Being an Ayurvedic Yoga Massage Therapist: Shannon

It’s nice to know the real stories of the people who create the AYM therapist community. How did they come to AYM, why do they do what they do? What’s it really like to be a therapist… All these questions and more are answered in our new feature ‘Being an Ayurvedic Yoga Massage Therapist’. We hope it can inspire you all.

My story by Shannon

As a spiritual person – a Buddhist, for simplicity’s sake – with high ideals for myself, I have come to the path of Ayurvedic massage as an integration of these. The question, “what can I give to others, and how can I be of genuine service in the world?” has motivated me to take up the practice. I was always massaging throughout my school years, and everybody urged me to become a massage therapist. I eventually listened to my intuition and surrendered, making massage therapy a part of my everyday life. Compassion for and taking care of others is truly what inspires me to massage. Ayurvedic massage, as a base, is extremely interesting as I’m a lover of the Vedas and everything Buddhist and Hindu; they have some of the wisest information on the planet regarding health, life flow in general, the cosmos, and more.

My trapped back pain, from emotional circumstances, and its gentle release through being massaged weekly by my own therapist, Jana Rosenbergova, has helped me understand how massage really heals and encourages regrowth on multiple levels. I am also familiar with the muscular and skeletal aches that athletes feel, being an avid daily runner myself. So, this has created empathy and I’m able to understand what the recipient can feel.

Becoming an AYM therapist…

I came to AYM, because I wanted a holistic approach rather than just a focus on the physical body. Just as yoga can just be postures rather than an entire system to reach the divine, so too massage can be only physical; but I didn’t want that. I wanted the whole package that maintains the health of the entire person in the massage — mind and spirit, included.

The best aspect of AYM is that it’s flexible enough to be a completely relaxing massage or we can do deep work in the tissues to release myofascial trigger points, which is a rewarding experience for the client as they release their tensions. I am honoured to be able to help people, and I constantly look forward to our massage sessions.
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Here is a little more about Shannon and how you can book a massage with her! 
If this has inspired you to give learning about massage a go, we have workshops and courses for all levels!