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How I got into Bodywork

Writer's picture: Sam WeingastSam Weingast

Updated: Mar 28, 2023

It started with a bad bike crash. I was living in Richmond, California working as a garden teacher in two public schools. I enjoy work where I can see the difference I am making in the world and both eduction and sustainable food systems had been focuses of mine over the previous few years. I was clearly able to take pride in my work, but I was overworked and underpaid.


Then bam, I went over my handlebars at full speed one evening biking home from Oakland. I always wear a helmet. Even so, it was a gnarly fall. I won't bore you with the details but my face hit the ground first.


I had to take a few weeks off of working at the school. During this time, I thought deeply where I wanted to be putting my energy and how I wanted to make money. I decided to leave the school system and pursue a new direction.


I healed shockingly quickly. I attribute this to rest, a healthy plant based diet, my mindfulness practice, and using massage as therapy. A good friend when shocked by my recovery told me this, "if you can do that to yourself, you can do that to other people." That was all I needed to hear to start taking the idea of massage school seriously.


I became fascinated by touch and its ability to heal the body. Before the summer had ended, I started my own gardening business and signed up for massage school.


We live in a society where people don't touch each other. It is becoming clear that touch has a quantifiable positive effect on every system of the body - from circulatory to immune, muscular to nervous. I wanted to be on the right side of touch science. To help people whether they were dealing with digestive issues, back pain, neck pain, recovery from surgery, or stressing out about life and work.

2018 me harvesting radishes


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