Written by: Payton Gabaldon
I’ve always been a creative and athletic person, and that creativity and athleticism has expressed itself in many different outlets throughout my life. One of those outlets was dance, which I believe is very similar to massage therapy. Let me explain…
I was a dancer from age 10 to 15, and I was very passionate about it. It combined my love for music and movement, and when I was doing it, I felt free. Being a quiet, shy, & socially anxious adolescent around most people (aside from my best friends), dance was an outlet that allowed me to express myself without having to say a word. I only stopped dancing at studios and on teams because I didn’t like the cliquey aspect that inherently comes with it all, but I never really stopped dancing! Britney Spears dancing in her living room whilst twirling knives and wearing booty shorts and a crop top isn’t that far off from how I’ve continued dancing almost two decades after my departure from the dance world (I do the same thing in my bedroom and bathroom, so I don’t think she’s crazy. The knives are cool, losers. She’s obviously channeling her inner Beatrix Kiddo. *However I haven’t attempted the knives part…yet.*).
However, since 2022, where I dance goes beyond my house; I’ve danced in the massage rooms of every massage place I’ve ever worked at, and I even dance in your home when you have your mobile massage session with me.
Okay, so I’m not actually twirling around like Britney while you’re laying face-down and snoring on my massage table. That would be funny, though. HOWEVER, I love doing massage so much because to me, massage is like a dance.
When I was a dancer, I learned many different techniques and types of dancing. As for techniques, you’ve got turns-in-second, pirouettes, jazz walks, jazz squares, leaps, kicks, arabesques, etc., and as for types of dancing, you’ve got ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, lyrical, etc. I also learned how to dance to counts of eight, so each move landed on a one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, or eight during whatever song we were dancing to.
Once a dancer has practiced and become sufficient at these techniques and styles, it’s time for choreography. I was on a competitive dance team at my studio (as well as my high school’s dance team right before I quit), so our teachers would choreograph several different dance routines to whatever music they chose for us, and my team would perform them at an array of dance competitions and end-of-the-year recitals.
When a choreographer choreographs a dance and engages in the creative process, they are taking into account everything they’ve ever learned as a dancer, and then choosing what techniques and style will work for their grand vision of the dance (such as the song choice and emotions they want their audience to feel when watching it), while leaving out what doesn’t. Not every dance routine has a pirouette or arabesque in it, but that doesn’t make it any less of a beautiful dance. It just means that the pirouette or arabesque didn’t fit the vision for what the choreographer was going for when creating their piece. The choreographer then decides how to mix all of their chosen parts together, adding a touch of their own personal style to it, and voila, the dance is now complete! Now, the dancers practice this routine over and over again until it’s near-perfect, perform it on a stage in front of a panel of judges while dressed in bedazzled costumes and are scored for how well they performed it.
To me, the creative process that I just described in dance is nearly identical to massage.
In massage school (and after, in CE classes), I learned so many different modalities and techniques. As for modalities, you’ve got Swedish, deep tissue, trigger point, sports, hot stone, aromatherapy, lomi lomi, Thai, myofascial, etc., and as for techniques, you’ve got circles, tapotement, kneading, pressing, stretching, holding, effleurage, etc. After learning and practicing all of this stuff, you now have a bunch of tools in your toolkit. Along the way, you also discover what works for your own body and what doesn’t. Maybe using your hands and thumbs and bending your wrists too much is hurting you, so you opt to use your forearms, elbows, knees, shins, and feet more often. Or maybe, you can’t get the hang of using your forearms, so you love using your hands for most of your massages. Essentially, you learn what works best for you, and you’re free to discard the rest. Alongside that, you also find out that some techniques feel great on some people, and some don’t, so you adapt your remaining techniques to fit each client.
Just like a dance choreographer, a massage therapist takes into account everything they’ve ever learned as an MT, and then picks and chooses what works for their grand vision of the massage they are about to perform, and leaves out what doesn’t.
When I’m asking you (the client) intake questions before your massage, I’m using whatever information you answer with to imagine that your customized massage would look like in my head. I’m deciding what’s going to work for your body (and my body), and what won’t, based on any injuries, medical conditions, allergies, and preferences you may share with me (like what kind of pressure you like, whether you want it to be therapeutic/relaxing/or both, not liking your head touched, being ticklish on your feet, having sciatica, etc.).
Then, once you’re on the table, I perform this customized routine for you, adapting as I go based on what you communicate with me throughout the session (“Can you go a little deeper on my lower back? Can you add some extra time for my scalp? Can you go a little lighter on that stretch? Can you add some aromatherapy at the end?”), while simultaneously keeping my own boundaries as my first priority (no, I will not use my hands for most of the massage, period. You are free to find another therapist who will!).
