Registered Massage Therapy & Healing Touch from an Indigenous Perspective with Damian John

Photo Credit: Damian John

Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Damian John (Tl’azt’en Nation) graduated from the Okanagan Valley College of Massage Therapy in 2005. There, he learned the basics from which he has since built successful practices in Victoria, Prince George, and the

Western Kootenays. He is a member of the Registered Massage Therapists Association of BC, his main work being the engagement of individuals and communities who wish to build their community health and wellness through massage therapy. In this webinar/Videoconference Damian will go over the importance of touch in RMT work and how healthy touch has been impacted in Indigenous communities. With the recent history of colonization and especially the residential school system, our parents and grandparents, aunties and uncles had kind and healthful human physical contact interrupted and replaced with punitive and abusive physical contact. This has had an effect on our use of touch in community in regards to healing, health and wellness. Damian and other First Nations RMT’s are wanting to add touch back into our communities and believe there are many positive health affects to doing so and he will be covering those effects in our session today.

Session Topics

How touch was used in Indigenous healing prior to contact – examples, ideas, discussion
How touch was lost in communities through colonization and residential school and potential impacts
The known and proven benefits to health of touch and massage
Who and what the RMTBC is and how they’re working to improve access to massage and massage therapy in communities
How people can access information on massage for communities
How people can utilize massage and touch as part of their healing and wellness
Easy techniques – useful take home examples of massage, stretching, and breathing

All are welcome to attend and participate in this FREE live videoconference and computer webinar session.

About the Presenter

Damian John’s education and interests lie with other humans, the wild, words, and wind. He is a poet, artist, house-builder, forager, ceremonialist and educator. Walking amongst the cedar and creeks of the Kootenays with his big black dog, he strives to find ways to accomplish deep creativity and champion human beauty. Failing this, he always celebrates the attempt.