The following results from an interview on August 1st of OSM graduate Dana Highfill, by OSM staff Alexis Reale and Ray Siderius.
Dana Highfill’s journey to massage began after several unfulfilling jobs and one trip to South America that changed her life. Dana studied Industrial Design in college and following graduation worked as an Exhibit Designer. This job consisted of working in a cubicle and answering phones, which undoubtedly provided minimal satisfaction for her. Dana was eager to experience more from life, so she organized a trip to Ecuador for 3 months. She describes her time there as feeling very connected to the earth and her body.
Upon her arrival to the Northwest a new house mate moved in with Dana who had studied massage in NC, and often gave her brief massages. One night Dana decided to return the favor, and she was surprised at the level of consciousness she had while giving massage..this both surprised her and further stirred the idea of studying massage.
During the next 2 years Dana started taking science classes at PCC to study acupuncture at OCOM, getting acupuncture treatments, practicing QiGong and yoga, and giving the occasional quick head neck and shoulder massage at her work.
Dana’s impression of acupuncture led her to believe it would be a more appealing profession than massage. Dana had some preconceived judgments surrounding massage.. (LMTs were predominantly younger women, who worked in spas, and she thought there were inequality issues within the profession)
Yet something didn’t feel right about pursuing grad school for acupuncture partly because she realized she didn’t want to fill her head with a different set of rules (eastern vs western), and she understood that her body knows things not through the head, but through her body. After this realization and the confidence she had gained from giving massage to others her interest in massage school peaked.
In 2008 Dana began to seriously look at massage schools, although she was resistant at the idea. Dana had experience practicing massage on others and thought that schooling was unnecessary; she thought she could already give a great massage without school, not to mention the additional student loans she would accrue. Yet, in the end, putting her judgments aside, took the chance on massage school.
In the next installment we will tell you about Dana’s experiences in massage school. Dana is now practicing in Portland and can be reached through her web site: www.danahighfill.com