While I’m massaging you, I’m flowing, forward and backward, using my legs in tai-chi motions to channel energy into my upper body. If you were to watch me massage someone, it really does look like I’m dancing (just not as intensely as B. Spears), especially because I use many lomi lomi techniques in most of my traditional massages. Plus, just like a dancer who memorizes their routine in eight-counts, I’m keeping time throughout the entire massage. I decide how much time I’m going to spend on each body part depending on what you requested, making sure I cover everything before that 60 or 90 minutes is up!
Not to mention, there’s always music playing in the background, the lights are sometimes dim besides a candle or lamp as my spotlight, and I’m wearing a uniform (my current version of a bedazzled costume).
At the end of the massage, you judge my performance. You tell me how you feel and what felt good (or if it even felt good at all), you decide how much of a tip to leave (if you leave a tip at all), and finally, you decide if you want to book an appointment with me again in the future.
Sounds pretty dance-y to me!
Ta-da! So, I love massage because it brings out my inner dancer: the part of me that is creative and athletic and lives to move my body and create things with it. I’m very grateful that I was led down a path of very interesting events in my life that ultimately brought me to this career, which I never even knew was a career at all until I was looking on the internet one day for career change ideas sometime around 2020 (although I didn’t decide on it till 2022). In my opinion, everything happens for a reason, and all that happened to lead me to massage therapy only happened once I knew myself better…once I knew with all my heart that it is essential for me to be creative and athletic at work, or else I’ll be absolutely miserable.
So where does Jack White come in? He’s in the title, after all!
I’ve been a big admirer of Jack White since I was 18 years old. I used to go in my car during my lunch break at Target (my first job…I was a cashier + worked in the clothing department *insert barfing noises here*), drive around town and blast “Blue Orchid” from Get Behind Me Satan and “The Hardest Button to Button” from Elephant to escape from the boring, monotony of it all. I still think the White Stripes is the coolest band that ever existed and will ever exist. One of the things I admire about Jack White is how he is a creative person who has expressed himself through many creative outlets throughout his life (sound familiar?). He’s an upholsterer, drummer, guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor (briefly), record company creator, store owner, record pressing plant owner, etc. The point is the man is a multi-faceted creative entertainer, artist, businessman, and entrepreneur who has always stayed true to himself and his vision(s). He has inspired me over the years because he’s living proof that you can be creative in many different ways, that you can succeed in any creative outlet you put your energy into, and that you don’t have to put yourself in one box and spend your entire life doing only one thing. As someone who wants to be creative but also has a lot of interests/hobbies and dislikes the idea of not pursuing all of them in her lifetime, someone like Jack White, a creative self-starter in every sense, made me feel understood, capable, and inspired to live a creative life with no bounds and also helped me believe in myself, because he obviously believed in himself and look at where he is now!
Aside from this, Jack White’s use of color is something that heavily inspired me when creating The Fascia Heeler. For his upholstery business and anything Third Man Records related, Jack sticks to the colors of white, yellow and black. For his solo records, he sticks to the colors of white, black and blue. And of course, for the White Stripes, the signature colors were consistently red, white and black. Color is a powerful thing, and The White Stripes use of color is what originally drew me to the band and made me fall in love with everything about them. With Jack, everything is in 3’s and in color. So when it came to my business design, I decided that color is just as important to me, using pink, black and white for most of what I create on my website, visual content and business cards. I’m not as strict about sticking to the colors as Jack is, for not everything I post contains only these colors, but the point of mostly sticking to them is because using color creates an association in our brain between the color and the thing that’s been colored; in other words, when you see that color somewhere, your brain will remind you of the thing that you’ve subconsciously associated it with. Whenever I see the color red, I immediately think of The White Stripes, without hesitation. Same with a piece of peppermint candy. When you look at something pink, I want you to instantly remember The Fascia Heeler, and hey, maybe you’ll be so inclined to book that much needed appointment with me you’ve been putting off! ‘Cause when I see red, not only do I think of The White Stripes, I start singing “Blue Orchid” in my head and sometimes even search up that iconic From the Basement performance on YouTube. Plus, pink is a happy color, and I want my business to be associated with happiness. 🙂
So, thank you for the inspiration, Mr. Jack White! I’m very grateful to have witnessed that someone can follow multiple creative paths in their life and enjoy + succeed in all of those paths. What an interesting life…a life that is possible for anyone to live who believes in themselves!
There you have it. I love doing anything that allows me to be creative and athletic, so I love dance. Massage is like a dance. Therefore, I love massage. Plus, Jack White’s cool, I’m cool, and if you read this till the end, you’re just as cool. 😉
-The Fascia Heeler ❤
The Fascia Heeler 