How I got into Thai Yoga Bodywork

I was supposed to be a rockstar. Doing bodywork was never on my radar growing up. If you told me that I would be working in close proximity with people like this when I was younger, I would have called you crazy.

In my spare time when I wasn’t working toward being a rockstar, I studied. I started with the first philosophers and worked through them up until present time, then I read about psychology, metaphysics, quantum physics, and eventually intuitive medicine.

I have been studying intuitive medicine from different perspectives since 2006. I started with sound, voice, and music healing. Then I worked with the Tomatis Method, Thetahealing, Chakra healing, Vapassana Meditation, Guided Meditations, Affirmations, the metaphysical connection between the mind and body, understanding the beliefs and patterns that are associated with different diseases, and Reiki.

I wasn’t a big fan of talk therapies at that time. I kept on searching for something that resonated with me. It was when I studied Reiki that I finally found something I could work with. Hint, hint….it wasn’t Reiki.

I was studying at a place in downtown Milwaukee and I loved the space so much that I emailed the owners and told them I had to work with them (not, could you hire me? do you have any openings? no, I HAD to work for them). I offered the services I had at the time of cleaning or answering phones. They said they needed more Thai Massage people and I replied, “Where do I get training?”

I started my training in Milwaukee and then started working. At first I was terrified to work on other people’s bodies. I felt it was such a huge responsibility and I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but I continued. As I worked through that first year and a half I noticed the healing benefits of the work. I wanted to learn more.

A client of mine recommended the Thai Massage Circus which is taught in Laos every year during the month of February. I wanted to learn from the source and signed up for the training in 2016.

It was a life-changing experience. I felt that in Milwaukee I learned the A-B-C’s of Thai Massage and in Laos I learned how to write paragraphs and tell stories.

When I came back home, I opened Firewalker Arts and started practicing at my own space. Since then I have been back to Thailand to for additional training and learned foot reflexology.

And again, with foot reflexology, I was a non-believer when I started, but after several years of practice and hearing stories from my clients, I realized that the similarities were not just a coincidence.

I love this work and hope to continue to do bodywork for as long as I can. I have had countless clients come in and enjoy the transformative experience of Thai Massage.