Maybe you think it starts by being woken up by butterflies and holding crystals over belly buttons in the sun.

Or maybe you think it’s the blood, sweat and tears of working on client after client and only bringing home a small chunk of that well-earned fruit while the rest of it goes to a huge massage chain.

Whatever you think, all of it is true. But there’s way more to it.

A day in the life of a massage therapist may look extraordinarily different from therapist to therapist and from day to day.

There are upwards of 240 different massage and bodywork modalities practiced by licensed professionals.

Although some of them have overlapping techniques and philosophies (some of them even seem identical on paper - i.e.. pressure point therapy and trigger point therapy) all of these modalities have one thing in common:

an expert in each field who is fighting hard to be recognized as a valued, contributing member of the health and wellness community.

Massage therapists haven’t always had the best reputation.

The word masseuse (almost always misused), with connotations of shady backrooms and happy endings, makes my skin crawl.

We’ve been through the ringer as a people.

Even though the roots of our craft date back to when daily exercise was a matter of survival and drawing on walls was a GOOD thing, we have been labeled many undesirable things

It’s true that one can obtain a massage therapy degree in under a year.

But that’s just the beginning. There are many of us out there who, for all intents and purposes, would have a masters degree or even a PHD in bodywork after the years of work and research we have logged in to become who we are today - masters of our craft.

I don’t care if we are talking about a Neuromuscular Therapist, a Reiki Master, an Ayurvedic Healer, a Heller Worker, a Rolfer, a Lomi Lomi Therapist, a Fire Cupper, a Lymphatic Drainage Specialist, an Oncology Therapist, a Polarity Therapist, or a Gua Sha Expert (you get the picture).

Each one of these practitioners are educated and holds a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the many facets of how the body heals. You may agree or disagree with the method, but results are difficult to debate.

When it comes to a day in the life, I can sum it up with this:

A massage therapist spends each and every day as a healer, an entrepreneur, an administrator, a salesperson, an educator, and a motivational speaker.

We strive to bring awareness not only about what we do but also about you - what’s going on inside and how we understand your ability to heal yourself.

For the majority of us, we are forging our own paths - no easy task.

At the end of the day, we rest our weary heads knowing we’ve helped others feel better and have made the world a slightly better place.

Guest Article by Allison Denney at Rebel Massage