02/06/2026
Why the heck would a massage therapist read books to their client??
The short answer is not all clients are the same. The long answer involves breaking down and rebuilding what bodywork can be.
Today I was working with my long time client, Z. Z is a thirtysomething year old man who’s initial intake paperwork mentioned back pain and depression, two very common reasons folks come see me. But his sessions work a little differently than most. We generally break our 100 minute session into 2 parts:
1️⃣Massage & guided meditation
•this involves standard integrative massage
•also involves meditation, visualization, and breath work
2️⃣Active, activity based meditation
•usually we read a book related to mindfulness
•sometimes we use somatic activity cards
•sometimes we do tapping
•recently we’ve been writing hikus together. Z loves it and it’s been so much fun!
•there is often a touch aspect of this. He will hold my hand or elbow while we read. If we are counting syllables for our hiku we will pat our knees to the beat.
For context, Z has some disabilities. He can’t see, he uses hearing aids, and has some intellectual disabilities which means he will likely never live on his own. The work that we do centers groundedness and feeling at home in his body through touch and mindfulness. I’ll admit, it took some time to figure out! I’m cautious not to cross into “therapy” territory (which is way outside my scope of practice). My other job outside of massage is as an adaptive ski instructor for folks with disabilities. I’ve learned from my amazing coworkers and bosses that you often need to be open minded in both your approach and goals. When we think creatively and use our professional expertise, we can design treatment plans that are more adaptive and effective for everyone.
So grateful to my adaptive massage clients and all you wonderful folks who make my work so meaningful and fun 💜🌼