As a licensed massage therapist for over 14 years, I have had the 
opportunity to massage thousands of individuals. Over the course of time, I have seen the numerous reasons for which people of all walks of life seek a massage. There is the student with the mental overload, the athlete who made a bad move during a workout, the financial broker who internalized stress and turned it into a kinked back, the lover who received it as a special gift in celebration of an anniversary or the mom or dad whose children wanted to treat them for all that they do. With these and more individuals, I was always able to see and hear their gratitude for the healing that had taken place but it was not until I became pregnant with my daughter that I, at a very personal level realized the profound and endless benefits that massage therapy brings to a person.
At the “youthful” age of 43, I became pregnant with my first and only child. My desire for a family was a lifelong dream, but it wasn’t until that specific moment in time that the heavens above intervened in my life with their greatest divinity.
I was having a baby! I was overjoyed!
I pictured myself breezing through my pregnancy with the courageous spirit that I had always thought myself to possess. Embarking on this journey as a single woman did not frighten me. I had always been self-sufficient so why should this time be any different?
What I did not count on was how emotionally fragile I was to become with the pregnancy. As my pregnancy progressed so did my sensitivity. I cried at the drop of hat.
We can all come up with a good reason to cry, but this was intense beyond comparison.
Thank God for the back pain that progressively increased which prompted me to call one of my colleagues for a massage.
He soon arrived at my home and I quickly and excitedly proceeded to make myself comfortable on the table; a familiar experience of the past yet a very new one with my 8 month old belly. Upon placing his hands on my head and shoulders, I felt an immediate comfort and reassurance. Not only was I not alone but all would be ok. My friend went on to give me an excellent and skilled therapeutic massage that eliminated all of my back pain but to this day it was the sincere and caring touch that shifted me and brought on a peaceful sense of wellbeing that I can always reference.
The power of touch has been thoroughly documented by research conducted at the University of Miami’s Touch Research Institute. Their research has focused on the development of premature babies who get massaged versus those who do not. Babies who get massage 10 to 15 minutes per day three times a day, gain 47 percent more weight, show better feeding and sleeping patterns, and are able to leave the hospital six days sooner than preemies who do not get massage.
The benefit of touch is not just for babies. Adults who receive massage therapy report more restful sleep, an increase in work capacity, greater physical agility, greater overall enjoyment and more patience!
Several years have passed since the day my friend massaged me. I make it a point to receive massage with frequency and I am still a practicing massage therapist but now and since then with an even greater appreciation and a profound awareness of the healing, the love and compassion that is transmitted in the practice of this science.
