How Viveca Massage & Wellness Got Its Name
(Originally published October 14, 2022)
When I was in massage school, one of my favourite teachers asked us to think about what name we wanted for our business one day. Immediately, having never given it a moment's thought, the word Viveca came out of my mouth as my answer. I didn't know why, or what it meant. I didn't know where or when or if I might start a business of my own, what my niche would be as a massage therapist, or if I would even have a niche. But I knew with certainty that it was the right name for my business.
After I graduated, I spent the first few years of my career working at a massage clinic. It was an excellent experience; one that I'm grateful for because it gave me the opportunity to see clients who were coming in for massage for a variety of reasons. I saw clients who used massage to help them rehabilitate from a sports injury or motor vehicle accident; amateur athletes and weekend warriors who wanted regular maintenance massage as part of their active, healthy lifestyle; people with high-stress jobs who came in regularly to help them sleep better and feel less anxious; and people who saw massage as something to occasionally "treat" themselves to for relaxation. When the Covid pandemic hit in early 2020, I took a break from working as an RMT for a while. When I decided to start working again, I knew I wanted to do things differently. I wanted to be a solo practitioner. And so Viveca Massage & Wellness was created.
In the first several months I saw a wide variety of clients, and over time I decided to narrow my focus to a particular type of work. I just didn't know yet what that might be. When I was working at the clinic, I had the opportunity to work with a few recently-bereaved clients who came to me for help with the physical effects of grief: tight jaw and neck muscles, upper back tension, headaches, and sleep disruption. One day as I thought about the clients I was seeing as a solo practitioner, I realized that many of them were also in the early stages of grief. A few days later, I was listening to one of my favourite podcasts, 2 Massage Therapists and a Microphone (S5 E12, "When You Are Called To Do Something, with guest Olivia”). Olivia, the guest, had begun to shift her massage practice toward working with patients in palliative care and their caregivers. It dawned on me that not all RMTs are comfortable working with patients who are dying, or patients who are grieving. That's when I had an "aha!" moment. I didn't need to look for a certain type of client to focus on: they were already showing up on my table. I already had a niche; I just hadn't recognized it.
Over the course of my career, I have had the honour to work with bereaved and grieving clients who trust me to be part of their care team as they journey through their grief. It's an immense privilege to be able to provide therapeutic massage in an environment where the grieving client can feel safe and accepted, no matter how they feel emotionally that day. They may need to talk about their loved one. They may need to cry. They may not want to talk at all. In my treatment room, they can let their grief show in whatever form it takes that day, in that moment. While it is out of scope for an RMT to offer advice on the emotional processing of their grief (for that, I'd refer to a psychologist or trained grief counsellor), I can support them by addressing the physical issues arising from the effects of grief stress on their body. And I can hold space for them and their grief. It's some of the most fulfilling work I could possibly imagine.
So ... what does all this have to do with the name Viveca? Well, when I looked it up after it came out of my mouth that day in response to my teacher's question, I discovered Viveca is a name of Scandinavian origin that means "alive, life; place of refuge." Of course it does. It's the perfect name for my business. Viveca Massage & Wellness is a place of refuge in your grief.