+ Be The Change: An interview with One Planet, One Solution

At the American Massage Therapy Association 2007 National Convention in Cincinnati, TGG spoke with Alexandra Patrick-Blaguski and Monica Pasinata-Forchielli about massage therapy as related to Health and Wellness. Alex and Monica are massage therapists associated with OnePlanetOneSolution.com in Hamilton, Ontario.
ONE - One Planet One Solution is a global oriented spa products and services provider offering customized, sustainable, and socially responsible solutions.

Describe the virtues and benefits of your professional focus in Massage Therapy as related to the domain of Health and Wellness

Alex: We are in a natural business, we heal with our hands. Since Massage therapy is considered alternative, providing alternative products is a perfect fit for our efforts in wanting to make a change. It’s everything we are about, taking it to a new level of support.

Monica: We are all about natural alternatives for Health and Wellness. No chemicals, that includes the products we sell.

There is a perception is that Massage Therapy is expensive, perhaps indulgent and prohibitive to the general public. How do you, as a Wellness provider, tell the value story?

Alex: Many people actually have a hard time relaxing. You can be healed naturally with touch. Doctors are quick to write prescriptions for medications. You may have a sore back and take muscle relaxers, but after the medication wears off the problem is still there. I think massage as alternate physiotherapy tends to heal some things faster and better. Not every therapy works for everybody.

Regarding ONE’s products, our job is to educate our customers about what we are doing and why we believe it is important. We are not just green washing or being trendy. People are becoming more aware and want to understand why things like socially conscious, fair trade and sustainable products matter.

Monica: The value of massage therapy is that it provides treatment for many things such as relaxation, increasing circulation and relieving pain. There is emotional relief as well. What happens in massage therapy is that people like to talk to you during treatments; someone is actually listening to them for an hour.

Anything worth doing takes time, effort and knowledge. How did you get here and why are you doing this?

Monica: After lot of education I wanted to get into alternative medicine. I’m not a big believer in allopathic medicine. I don’t believe in drug pushing, that really bothers me.

Alex: We heal with our hands. I’ve been doing this for 4 years. I believe in it, I feel like I am doing my part.

photo credit: Ruben Joye

http://www.oneplanetonesolution.com