What to Expect in Massage School
Shelley Johnson, LMBT #1619

Massage School is a life changing experience. There really is no other way to describe the overall experience. All of us who decide to go to massage school have our own reasons for wanting to attend. Most believe we will practice massage after finishing massage school, and the majority of us do for some period of time. However, for some, massage school becomes another step in our evolution as a person. It becomes a jumping off point for additional spiritual growth, or the entrance to the path of our real purpose. Or we might find that it opens the door for additional training and perhaps an advanced degree in holistic health. Many massage therapy students find that acting on a belief, a belief that we need to go to massage school, helps us find another path we are meant to take as a result of “doing something” toward a positive outcome.

For me, I chose massage school because I wanted to have a little more control over my destiny. I had been downsized twice, leaving me without income and employment when the idea of going to massage school came into my head ... and by the idea, I mean “the idea that caused me to take action”. I received “my calling” to attend massage school years earlier, but was too busy “being successful and climbing the corporate ladder” to recognize the drastic step I would need to take, changing my life completely from the future I was creating for myself in the corporate world.

Living in Kansas in the early 80s, I received my first massage at the age of 22 and immediately felt a connection to the ancient art of touch. I say I felt a deep connection, BUT I didn’t take action. I knew only one therapist and she worked inside a gym. In order for her to receive training in massage therapy she had to move to Kansas City, MO, because there were no massage schools in our area at the time. So I did not even see massage therapy as a possible career choice at that time. Then I moved to NYC and continued to receive massage therapy. I found a massage therapist who worked out of her apartment – her tiny one-bedroom apartment – yet when I hurt my back, she traveled to mine. It seemed after each session, I would think about massage for days, dreaming about what kind of life a massage therapist must have, and I’d look into training. It was all so foreign to me … where did they get trained? What was required for them to call themselves massage therapists? What kind of quality training was out there for massage therapists? When the Internet became accessible, it was easier to find articles supporting massage therapy, as well as schools and programs. But still, I continued down a life path in the corporate world. That seemed to be my destiny but certainly didn't fill me with any kind of joy or passion. If someone had said to me then that I had the right to feel joy and passion with my job, I would have laughed with sarcasm.

Years later I moved to North Carolina and found another therapist, and still I sought out information about massage. Then one day it happened, the second downsizing. My whole department was laid off and our jobs when to the Philippines. It was time. I knew it. Even as they were telling me to lay off my department, this sacred idea of massage school floated up in my head. It had been laying a pathway for me; I just didn’t realize it at the time. When the news came, I knew where my path was headed. 

From the day I started massage school, until today, ten years later, I recognize making the commitment to attend massage school was the single most important choice I could make in my life. I check in with those I graduated with periodically. Some have stayed in massage. Some have used that choice as a jumping off point. Some have taken completely different paths since massage school, but the consensus is the same – it was the right choice. And it was the most important choice at that time. I have never looked back. There is no doubt, staying in my corporate career I would have earned more money, received more paid vacation, had my health insurance provided, owned a better car, and a bigger house ... but what I gained after attending massage school is worth more than any dollar figure can ever express.

Being a massage therapist requires that you address things inside yourself. Are you emotionally healthy enough to give touch to someone? Are you emotionally strong enough to help  someone else utilizing massage to find his or her own emotional health? Are you physically healthy enough to deliver massage after massage? Are you financially healthy enough to move to a simpler life? 

Massage school challenges you to look at your beliefs, your biases, and your shortcomings. You learn what a miracle the human body is and how it works. Where you attend school may be important. When you attend may be important. But what is most important is the fact that you also have permission to find joy and passion about your life's contribution.
Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. If you are meant to go to massage school, the concept will follow you and circle your life until you do. For those of you that need to make a commitment to do something different with your life – chose massage therapy. Being touched by massage therapy every week while you are in school will change you. How could it not? It changes our clients. It changes our students. Make your decision to change your life today.

Shelley Johnson, LMBT 1619, is a licensed massage therapist in Greensboro, NC. She and Bill Norman began Kneaded Energy as a private massage therapy practice in 2000 at State Street Center for Renewal, which now employs 11 massage therapists. Shelley and Bill are the authors of The Enviable Lifestyle: How to Create a Successful Massage Therapy Business. In 2009, they founded Kneaded Energy School of Massage, which offers a state-licensed 625-hour diploma program with an emphasis on business management to current and aspiring massage therapists. For more information call 336-273-1260 or visit http://www.kneadedenergy.com.