Petrissage is a Swedish massage technique that looks like kneading. Tonight we manage to come up with a dozen words to describe the many ways we can "knead" muscle tissue, including wringing, squeezing, lifting, spreading, milking and circling. We also practice blending these techniques in new ways, to create the impossible to pronounce or spell "Liftersqueezing" and "kneadospreading". Everyone saw the same demonstration, and yet the work looks different from one table to the next. Like seasoned chefs, the students use identical ingredients to create their own, unique dishes. Almost everyone skips dinner to come to this class - sometimes I wish we WERE a cooking school. We'd cook something amazing with these guys!
Two weeks ago, a student informed me that new challenges in his personal and professional life were forcing him to drop out of the program. He was incredibly sad to withdraw, and I was even sadder to see him go. Whenever I watched him practice, he looked like he was born to do this work - it was like watching a serene, happy, beautiful dance around the massage table. After days of negotiating and a team effort from the school administration and instructors, we managed to find a compromise and he is back with us tonight, convinced more than ever that becoming a massage therapist is his destiny and PMTI is the school to get him there. I know how he feels. I remember.
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