Here is the professional story of a winner.
The 1st National Massage Championship gives us, the professional massage therapists, the privilege to be who we are, we can perform a massage as it has been named @free style.
Some of the participants were practicing traditional Swedish massage as taught in classical schools, according to the most popular European tradition.
But the creators of the Canadian contest gave us the choice to do it, WOW!
I didn’t think too long to prepare a 30-minute session as a symbiosis of physical maneuvers and energetic touches.
5 particular techniques were requested strictly and without exception, as a MUST for everyone. Thus, the traditional Swedish moments were kept precisely, by me and by everyone else. In my own practice and in my teachings, I often combine the Swedish touches with the deeper Ayurvedic touches as they are very close in the final results. I brought the Ayurvedic massages back from my 10 years of travel in India, and I now teach them.
The other part of my performance was more intuitive and energetic. For two sessions, the first day and the last day, I had two different modes. On the first day, I was a woman with fewer walking muscles and a lighter body. On the 2nd final day, I was a strong male with different needs in his massage. So my two days of massage were different in some parts.
Both days I worked with a North American drum sound and vibration, a shamanic approach.
Why? To call forth the right presence of energetic and spiritual alignment and to greet our native Canadian ancestors.
And interestingly, after the 30-minute competition, almost all of my competitors said they loved the drumming part because they also felt the strength and presence. The young man, a table model next to me, said he felt my energy waves on him during the performance. We are energy!
I was surprised to see that the Tibetan bowls were used not only by myself but also by at least 3 other massage therapists, all of whom came to the finale. The other participants used tuning forks, cupping, and probably other tools, which I did not notice. We were free to show all the instruments, but not the electrical devices.
On the second day, I chose 3 minutes of massage with Tibetan sticks, tapping with them to stimulate the first energy flow in the body instead of my hands. I was inspired by all the Tibetan teachers and Drahamsala monasteries I have visited before. In fact, I plan to give a masterclass on this technique, as it is quite unique.
Of course, I can’t stay away from my most cherished medical Qigong, which I learned firsthand from Chinese master Mingtang Xu, founder of the Kundawel Institute, whose private student I am. Here in the championship, I used many special connections, pressure points, meridian work, as well as the pronunciation of specific mantras.
It may be strange to look at, I realized, but it’s less important to me, I have to heal each of my clients as best as I can, whether they are the National Championship models, my Shanti clinic, or each of my massage therapy and naturopathy students at Shanti College (www.shanticlinic.com/college).
I’d rather be truthful and honest than a winner…….
But this time, everything went according to plan.
Pictured is Tanya with the Minister of Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, during the awards ceremony at the LNE Canadian Massage Championship Les Nouvelles Esthétiques Spa Canada.
