Volunteer profile: Massage Therapy
Deb is a volunteer who provides massage once a week. She has been part of the volunteer team for four years. She answered a few questions about her volunteer role.
What drew you to work at Lou’s Place?
I had always been interested the potential of massage for healing and enhancing feelings of calmness and well-being. Having experienced a very difficult time of grief, I knew first-hand how intentional touch can bring about a sense of calm and settle the mind or invigorate the body and lift mood.
What are the challenges of providing massage therapy at Lou’s?
When I first started volunteering at Lou's, I was sometimes confronted by some of the women's stories about their lives. Some are so heartbreaking. I have learned to listen, but never to comment or give advice. I want them to see me as an empathetic person who is not a social worker or person connected to the judicial system, but instead a person who can show them a small window into investing in their own sense of wellbeing, no matter how challenging other areas of their lives might be at that time.
How do you think massage therapy helps the women who come to see you?
Massage can be expensive, and many of the women who come to Lou's might not be able to access it elsewhere. It is often seen as a luxury, but of course it is so much more than that. In its most simplified form, it is a method of reducing stress, lessening pain and tightness, increasing relaxation and improving mood.
However, it is also a means of providing human touch and warmth that is safe, non-sexual and not in any way transactional.
What do you like about volunteering at Lou’s?
Coming to Lou’s is one of the bright spots in my week. I love the energy of the women and the other volunteers. I see so many positive influences at Lou's Place and I am so thankful that I have been given the opportunity to give something of myself and share my skills.
How do you think massage therapy helps the women who come to see you?
Some women love to chat, while others slip into the 'twilight zone' where they are not quite asleep but deeply relaxed. On occasion, I massage women who are highly stressed or agitated. Their bodies can be very rigid and tense and they are often in a state of heightened vigilance, with a fast pulse and shallow, irregular breathing. It is one of my great joys as a massage therapist to work with these women, who after a half-hour massage begin to relax, and in some cases, fall asleep on the table. Testament indeed to them feeling safe and secure.