After graduating from high school in 2016, she planned to go to business school. She applied and was accepted into her program of choice twice but both times hesitated. “Something about it didn’t sit right so I didn’t go. It felt right not to go.”
“I’ve always had a passion for massage but I never saw it to be a career. My parents really wanted me to do something different at first, sciences or business.”
Natalka decided to take a Weekend Introductory Massage Course at the Vancouver School of Healing Arts to try it out. “The moment I stepped foot into the school I was like… ‘This is it!’ I felt like I belonged there right away.”
Shortly after, she enrolled in the full-time Bodywork Therapy Program, starting in September 2018. “It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Most of us thought we were just going to learn massage but it’s so much more than that. It’s 15 million times better than I expected!”
Natalka said the most crucial element of the program was learning about and connecting with yourself. “It’s not just about the person’s body you are working on.”
She was also surprised by her growing love of the sciences, a subject she hated in high school. “I told myself I wasn’t good at it. But with Jane and Nancy teaching us, I fell in love with sciences. Now I constantly find myself reading anatomy books and wanting to brush up. It’s amazing. When you find a true passion for something, you really understand it.”
Another highlight of the program for Natalka were the self-care classes taught by Glynnis Osher, who also teaches Indian Head Massage and Aroma 911 at VSOHA. “All my other friends studying at universities were stressed out and here we are meditating or having a bath with special salts for homework.”
Natalka is looking forward to working in a spa and plans to continue her studies into areas such as Prenatal, TMJ (Jaw) and Breast Massage. She hopes to one day open her own studio where she can flow freely and develop her own treatments.
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