On Sunday December 7th, I had the privilege of participating in the Free Massage and Healing Clinic for the victims of the November Tea Fire in Santa Barbara.  The clinic was hosted by Santa Barbara Yoga Center.

I was impressed at how well it was organized.  Laís da Silva, owner of Santa Barbara Yoga Center and organizer of the event, had each therapist and recipient coordinated for 1-hour sessions.  With your eyes closed, you never would have guessed that there was a continual, silent migration in and out of the room – a silent ebb and flow of therapists “coming on duty” and “going off duty”, as well as their treatment recipients being ushered in silently.  At some times, as many as 10 or 12 therapists were in the room together, with tables and mats scattered about, practicing their respective modalities.

It was an interesting experience for me in many ways.  One is that I was surprised at how easy it was for me to work in such close proximity to other therapists, even though we had never worked together.  In fact, I didn’t even know the name of even one therapist.  Even so, there was a silent communication, as all therapists shared a professional background.  I also couldn’t help but notice how grateful the recipients were.  I had committed to 4 hours of massage and at about the third hour, started to wonder what I had been thinking!  The fourth and final client reminded me of what I had been thinking – that it’s just plain nice to help people who are in need.  She was the most grateful of all, it seemed to me from her big, bright smile after the session.  I was energized by it.

I’m extremely grateful to Laís and the staff at Santa Barbara Yoga Center for the opportunity to have been one of nearly 40 therapists to help the Tea Fire victims.

View full report on Santa Barbara Tea Fire Massage Clinic here.

More photos…

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.