Mark Gerard's Therapeutic Massage

I’ve always believed that life gives us gifts. And I was recently given a wonderful one by the Irving Glavin Institute in Shrewsbury.

This amazing facility provides assistance and care to mentally and physically challenged adults. Once a week, I have the privilege of providing therapeutic massage to some of its residents.

To be honest, I never know how ANY new client will respond to massage. So I was very interested to discover how the residents at the Institute would take to therapeutic touch. One of its residents is confined to a wheelchair. For me, she has come to symbolize why I feel so blessed to do what I do.

As I did some light tissue massage with her, an enormous smile appeared on her face and she let out a shout, “I love massage!” – drawing out the word “looooove.” When I asked her how the pressure was, she yelled out, “It’s fantastic!” She was absolutely reveling in this experience.

At Glavin, I’m learning that these residents, many of whom are isolated from the larger world because of their condition, crave the therapeutic value of touch. And they receive great joy from it when it finally finds them.

It’s a wonderful message for the holidays