Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Dunuwila.
Emily, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I graduated from Vassar College, I had no idea that my future would entail massage therapy. I had spent my college years splitting time between my urban studies major, education minor, and intense dance schedule with the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre.
I had cultivated so much knowledge and curiosity around the field of arts-in-education and teaching for diverse populations–I was so sure my path was education. In the midst of my academic life, however, I was also battling an eating disorder. Anorexia altered my self-perception and whittled away my body and strength. While I willfully plugged forward with my academic life, my stubborn brain tried hard to overpower the signs of distress that my body was experiencing–everything from chest pain to fatigue.
The idea of self-care was out the window, as I struggled with a complete separation between my mind and body. The disorder impacted my personal relationships, my dance ability, and my self-esteem. After finding myself at the cardiologist for an ECG on my 21st birthday, I realized that I’d hit rock bottom, and began to slowly but surely bounce back to health. I came away with one very important lesson: there is nothing more important to me than a healthy mind-body connection.
With my background in dance and movement, and a passion for education, I embarked to become a massage therapist–and I have never looked back!
Has it been a smooth road?
Starting a business is always a process. Building my clientele was the element that took me the longest. I think in order to start attracting the right kind of clients, I had to gain confidence in myself and my work. Part of that process meant recalibrating my focus. At first, I thought I wanted to be a sports massage therapist and work with athletes.
As I got my practice going, I felt a dissonance with my sports massage work. It felt like I was trying to fill someone else’s shoes—not my own. I had to take a step back and recalibrate. I’m so glad I did step back because it allowed me to reflect upon the clients who I was naturally attracting and why they liked my work.
Once I found my shine, I felt so much more comfortable marketing myself. It took a lot of the anxiety out of the growth process. Part of having a business is being in tune with why people are inherently attracted to your product, and then doing your best to further cultivate those elements.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Empower Massage Therapy story. Tell us more about the business.
My practice is built on a foundation of knowledge, curiosity and trust. I do mostly pain management work through structural and neuromuscular techniques, so I attract a lot of clients who are trying to troubleshoot pain that’s accrued through postural habits, past injuries, and surgeries. There’s a certain detective-like quality that you have to foster with this type of work because you want to know the full scope and history of the client’s pain.
I’m a very curious and thorough bodyworker, so I like to know the details and l like to take my time finding the source of pain. It’s also really important to me to develop a trusting and communicative relationship with my clients so that they become a key player in their own healing. I foster an environment where clients can be curious about their pain and reflective about their body mechanics.
For example, I tend to have a focused and intentional pre-session conversation about how my client is currently perceiving his or her body that day. Then after the session, I like to discuss what they felt, where they felt release, and how their awareness may have shifted during the session. By encouraging clients to be reflective and tuned in, I hope to build their body awareness so that they can better help themselves off the table!
I supplement this in-session work with weekly videos on social media about anatomy, body mechanics and self-massage. My newsletters are also always full of tools, tips, and resources for staying empowered and in tune. Here is an example of one of my videos: https://youtu.be/pEYCmaYQb00.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I am a teacher as well as a bodyworker. I teach Anatomy and Physiology and I teach dance—two subjects that regularly inspire my sessions. I call upon my knowledge of anatomy and movement all the time in my sessions. In the classroom, I foster an environment where everyone is an expert in something—they come in with expertise in something, whether or not it’s directly related to the class subject.
It’s important to draw that expertise out in the classroom because its how you build confidence and make learning more fun. I try to bring that same approach to my sessions. My clients are experts at living in their own bodies, so I make sure that I honor their knowledge and awareness in that regard. Mutual respect is invaluable when you’re trying to inspire growth.
Contact Info:
- Website: empowermt.com
- Phone: (207) 370-0573
- Email: empowerbyemily@gmail.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/empowermassage
- Facebook: facebook.com/empowermassagemaine
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
