In the late 1990s, I was working as a recruiter in Toronto and studying towards my Masters in Counselling Psychology. Although I enjoyed recruiting, being a therapist was the long term goal. The circumstances of my life moved me to Florida, where I was temporarily unable to work or continue with my Masters. I was a fitness nut so I spent most of my time running, swimming, golfing, doing yoga, strength training and spinning. With all of that activity, I ended up with some overuse injuries. One hip injury, specifically, changed the course of my life. I sought help and answers from medical doctors, a chiropractor, physiotherapist and my personal trainer. No one could figure out what was wrong. Lisa, my favourite spin instructor, was also a massage therapist. I had very little massage experience, except once on a beach and once as a pre-wedding present for stress relief. Lisa had a house-call business, so she came to my place, set up her table, and started digging around my hip. In almost no time, she found the problem. She introduced me to both my psoas muscle and the therapeutic power of massage therapy that day. After a few treatments, I was feeling much better and also inspired. I loved that Lisa was able to do something physical with her body that made such an impact on mine. I was also intrigued by her self-employment and her house-calls. It seemed like a great gig!
I started thinking about changing my career focus from psychotherapy to massage therapy. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. Fitness had led me to a fascination with anatomy and the idea of a physical job really jived with my high energy level. I moved back to Toronto in January 2001 and enrolled at the Sutherland-Chan School of Massage Therapy.
Since becoming an RMT in 2002, I’ve worked in several different environments. Upon graduation, I immediately followed in Lisa’s footsteps and built a small house-call practice. For a few years, it expanded to some workplace massage, doing treatments for employees at their offices. In addition to my personal practice, I worked in two fitness environments over the years. I love the relationship of fitness and sports to massage. Working with athletes is extremely interesting and rewarding for me and I have had the pleasure of working with several Olympic and professional athletes and countless weekend warriors. Being the active person that I am and being a bit injury prone, I can often relate to athletes. I understand their pain. I can find hot spots on a runner’s body they didn’t even know they had!
Four years ago, I decided to pursue a massage job close to home. My family has become ingrained in the Long Branch community over the years. I have lived here for 18 years and my husband has for almost 25. My son was born here, goes to school and plays sports here, and many of our closest friends live here. My husband’s business, Atlas POS, is here and I’ve taught spinning and fitness classes on Lake Shore for 13 years. I eat here, drink here, shop here, work out here and get all my personal services and treatments done here. It only makes sense that I work here too. I was lucky to be referred to Dr. DeCunha at One Health Services at the beginning of my job search so I didn’t have to look very far for a fabulous neighbourhood clinic to work at. It was a great move for me. I really treating local clients and strengthening even more, my connection to Long Branch. What’s more, I love my three minute commute!
Why come see me for a massage?
