....to Illuminate. This website is for you to learn, and for me to speak. It is a work in progress, so please bear with me. I will start from the beginning...

My journey in the healing arts started in 1997, when I realized how unhappy I was in my job. I worked as an Editorial Assistant for a publishing company, sitting behind a desk all day at a computer, and generally feeling miserable! I was trained in publishing, but realized the traditional office environment wasn't where I wanted to spend my time.

Massage Therapy was something that intrigued me. I had a strange "feeling" about it, so I took a short Introduction to Massage course at Kikkawa College in Toronto to see if it was the right fit. It felt good, so I bravely quit my job, moved back to live with my mom in Ancaster, and started the Registered Massage Therapy program at Alexandrian Institute in Hamilton in January 1998. I was still nervous about this big decision, but somehow, I knew I was moving in the right direction.

After graduating in September 1999 and passing my Ontario Board Exams, I started working in a very busy multi-disciplinary clinic in Mississauga, where I was fully booked right away. I gained valuable experience there, doing deep tissue massage for 6 years. Then came a huge change in me, in November 2004 - my life shifted, definitely for the better.

At that time I went through a painful break-up and experienced a true "awakening" of my soul. I picked up Caroline Myss' book Anatomy of the Spirit (which I reviewed on this website in Recommended Reads), and my perspective on my career and my life shifted dramatically. I realized there was much more to life than I was living, and at times I was not being authentic. And that realization filtered right down to how I practiced as a Massage Therapist. I knew I had to leave where I was and transform who I was.

I began to enhance my education, reading every spiritually-focused book I could get my hands on, and taking further bodywork courses like Thai Yoga Massage and Craniosacral. What really kick-started me on change was taking Reiki. I realized how transforming energy work was, and knew I had to keep on this healing path. (To learn more about Reiki and Craniosacral go to my What is...) section.

In June of 2005, I came across the Toronto Healing Arts Centre, a beautiful place filled with practitioners in many varied healing arts. I knew this was a great place for me to build a new practice, with my new values in mind. So I made a big change again, left my Mississauga office, and started my new practice in September 2005. I also started my own personal therapy with a Spiritual Psychotherapist working at the Centre, and our work together was amazing and life enhancing.

In September 2006, I enrolled in the Spiritual Psychotherapy program at the Transformational Arts College here in Toronto, where my own therapist went. While I enjoyed the program and learned a whole lot about myself in the process, I put finishing the program on hold. Sometimes a break from healing work is a good thing, and I'm happy with my decision.

2007 was a year of huge change. I burned out physically, mentally, and emotionally and decided to leave my bodywork practice and do some exploration. I moved out of Toronto and began my WWOOF-ing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) adventures, which lead me out West to volunteer at a retreat center. I then came back to Ontario and began working at a natural health foods store near my home town.

After taking this year-long leave of absence from my practice of bodywork, I decided to return to Toronto and re-visit my skills as a bodyworker. In May 2008 I joined a wonderful clinic with two talented Naturopathic Doctors, and my work with clients has been amazing. I also took some training in a system called BodyTalk, which has also changed my approach to working with clients.

Recently, I am putting time into changing this website. I feel it needs to reflect who I am. My goal is to educate, or Illuminate as the title of my site states. I am not just a massage therapist. That is a title and training I have. I love writing, reading and teaching. These are my passions. Finding meaning and the inner truth is my passion, and this filters right down into my bodywork practice.

So please stay and read. I will do my best to Illuminate.

If you need information about my bodywork practice, please click on my name in the left hand column...it will provide you with contact information and where I am practicing currently.

If you'd like to send me an email, do so at jodie_lindley@hotmail.com.