Words

Words ….

Words are important to capture someone’s imagination. These days it is never more important to do this quickly. For a business, this means choosing words carefully. It is vital that the reader gets the information they need as soon as they land on a web page or social media post. It is a learning curve that’s for sure.

A journey

I qualified as a massage therapist almost 16 years ago. A course that began as a pastime ended up in pastures new for me and the journey to today. In those years, I have done many courses covering a variety of areas of the bodywork world. It’s been a voyage of discovery and without exception I have loved every bit of my training. I have met some amazing educators, practitioners and clients as a result. And as well as professional growth, I have discovered much about myself in the process.

I thought increased knowledge would bring clarity and confidence. But instead I became a little lost and unsure. This year I decided it was time to really define what ‘type’ of massage therapist I am. I looked back through the notes I have made from various podcasts and blogs I have accessed in that time only to discover a ‘to do’ list from two years ago which listed the very same thing. I was stuck and this was affecting how I felt about myself.

There are a myriad of words used to describe massage these days: relaxation, holistic, sports, remedial, myofascial release, deep tissue, and more. I have found it increasingly difficult to explain to clients what I do. I felt like the broad, generally too wordy, explanation I was giving gave a great platform for treating everyone. Yet by the end of the ‘explanation’ I would realise that all the words I had used hadn’t given a clear explanation of what my client could expect from me. And consequently rather than welcoming, I was potentially putting people off.

Today

I recently had the privilege of working with Suzy Darke. By her own words she helps ‘you put your soulful business into words’. That description of her work really sung out to me. Firstly, I loved thinking of my business as being soulful. Secondly, being able to verbalise my work felt more important than ever, both for my clients and for me! The prospect of working with someone on that was very exciting.

So we had a Zoom meeting and explored what I wanted to do and what I felt may not be right for me. We discussed lots of words I use to describe my work. And gradually, though in the space of just one hour, we achieved exactly what I had hoped we might, what type of therapist I am! It seems funny to think how stuck I had become when actually the words were there all along. But I couldn’t see them. This has used a lot of energy over the years and finding a way forward, finally, feels really good.

So it turned out that Deep Tissue and Relaxation Massage felt good, comfortable, exciting. Does it fill you with joy, Suzy asked? Yes, it really really does!