People are often asking me about my career change from marketing to massage and whether I think they should take the same leap.
Of course I can't possibly answer that question but I would say that it's worth looking into if it's something you're interested in...
When you embark on a massage course (or even if you are just
thinking about one) it’s likely that you are hoping that some new opportunities
are going to open up. Perhaps you want to make a significant change in your
life, change careers, change the world! You might have decided that now’s the
time to fit work around your life rather than life around your work, to do
something that makes you feel good and to help people. Or maybe it’s more about
building your own self-confidence and increasing your independence…
When I began my journey there were a few of those factors in
play but I also had a desire to see the world and was looking for a skill I
could learn that would not be limited by country, local culture or even language.
Massage for me was a potential window into a world beyond these borders, an
enabler to travel the world and support myself in the process.
Of course, massage does not transcend all boundaries. In
certain countries you cannot work as a massage therapist unless you trained in
that country. In others you can work but only on a limited basis (and of course
you always need to ensure you have the correct work visas too). But on the
whole I think you’ll find that most places you might want to go will be familiar
with, and think favourably of, Swedish massage such as we teach in our massage
diploma course.
Your options are varied – I had no idea when I started my
course that I would be working in a Canadian mountain resort within 6 months of
graduating, treating skiers and snowboarders by winter and downhill bikers and
golfers by summer! It was a wonderful professional experience but I could just
have easily worked on a cruise ship around the Mediterranean or South America,
done the UK “music festivals circuit” all summer or gone to work in a French
Alpine chalet as an in-house therapist… The world really was my oyster.
And here’s the thing – whether you end up taking your skills
to Australia or Acton you will go on a journey. There’s nothing more
rollercoaster-like than doing a massage diploma course with all the excitement
and trepidation that brings.
But it’s so worth it. At the end of it all you will have
learned the most wonderful skill, have treated and been treated by
fabulous therapists and will be part of a life-long support network, or at least at my school, Essentials for Health, that's true. That journey might only be inside your heart but
it’s one heck of a ride… go for it!
Sarah is the Massage therapy expert at Essentials for Health, a graduate of the school and owner of Edge of Eden in Brentwood, Essex.
