Welcome! My name is Paula Jaspar, I am a registered massage therapist. When I graduated in 1997, I had no idea that I would be pursuing my Masters in Education! I have been an instructor of massage therapy since 1999. I have spoken at national and international conferences. I have been featured in the Vancouver Sun, the National Post, Canadian Families and on the radio with Dr. Don. I have also been a co-investigator for a research study about massage therapy and labour outcomes. You can read about it here. I am currently the Program Director and Senior Educational Administrator at the Vancouver School of Bodywork and Massage.
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| Me and my youngest, Alexander. |
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| My two youngest children demonstrating yoga on rocks. |
My personal understanding of the mind and body has evolved through my years of practice. In the beginning, I had a very different idea of mind and body. I thought the consciousness and the physical self were two separate entities. Observing, women's personal evolutions, through pregnancy, labour, birth, post partum, and occasionally, loss, I have witnessed how the body is an expression of the subconscious. Her body can tell the story of her experience. Tension, posture, energy level, facial expression and eyes. All can show her comfort, pain, tenderness and protection. I have witnessed women move through challenges and pain and then, find peace and satisfaction.
I hope to have my own personal evolution over the next two years. I hope to be able to gain knowledge and expand my truths. I hope to share my experiences from a massage therapist's view.
The one question that I am hoping to explore during my learning journey is:
What can I do to support and improve the quality of care for women during the childbearing year?
What can I do to support and improve the quality of care for women during the childbearing year?
It is very interesting to meet someone for the first time and learn a little bit about them over the course of a friday night and saturday; then begin reading their written work and learning about them in a different forum. Paula the person and Paula the writer are characteristically very different, not that I have chosen my preference yet, but this exercise has proved meaningful nonetheless.
ReplyDeletePaula obviously loves and values family as she has included a few pictures of her children in her blog entry. This is something I am unsure of doing myself but it truly begins to share a real personal side of her. The written content of the blog is focused on her professional life however, and it provided a real overview of her career, area of future exploration, in addition to showcasing her goals and the motivation behind them. Looking into the role of massage therapy during a woman's childbearing year seems like an area that has been neglected. At first glance it clearly has some merit to further investigation and the effect on a childbearing mother.
I was hoping to learn a little bit more as to why Paula's path in massage therapy lead her to working with pregnant women. The different specialties a Registered Massage Therapist could explore are numerous and probably so very different that it intrigues me to understand why she has chosen this path.
On the surface most of what Paula has written really makes sense. Having been alongside the journey of pregnancy with my wife for our two children I have seen the evolution of her as a person and as a mother. My wife's journey involved many visits to an RMT and the benefits to both her body and mind were truly an important contributor to a successful pregnancy.
I would love to learn more about Paula's research and the direction that it is going. The idea of engaging in research has never intrigued me personally, however it must be highly valued especially considering the sensitivity of the topic. A component of her blog that I have not touched on, which is beginning to play a role in my professional career, is the use of technology for educational purpose. The creation of an education app and other technology advances in education has become an area of interest and one that definitely needs more exploration both personally and in the literature.
A couple of questions that really guided my reflection of this blog were:
1. Why has the study of message therapy and the value for child bearing mothers been non-existent? Why is there limited literature on something that seems so natural?
2. What role should technology play in an education system? Are we focusing to much on the role of technology? What is the role of the learner in their use of technology?
Thank-you Taylor for your thoughtful reply. Yes, I do have many perspectives. And your questions are very good. I do hope we get to explore that over our time together!
DeleteHi Paula,
ReplyDeleteIt's a pleasure knowing you. Your blog tells how confident of a person you are with wide knowledge and experience in your field as a RMT. I hope in these two years of your journey, you find answers to questions that you are looking for and are unsure of. As a women and mother I totally agree with you the challenges women face through their pregnancy years and the support and care they need.
I am interested to know more of your side as a writer and an app designer. All the best:)
Hi Sunita,
DeleteThank-you for your kind words and interest in my 'other' sides. I am sure we will get to know each other more as the time passes!
- Paula