Two years ago I went to Copenhagen to take part in the First International Massage Championship. But I went there with a completely wrong attitude; I was convinced there was no way that massage could be judged solely based on how it looked. The massage has to be felt. The energy of the therapist has to be experienced! So I thought: unless the judge is getting a massage from each participant, he or she won’t be able to give a just opinion. I knew from my experience that quite often a massage can look impressive but it just doesn’t feel right.
So with that mind set I couldn’t win the competition and I didn’t.
Of course there is also a possibility that my skills were simply not good enough, but I choose to believe that is because of my mind set 🙂 Mind is extremely powerful tool, right? And the reality is a reflection of our beliefs.
So I gave up the idea of participating in any massage championships…. Until there was First National Massage Championship happening in UK this year.
I decided to take part in it after a massage I receive from my friend.
As I am a massage therapist myself, I am probably a bit more demanding if it comes to getting massages. I receive bad massages, good massages but not too often I get wowed with the treatment and the therapist’s skills.
Luckily one of my best friends is an amazing therapist so every now and then we exchange massages.
She developed this new and unique technique. Needless to say the massage was fantastic but more importantly after the treatment I felt inspired.
Yes, my technique is a blend of different massage styles I learned over the years but I just realised I could develop something unique of my own – a style that would combine techniques, that at first glance are impossible to combine!
So here I was – in my meditation I visualised this new massage – a combination of mild thai massage, Balinese massage and a gentle stretch massage to create truly relaxing treatment that will be performed on the floor as I would use both my hands and feet to apply variable pressure.
Unfortunately my first attempt of transferring my vision to reality was a complete fiasco!
The movements I could do in my head – I could not do them in reality. Those were movements I haven’t learned anywhere. I have never practiced them before so my body didn’t even know how to do them.
I almost started of thinking about Plan B but I still felt determined; I was convinced that if I can visualise something, that means I can do it too.
So I did second attempt with few small changes and adjustments.
This time it went much better and I started to believe I can do it! All I needed was a bit more practice. So I practiced again and again until the whole routine was ready.
And the mind set? The fact that massage should be felt? Yes, I still believe that but I entered the competition with an empty mind. I didn’t go there to win, or to be judged. In fact I didn’t read the judging criteria until the morning of the competition, on the route to the venue. I didn’t want anything to influence me. I just wanted to show everyone my crazy idea without thinking whether it will be something the judges would like or not. I felt it could be a complete fiasco or a big success. And I was curious myself to see which one it will be.
It was a success!
I got third place in Freestyle category which I am sooooo happy about.
Of course, initially I was very nervous. For first few minutes my feet were shaking whenever I used them to perform the massage. I brought my music player with carefully selected music to put me at ease and stay focused on my model. Which turns out to be a great idea because the venue was a bit too loud – there were people walking and I could hear the noises of the exhibition happening downstairs. Not relaxing environment at all.
At one point the music player slipped and fell inside my leggings to a very weird place. That must have been a funny and interesting view to the others so as soon as I realised (after sitting on it) I tried to put it back to the safe place, without disturbing my massage routine of course.
I got my little award…. But as I was a bit tired and stressed after long day I didn’t feel I looked good in the photos. So I brought it with me the next day to take new photos when I looked nice and fresh!
But clumsy me! After few shots I dropped the award (made from glass and steel) on the floor and it broke! I felt so embarrassed because the sound was so loud. To some it may have looked as if I dropped in on the floor on purpose, with anger, as I was unhappy with a third place only 😀
I didn’t enjoy my pretty award for too long, did I? The idea of stealing another award crossed my mind because there were no names on it 🙂 but in the end I didn’t steal anything. I just came back home and repaired it with super glue. It looks like new now.
And now….? Now I have few sparks of ideas for the next year. I have long months ahead so I will be looking out for new inspirations and maybe I will participate next year again.
PS. I would like to thank everybody for the good words I received after the competition.
