Emily LaBathe’s introduction to massage was something of a freak coincidence. After a car accident, she signed up for a massage at a clinic neighboring her auto mechanic. She found that she enjoyed her experience so much that she began to practice on her friends and family. Aside from the obvious benefits of helping her loved ones to relieve stress and tension , Emily found that she was as much the beneficiary as her patient and began to consider massage as a serious line of work. She enrolled at the Baltimore School of Massage and right away took interest in the more holistic side of massage. In addition to her general massage training she began to investigate methods of spiritual healing through workshops and continuing education classes, training for seven years with bioenergetic healer Jonathan Goldman, studying Cherokee spirituality, Craniosacral Therapy, and and studying for four years with the Body Psychotherapy Institute in Silver Spring, MD.
Emily feels that healing occurs over a broad spectrum of techniques known as “The Spectrum of Healing.” Towards the left side of the spectrum are procedures and therapies that deal with the solid parts of human beings, the bones and muscles and tissue. Further along to the right are remedies concerned with the fluid parts of humans, the blood, spinal fluid and lymph. Further to the right than those are techniques that heal the spiritual energies of the patient, techniques such as Reiki. Emily deals with almost all of this spectrum, but her tendency is towards the right side. In her own words, “I want to heartfully facilitate subtle and expansive movement and opening in people’s bodies to decrease symptoms and open [them] to different creative aspects of themselves. Therefore people can feel they have choices.”
For the last two years, Emily has been an instructor at Holistic Massage Training Institute, located in Charles Village. She says “My passion for continued learning has led me to complete trainings in various healing modalities. These studies in mind/body awareness have brought me vitality as well as health in my relationships. I’ve felt connections to spirit and the meaningful life experience of living dimensionally. In my practice I heartfully use this knowledge to guide others. Now at Holistic Massage Training Institute I can bring my passion to teaching whether it is a one day class or in the massage curriculum. Learning massage not only allows one to help others but can be a path too health and a meaningful life. It was for me. I like working at Holistic Massage Training Institute because of the holistic approach which is an avenue I have been interested in since my training at the Baltimore School of Massage. Massage school changed my life because it broadened my horizons, not only in terms of massage practice but also in terms of the way in which I live my life. It made me more receptive to the different opportunities that life presents to me. “
On Saturday, June 8, Emily will be teaching Reiki I at Holistic Massage Training Institute. Reiki is a Japanese system of hands on healing. It is practiced as an interaction between the practitioner and the client’s energy field. Reiki works under the idea that a universal energy affects the biological, physiological and psychological health of human beings and that this energy may be activated in such a way as to improve the client’s wellbeing. As an alternative to more mainstream techniques such as medication or surgery, Reiki encourages the body to heal itself and in that sense is much less invasive than some other modes of healing which may damage the body as much as they heal.
For more information, call Holistic Massage Training Institute at 410-243-4688, or see www.holisticmassagetraining.org.
Holistic Massage Training Institute offers a 600 hour massage training, community seminars, and continuing education for massage therapists. The school is located in Charles Village in Baltimore, Maryland.