naturalneighbor Twenty Years of Learning and Healing I


n 1992, when Charles West got his first mas- sage to help him recover from an injury, he saw what that therapy can do. A year later,


when he got his first chair massage, “I stood up knowing what I wanted to do,” he says. In the two decades since, West has done that—and far more. He began taking chair massage training, and in December 1994 he passed the exam to join the American Massage Therapy Asso- ciation, becoming one of Tennessee’s first licensed massage therapists in 1995. That year he also started doing chair massage at two Knoxville companies. They remain his clients to this day. “Giving a chair massage is still one of


my favorite activities,” West says. “It always makes me happy to hear how just a few min- utes in the chair has helped someone sleep, eliminated a recurring pain, improved their range of motion or significantly reduced their body tension and stress.” West worked part-time at Halls Chiro-


(In anticipation of an upcoming study trip with Norman to Shanghai, West says he has been “very slowly” learning to speak Chinese.) Because there are so many types of body-


West named his business


MassageWorks in 1994, but he


says the name no longer accurately describes what he does, which is only partly massage.


practic from 1995 to 2005, an experienced that piqued his interest in clinical approaches. Since then he’s studied under several nationally known teachers, learn- ing new ways to address body malfunctions and injuries. He became certified in Dalton’s Myoskeletal Alignment Technique and began studying Touch for Health Kinesiol- ogy, becoming a certified TFH instructor in 2003. “TFH uses muscle testing to get real-time feedback from the body,” he explains. “It works with both western and Chinese methods to bring balance to the meridians. This bridge is a major part of my work today.” He also took the Professional Kinesiol- ogy Practitioner (PKP) series and in 2009 became a certi- fied instructor in K-Power, based on Dr. Bruce Dewe’s PKP program.


One thing he saw repeatedly was the positive physical


effect of Asian bodywork. “I continued to learn what I could about it, although no training was available in Tennessee,” he says.


In 2006, West completed a 200-hour intensive at the Acupressure Institute in Berkely, California. “That gave me a much stronger grasp of Asian bodywork,” he says. “I’ve also been able to study tuina, Chinese medical massage, with Terry Norman, one of the first westerners to study in China.”


20 Knoxville TNNaturalAwakenings.com


work now, West only sees more opportunities to learn. “Bodywork is fascinating,” he says. “Many interesting modalities and wonderful teachers. If I could afford it, and if a school would take an old student, I would be in acupuncture school now.” West’s varied training is reflected in his


practice, which incorporates ancient modali- ties like essential oils and cupping as well as far newer ones like Microcurrent Point Stimulation, developed by acupuncturist Bruce Hocking in Canada.


Still, his process in any bodywork session remains the same: learn the client’s goal, find the root cause of the complaint, determine “what the body wants” through muscle testing, and then apply the appropriate techniques. “I’ve used the slogan Move Better, Feel Bet-


ter, Live Better for several years,” he notes. “Pain and stress limit movement—physically, emo- tionally and socially. Bodywork can improve


that, which affects the rest of one’s life.” West named his business MassageWorks in 1994, but


he says the name no longer accurately describes what he does, which is only partly massage. “If someone tells me they want a regular, Swedish-style, relaxation massage, I refer them,” he says. “I would like to change my business name, but it’s already too well-known.” What really matters, he says, is the result: “I’m always


happy when someone leaves a session with little or none of the pain and stress they arrived with, and when they can move comfortably in a way that they couldn’t when they ar- rived.”


In his spare time, West practices and teaches tai chi, and he also teaches continuing education classes for mas- sage therapists. “My bachelor’s degree is in education,” he says. “Providing continuing education for massage therapists and classes for other adults brought me back to this interest.”


Charles West practices bodywork at MassageWorks, 318 Erin Dr. #5, Knoxville. Contact him at 865-694-3144 or charleswest@massageworks.com, or visit MassageWorks.com. See resource guide listing, page 28.


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