Going to SSMT was the best decision I have ever made. The year was 1989 and I was working as a community health nurse when I returned from my vacation in FL, and was getting a massage. I said to my therapist at the time, “I love FL and I love massage. Maybe I ought to go to FL and study massage therapy” Her reply was “why not?” 6 months later at the age of 34 I packed up my belongings and moved 2,000 miles to begin my life changing career.
SSMT is filled with heart opening experiences and like-minded people who want to make the world a better place. The website had said I would learn how to be more ‘present’, and I so needed to know how to do that at the time, after having run around like an overworked stressed out RN for so many years. From the teachers at SSMT I learned how to give an amazing massage, but I also learned how to connect to my own intuition and to find that connection with others. I learned how to be a better listener, a kinder and more loving person, and how to create a healthier lifestyle for myself so I could then live a life filled with helping others. 30 plus years later, I still am able to provide excellent massages to my many clients, and teach students because of these basic life skills .
I had never entertained the idea of being a teacher until my Swedish instructor inspired me so profoundly. I said to myself, “I want to become a teacher” and I did. Two years after graduation, I became an instructor at SSMT and am still working at the school that has given me 30 plus years of sheer JOY.
Massage therapy opened my world to new beginnings and ways to explore I never even imagined. Being a teacher gave me the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica and Colorado to teach various topics, and travel to Thailand to study Thai massage therapy. I have worked as a massage therapist in various settings and locations, and with each experience I learned so very much. There are so many ways to be a massage therapist, and for someone like me who loves adventure, and is passionate about learning, the possibilities are endless. I couldn’t have chosen a better career path. Now I offer continuing education seminars and meet lots of openhearted like-minded people who also are eager to make a difference in the world.
Massage therapy became more than a career it became a lifestyle filled with love, Joy, and adventure.
Joni Masse, LMT, SSMT Class 39
