Dylan Crake RMT & R.KIN

Today marks my one year anniversary as an RMT and what a fast year it was. ( Let’s ignore the pandemic that happened halfway though).

In this first year, I’ve learned so much more about the profession of Massage Therapy and I really defined what it means to me. As of right now, this profession means endless learning opportunities, experimentation with different techniques and modalities, stepping outside of my routine to help someone else and being an entrepreneur. Even within the first two months of working as an RMT, I couldn’t believe how much I had learned outside of school, compared to being in school. And when we were all told to go into lockdown, I took that as a challenge to market myself, get out there and really work on the business side of this profession. Which fun fact, I never saw myself as a business/networking kind of girl, but here we are. And that is what truly excites me as an RMT. It’s not just about providing massage treatments, you can do so much more!

Now moving on, how has my view of the body changed since I began working? Well, I no longer see just a “back” or just a “shoulder”. I see the muscles that make up those areas and how they move and all work together. It doesn’t matter if you’re an athlete, older adult or desk worker, I see all those muscles the same way. And I’ll do anything I can to help ease the pain. However, when I’m the one on the massage table getting a massage, this can be both a blessing and a curse because I want to enjoy the massage but I’m also learning what the other therapist is doing at the same time.

So, what exactly have I gotten up to this past year? Way more than I could ever imagine.

• Started my Facebook and Instagram page
• Started a TikTok ( now over 1000 followers!)
• Created this website
• I was on podcast ( 2 RMTs and a Microphone, here’s the link if you want to listen)
• Started making weekly Vlogs about my return to work as an RMT in a pandemic world
• Met other health care workers across Canada and the USE online, where we got to chat about what it’s like to be working right now and other stuff ( thanks to these Physios for setting that up)
• I was the Registered Massage Therapist of Ontario Association’s RMT of the month (in March)
• Written three articles for Massage Therapy Today magazine
• Built trusting relationships with my patients
• Helped a lot of people manage their pain

If this is what I did in my first year, then I am beyond excited to see what I do in the next year, and the year after that and the year after that.

So thank you to all those that have shared this journey with me! Thank you to my peers and friends for being there when I needed to ask questions or just chat. Thank you to my co-workers at Whole Therapy for making me feel welcome and comfortable and thank you to my patients I had right from the start for sticking with me.

Time to celebrate,