Personally, I selected massage as a career over 40 years ago because it fit my lifestyle. I ate health food, practiced yoga & exercised, meditated, etc. It appeared to me, that massage was a natural fit. So, I enrolled in massage school with Heida Brenneke. Back in those days, that made you a "hippy" or a "new ager". Today, this "lifestyle" is a mainstream choice which makes me very happy.
Shortly after graduating massage school, Heida got me involved in massage politics. We worked hard to bring our profession into the mainstream and gain recognition from the medical community. We passed state legislation, set education standards, suggested regulations, and established ethics rules for our profession. We also worked with the medical community and insurance commissioner to gain a place in health insurance benefit plans. I think this hard work during those years of our profession contributed to a general change in attitudes toward choices like eating healthy, practicing yoga, etc.
40 years ago, my friends and I dreamed of changing the world. While I am sometimes disheartened by our "world of today", I can see that we did contribute to substantial change in peoples attitudes toward healthy lifestyles and how to achieve them
