I gave my first massage when I was five years old. My father, a long-haul truck driver, suffered from chronic back pain and asked me to walk up and down his spine to ease it. It felt thrilling—and a little scary—but my very first client always ended the session smiling.

Years later, when I was approaching burnout from an intense workload and personal stress, I experienced massage from the other side of the table. Skilled therapists in a rehabilitation clinic lifted tension from my body and tears from my eyes. I knew I’d found work that could change lives.

What started as “just a few courses” alongside my full-time career teaching language and translation turned into three years at Massage & Therapy College. I realised true care requires deep anatomical knowledge and fluency in many techniques. Today I hold a lifelong massage-therapist certificate, and my studies—much like the body’s wisdom—are ongoing.