn’t share my answer then, but I will now.

I’ve worked very happily for the past seven years as a massage therapist in one of the nicest day spas in Orange County, California. About three years ago, I received a new client for what you might call a typical 60-minute relaxation massage. She expressed the desire for a stress-relief massage, and I spent the next hour doing my best to provide that for her. As always, once the session was over, I waited outside the room while she rose from the table and slipped on her robe. When she opened the door, she took a deep breath, let out a sigh, and said, “Aaaah! I think if everyone could have a massage like that, we would have world peace.” Think of it! The big WP! I accepted the compliment and seized on the notion.
Ever since then, whenever there is great turmoil in the world and the news in the media is too devastating to get my mind around, I’ve taken to posting on social media by tagging my workplace spa and simply stating, “Massaging For World Peace.” The “likes” and positive reactions roll in. After all, what’s not to like? We’re talking massage, the world, and peace!
In the wake of many recent tragic, tumultuous, and confusing world events, I wanted to talk it out, to dissect and question, and even to rant. None of which are necessarily bad things. But they’re not appropriate in my work space and are sometimes not well received on social media.
So, I simply posted “MFWP: Massaging For World Peace” and went to work with that intent. Let me tell you, it made a difference: in my mind-set, in my connection to the client, and in the energy that flowed from me. Judging from their very positive feedback, my clients all felt it. I didn’t speak to them of it and was largely silent during my sessions, except one: the last client of my last workday of the week was a female, approximately my age, who was having a spa day with a daughter who was the same age as mine. She was a repeat client, very friendly, and we chatted a bit in the opening minutes of the session.
“By the way,” I told her, “my hashtag today is ‘Massaging For World Peace.’” She paused a moment and replied, “Wow. That’s a good thing to do when things are like they are now.” At the end of the massage, she looked up at me and said, “I’m sure you’ve made a few more peaceful people in the world today.” Mission accomplished! Intention fulfilled.
Recently, one of the major massage franchise chains stated in their television ad, “We like to think we’re creating a better world, one massage at a time.” I’m not associated with that chain in a business sense, but I’m wholly associated with them in thought. As touch therapists, it’s not too lofty to believe that we are all out there making the world a better place, one touch and one person at a time. That’s where peace starts—within each heart, mind, and body, our own included. Massage for world peace, friends.

A massage therapist since 2008, Angel Brazil lives, works, and plays as frequently as possible on the sunny shores of Southern California.