Bring
Out the Goddess in All Women
By
Suzanne Wright
Massage therapist Erin Susan Parks looks like a goddess herself: dark,
lustrous hair; large, deep blue eyes; flawless, porcelain skin; a
lush, womanly figure; a generous laugh; wise intelligence; and a 
commitment
to women's health, well-being and growth. Maybe it takes a goddess
to create a Goddess Massage.
Parks, a 1993 graduate of the Atlanta School of Massage, hails from
Ohio, is bilingual in Spanish and English and holds a B.A. in linguistics
from Indiana University. She holds advanced certification in practical
and vibrational aromatherapy, foot reflexology, cranio-sacral balancing
and pregnancy and postpartum massage. Parks was a spa therapist for
the athletes during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. She's also
an ordained priestess, a member of the Southern Order of Storytellers
and a frequent speaker on a variety of self-care topics. Her bodywork
practice is based out of the Plum Tree Yoga Center in historic, downtown
Roswell.
In creating the Goddess Massage, Parks has tapped into the wealth
of skills she has amassed over the past two decades and coupled it
with a deep desire to empower women, expressing and sharing her healing
and storytelling arts. The culmination is a deeply intuitive, altogether
original bodywork experience unequalled in Atlanta – or elsewhere.
I recently talked to Parks.
Suzanne Wright: What was the inspiration for the Goddess
Massage? Why is it resonant at this time?
Erin Susan Parks: The inspiration for the Goddess Massage was
my desire to create a bodywork session that wove together my seemingly
disparate trainings and interests into a whole. My first career was
teaching English as a second language as well as translating and interpreting
in Madrid, Spain. When I returned to the U.S., I embarked on my second
career as a massage therapist. These fields seemed unrelated, but
I soon understood that the body has its own language, which the therapist
must learn and honor.
I discovered that my own disconnection from my body had lead to a
disconnection from spirit. I was drawn to feminine spirituality as
it mirrored the process that I was undergoing: reclaiming my instincts
and feelings as sources of strength and resiliency, and letting go
of the need to control, while trusting in “something larger”
to guide me. From this challenge, The Goddess Massage emerged.
SW: Are there different versions for different women?
ESP: The “trinity” of feminine spirituality is the
Maiden/Mother/Crone. With this in mind I offer three special versions.
The Diana Massage helps a young woman cultivate self-knowledge and
self-intimacy as she discovers her unique visions and gifts. The Demeter
Massage for pregnant women celebrates a woman in her most physically
creative phase and honors her decision to create and nurture life.
The Wise Woman Massage was created for women elders to affirm the
gifts of age and wisdom.
Massage
