Becca Lemire, RMT

Thank you for meeting me here, in this place of my wildest dreams! 

A few fun facts about me:

• I love music and I make my own playlists for massages + yoga
  
• Dream trip: a few months of Thai Massage training in Thailand
  
•  I've done a 6-week Wilderness Guide Training White Water Canoe Trip in the rugged northern Ontario + Quebec wilderness
• I once worked on an Organic Permaculture Farm & Eco Community in the Caribbean for 10 months & took care of the fruit orchards (it's why I have a pineapple tattoo!)
• I love creative expression and DIY art projects
• My guilty pleasure is watching Survivor or RuPaul's Drag Race
• I grew up in Toronto's west end
• When I was a child I started a poetry group called "The Quill Club"
  
• I've never been to New York City (sorry, Carrie Bradshaw!)
• One time I was in the same room as Oprah
• I was born on July 16 1986, Sun + Rising in Cancer, Moon in Scorpio
  
• I love thrift store shopping, tropical fruit, swimming and warm weather

The Beginning

In my previous life, I was a professional event & wedding photographer for a decade, and before that, a dog walker & organic farmer. I have always been a highly sensitive, empathetic person, drawn towards healing and movement. I identify as neurodivergent and live with diagnoses including ADHD and fibromyalgia.

My wellness journey started 17 years ago at the age of 20, when I herniated a disc in my lower back. I signed up for an Energy Exchange at a Hot Yoga Studio in Toronto so I could practice regularly to help heal my back. Little did I know at the time, how much that would change the course of my life. The seeds of intentional mind-body connection were planted in my soul.

In 2016 at the age of 30, I sought out healing during a very difficult time in my life. I walked into Ganja Yoga Studio at Bloor/Christie (now closed) and asked about Thai Massage, having never done it before. I was so lucky, a very skilled healer named John met me that day and gave me a 2-3 hour Thai Massage that flipped my whole world upside down. 

Through receiving many holistic healing, massage + plant medicine modalities along the way, especially Thai Massage which I like to call my 'gateway drug' into bodywork, I have begun to heal my own body, mind and spirit, addressing a lifetime of deep layers of tension and knots, anxiety, depression, brain fog, digestive issues, insomnia, executive dysfunction, chronic pain + fatigue.

 Naturally, I want everyone to experience this feeling.

Transformation

During a transformational solo trip to Costa Rica in 2016, I took the plunge and decided to make a big change in my life when I returned to Toronto.

 It all started with my first training, with Thai Massage Toronto's Deanna Villa in 2017. After that, I opened a home treatment space part time. From 2017-2020 I gained valuable hours of hands-on practice, doing exchanges with other practitioners, PWYC treatments on friends, and built my practice organically while still running my photography business. 

The voice inside me that loved doing massage could not be ignored. I fell in love with bodywork and the healing arts, continuing trainings with Fascial Stretch Therapy (Toronto), and a 200hour Yoga Teacher Training (Costa Rica) in 2019. I was hungry to learn more and felt ready to take my next big step. I enrolled in Massage Therapy school at Toronto's Kikkawa College to become an RMT, starting in January 2020, doing the fast track program. I proudly became an RMT in November 2021. 

Treating with Metta - Loving Kindness

Foundational to Thai Massage is the concept of Metta, which means touching others with the intention of loving kindness. In Thailand, Thai Massage is traditional Buddhist medicine, and considered a meditation practice for both the giver and receiver, an opportunity for the giver to share Metta through their healing hands. The great thing is that Metta is universal to all types of massage treatments and modalities. After I'm finished giving a massage, I often feel calm, focused, clear, energized, grounded, and energetically aligned.