08/25/2025
Last week I packed my bags and got on a flight headed down to Dallas for the American Massage Therapy Association Convention. In my 12 years of practice, I’ve never been to a massage convention and oh boy was I missing out. This year, I was fortunate enough to be invited to be a Teacher’s Assistant for my good friend, mentor, and incredible Massage and Energy Work Master Ariel F Hubbard Hubbard. Our class subject: Massage Therapy for Anxiety. The other TA’s and I met up with Ariel at Dallas Airport and there we started our adventure.
The next few days were a flurry of activity, memories and life altering experiences but I’m going to try my best to capture as much of it as possible with my words. Bright and early Thursday morning we met up with the California Chapter of the AMTA for a wonderful complimentary breakfast (Thank you to the Cali Chapter for paying for us even though we’re Washingtonian’s). We were able to chat and connect with therapists from Cali and what was amazing to me was to listen to the stories from their therapists and realize just how lucky Massage Therapist’s in the state of WA are. We are protected, valued, and seen as medical care professionals and that is not the case in most states. WA is one of the most funded states by the AMTA because of our progressive nature and expansive research on MT. Unfortunately, many states still struggle with the stigma of being viewed as a ‘sexualized practice’. It blew my mind to find out that therapists are still fighting so hard to be taken seriously as medical practitioners. With lots of love, I please ask that if you still call Massage Therapists “Masseuses” to shift your words and acknowledge us with the value of other medical practitioner’s by calling us Massage Therapists.
After our enlightening experience meeting and greeting with the wonderful therapists from California, we headed to the convention to attend the opening ceremony. I’m not going to lie, I thought the opening ceremony might be boring, but it was anything but. Our AMTA president is a beautiful woman of color bursting with passion and love and her conviction for taking care of MT’s and spreading healing was so inspiring. All the speakers were engaging, passionate, and uplifting. The last speaker was a motivational speaker by the name of Allison Massari and I can’t even begin to express how profoundly her story about small kindnesses, overcoming the hardest of circumstances, and being compassionate even through hard times changed my life. I highly recommend looking her up if you’re looking for something to restore your faith in humanity. Really, that was one of the integral lessons I walked away with from last week.
Being at the convention was like Disneyland for MT’s. Booth after booth in an exhibition hall of passionate people in the health and wellness field, sharing their products and tools all to help each other create the most dynamic, powerful massage therapy practices. After months of feeling constantly disappointed by the state of things in this country, feeling helpless because I felt like there was nothing I could do to help the people in this country who really needed it, I finally feel like the light in me has reignited. Being in a place where nearly 2,000 other therapists are trying to bring healing and light to the world, despite being underacknowledged for their powerful work, was what my soul so desperately needed. If you’re feeling down about the state of things right now, I want you to know that there is hope. I want you to know that there are thousands of people out there who are fighting for the good things in life, for people’s rights and freedoms. There are people out there willing to help and heal you, please reach out to them and if you don’t know who to reach out to- I am here for you and you can reach out to me at any time, whether it be to schedule a massage or energy work (more about this in the near future), or because you have no one else to talk to- I am here. Connection and each other is what is going to help us through the darkness.
Thursday was a day for connection and networking. I’ve never talked to so many strangers in one day. I’ve always been nervous about marketing and networking, the introverted part of me always shied away from it and let’s be honest- I have some avoidant personality traits. Despite that, I was open-minded and with the help of my colleagues I was able to push through my awkwardness and start connecting with people I didn’t know. I finally lost some of my Seattle freeze energy (it’s seriously a real thing once you visit other states). I was living from such a place of fear and this experience wiped that clean out of my system. I was so afraid of other people, and so afraid to be my authentic self. I’m elated to tell you all today that I was able to grow and become a better version of myself, one who isn’t so scared and one who thrives on connection with others. What a massive win that was.
Thursday night the Washington AMTA chapter invited us to a complimentary Ghost tour in downtown Dallas and we got to have some fun wandering the streets, learning about some history, and going to some creepy spots downtown. Though we didn’t end up seeing any ghosts, Ariel, Rachel and I certainly felt them! Lots of spirit shivers, if you know what I mean. It was wonderful to meet with the Washington chapter and feel inspired to be more active with our state chapter. When we got back to our apartment, Ariel, Rachel, and I were able to have the most wonderful bonding moment, chatting and laughing and simply being silly into the late hours of the night. I had almost forgotten how fun it was to just goof off and laugh and not be afraid of looking stupid. We had the best night, and I’ll never forget it. My lesson here was- sometimes just being silly and having fun is the lesson in itself. Don’t forget how powerful a medicine laughing and joy can be. Thanks ladies, for helping me remember how to let go of productivity and just embrace joy. There’s so much magic in that.
