November 9, 2017

Meet Linda Severn of Linda Severn – Therapeutic Massage Therapist in Bonita

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Severn.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Linda. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I never planned on being a professional massage therapist. I’d been working on friends and family since I was a child, sitting at my Grandmother’s feet with a pink jar of ponds cold cream while she watched her soaps.
In 2005, after being a Park Ranger, a Councilor, a Stock Broker, and then an Office Manager for an amazing architecture firm, I met the man that would push me to become what I am today.
He had been medically discharged from the military with migraines and blurred vision. When he was brought to me by a mutual friend at a party, I worked on his neck and shoulders for 20 minutes and relieved his symptoms. He convinced me to try and help him, and I agreed. It took me two days to pinpoint the issue, and months on both our parts including yoga, running, and leaning down on the muscle in his neck/shoulder region, to get him to a place where he felt functional again. A year later, he said if I went back to school for massage, he would be my client for life…and I agreed.
My first job was at an office in Pt. Loma where I perfected my technique on athletes during the week and BUDS during the weekend. It was while working on those pre-Navy SEALs that I created the AIO Method – Assess. Instigate. Optimize. or All Is One, both worked for me. The technique uses an innate understanding of the body to assist each client in attaining Balance.
My second job was at Bonita Acupuncture and Massage, where Joel and Donna taught me that it was okay to say No, and that hands have their own knowledge. I continued on there during the week for nine years, loving my job and the people I worked with, while spending a year here or there, working on the weekends at the spas at the Hard Rock Hotel or the Rancho Bernardo Inn.
In September of 2016, Bonita Acupuncture and Massage became strictly Bonita Acupuncture, and I opened my own office, keeping the nine years of clients and community that I had developed while in Bonita, and now a decade later, continuing to assist my clients in creating healthier habits and attaining/maintaining Balance.

Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t see them so much as “struggles” but “Lessons.”
The first one being, “Do what scares you.” I never wanted to be a professional MT. I came from an abusive past, and I was highly particular on who I touched. But now, ten years later, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Another Lesson: “Do or Do Not, There is No Try.” (Yoda) In Life, let alone in your own business, you are either Doing or Do-notting. Trying is just a word for Do-notting and I think Humans as a whole use that word for too often to validate their lack of progress. My clients are either doing the stretches I’ve recommended, or they are not. They are either upping their water intake when I tell them their muscles are dehydrated, or they are not.
When I found out I had cancer, it’s fairly black and white. Either I was going to do everything I could to help my body once again find Balance, or I was going to die. Trying was not an option.

Another Lesson: “Nothing is Learned in Perfection.” I don’t believe in Failure or Mistakes, I believe in learning opportunities. And trust me, when starting your own business, let alone Life in general, there will be a ton of them! So find the silver lining in every situation, tell your Ego to chillax, and move forward.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
What do I do? I help my clients find Balance through various modalities of massage, cupping, chakra stones, nutrition and stretching options.
If you ask any of my clients, I’m known for my “therapeutic deep” massage. The kind that leaves you feeling light and pain-free after the massage, and then wondering if I beat you with a baseball bat in your sleep in the next morning.
Therapeutic Deep creates micro-tears in muscles just like working out does. And just like when we work out, the body then fills in the micro-tears, creating a stronger, or longer muscle. Depending on a persons age, hydration and muscle tension, then soreness can last from 24 to sometimes 72 hours.

What am I most proud of as a Massage Therapist? Getting my Nationals and then Board certification in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.

What sets me apart from others? I’m a 6’3 amazon? No, seriously? I listen. Not just to your body, but to your words. I don’t just resolve an issue, I figure out what could be causing the issue in your day to day life, so that my clients can not only attain Balance, but maintain it.
I never get tired of teaching my clients. About their bodies, their nutrition, their outlook on Life.
Those that have known me the longest call me a Healer, in the oldest sense of the word. And I am honored for it.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
San Diego is an amazing place to be a Massage Therapist. We have a very active populace, between athletes to military, to law enforcement, health providers, techies, and even the every-day desk jockey. A lot of San Diegans are health oriented, so this makes it an ideal area for MTs.

What would I recommend starting out? Start in a hotel, spa, chiropractor, acupuncturist or massage clinic. Perfect your technique, build your network, figure out what modalities of massage you are passionate about, and then get great at them.

Get Board Certified, it will open doors to you just like a Bachelors will in another career.

And use social networking sites!

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