The Universe Gives You What You Need

When I enrolled in massage therapy school I had it in my mind that upon graduation,  I wanted to make prenatal massage the focus of my practice.  I wrote a lovely entrance letter stating why I wanted to attend the Lexington Healing Arts Academy and what I hoped to achieve with my education.  Little did I know that after many months of training my whole plan was going to get scrapped.  In my clinic rotation I found that I began to wince every time I was told that I had a prenatal massage client booked.  In fact I often asked other students if they wanted to trade clients so I could duck out of working with pregnant clients.  I felt I was truly in my element when I was doing deep tissue work and therapeutic massage, and although I realized that prenatal massage certainly had health benefits for mother and baby, it was not a massage that I was particularly comfortable doing.

The only other massage that I found equally cringe-worthy was geriatric massage.  Being the deep tissue therapist that I was, I was afraid I would snap the elderly clients into pieces.  I confided to one of my instructors how I felt about working with geriatric clients and she told me that she used to feel the same way but she had since come to specialize with elderly clients and loved it.  She told me that the universe would give me what I needed.  I remembered thinking this would-be hippie was nuttier than Aunt Mattie's fruit cake and that she had not made me feel one bit better.

My first month in student clinic (where students get true hands-on work experience with limited supervision) I was booked consistently with what seemed like every little old lady in Lexington.  My very first client was a lovely retired nurse who chatted with me during her massage and by the end of the hour I found that I genuinely liked working with her.  She felt the same and re-booked with me every week for the next three months of my clinic rotation. My next shift had another over 70's lady who informed me that she had been here the week before and "that other little gal just patted me" and she wanted to stress the fact that she wanted a "real massage".  I honored her wishes and she re-booked with me multiple times as well.  Thanks to these ladies my fear of geriatric massage started to diminish and by the end of my clinic time I found that I really enjoyed working with older clients.

Today, I look forward to seeing my older clients because they have the most amazing stories and I feel honored when they share their life stories with me.  I have heard first-hand recollections about meeting presidents Johnson and Reagan, tales of their involvement in civil rights movement, their ideas of marriage and having a family and how they changed their way of thinking over the years, how they had changed their political party affiliations when they realized they no longer agreed with what their old party stood for, and countless other experiences that are equally fascinating. 

So in retrospect, I must admit my massage therapy instructor's advice was sound.  The universe gave me just what I needed and I now share those words of wisdom with other massage therapists.  Of course when I say the words I secretly hope that I don't come across like Yoda meets Abbie Hoffman.....