Friday was our big day. Filled with nervous excitement, we were able to have a dynamic, powerful, heartfelt class together. We had about 70 students, and I ran 2 breakout group sessions of 35 people each. This was my first teaching experience and on a national level. Was I nervous? Yes. Did I push through it, put my heart and soul into it, and become a better person for it? Also, yes. It was an amazing class. I got to discuss MT for anxiety with students from all over the country, get their insight and I learned just as much from them as they did from me. One of my favorite parts of the class was the last hour when Ariel really got into her flow, tapped into her amazing wealth of knowledge and had us all acknowledge each other for the work we do. We all stood up, faced each other and looked around the room. She had us think about how many hours of massage we’ve done, how many people we’ve seen and helped in our careers, and I can’t emphasize enough how powerful this was. MT’s don’t get a lot of acknowledgements outside of our clients, so to acknowledge and really see the value of our own work was impactful and important. A lot of us were brought to tears at that moment. As healers, we were finally being seen as the magical, giving people that we truly are. Then we made a massage train like the good old days of massage school and connected with each other in a physical way, just by giving the person in front of us a few minutes of loving attention and care. We tapped into the power of connection, the power of acknowledgement, and with Ariel’s guidance and wisdom we provided a safe space for people to learn, grow, bond, and share with each other. One last thing I want to mention is how cool it was to see how many people were excited about the energy work portion of Ariel’s MT for Anxiety protocol. We use affirmations, acupressure, reflexology, Swedish and energy work in this protocol and it made me so excited to see how many people loved and wanted to learn about the energy work aspect of our work. It’s proof that things are changing in this country and energy work is being valued more than ever. For a brief definition on energy work, it is based off acknowledging that we are all energetic beings, made up of not only physical traits, but metaphysical as well. Energy work is the manipulation of the energy systems we’re comprised of, such as life force or chi, to restore balance and promote holistic health. Practitioners aim to unblock energy pathways, release tension, facilitate the body’s natural healing abilities, and create a deeper connection with the client’s physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies. This approach is rooted in ancient healing traditions. Thanks to Google AI for that perfect, simplified definition.
Friday night, we celebrated and reveled in our successes. We went to the Red River Dancehall and got to see a live band with real line dancing and what a fun time we had shaking it on the dance floor. Thank you to Ariel and Rachel for helping me come out of my shell and let go of some of my more stubborn patterns or fear-based habits. I felt freedom to be who I truly was, without fear of judgment. Being around so many other intuitive beings really helped me level up, energetically- which is why I say this was such a life changing week. I could feel my intuition flowing inside me, I could feel the Reiki (life force energy) charged up inside of me, I could feel the connection to my guides and ancestors, and I finally feel reconnected with the energy that fuels us all. The day of our class also happened to be the birthday of my Grandpa Dan and even though he passed years ago, I felt him with me and supporting me from the other side. On Saturday I had to wait 5 hours in the Dallas airport for my flight and though I was eager to get home, I ended up using that time to sit and reflect about the past few days at the convention. During that time, I felt an energy to the left of me, and I instantly knew it was my grandpa Dan. I had mentioned the day before on a social media post that I had hoped he was proud of me, and he chose that moment in the airport to come up to me and let me know that he was overwhelmingly proud of me. I could feel his embrace; I could feel him hug me and I thanked him for his visit and encouragement. What a powerful moment, and another one that I won’t forget anytime soon.
We got little sleep on this trip, we walked miles and miles every day, we laughed for hours and hours, we talked about all the woo woo things (which was honestly so exciting to be around others who love the woo woo as much as I do). We made friends from all over the country. We got reinspired and motivated and leveled up in so many ways. This week didn’t just level up my career, it leveled up my soul and it changed who I was deep inside. I couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you to all the light workers out there. You never know the impact you can have on another’s life.
If you’d like to get a massage or energy work session with me, please reach out. We have some magic and life-changing work to do.
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