By Thomas Lavi
Instagram handle: @creating_thomas
Website: https://lavimassage.com/
My name is Thomas Lavi, and I am a transgender man, certified massage therapist, and a dedicated advocate for the queer and transgender communities. I am passionate about providing healing touch to communities where safe, respectful, and rejuvenating touch is often lacking or inaccessible. I feel called to work in massage because of my own journey in learning to embrace my body as a transgender man. I believe that none of us can truly be at peace until we find comfort and safety within our own individual bodies. Massage offers a pathway through which to deepen vital bodily connection, and everyone deserves that opportunity.
My ultimate goal as a massage therapist is to offer those less often served by massage—such as transgender folks, people of color, elderly folks, folks with neurodiversities, and folks with marginalized body types—the chance to experience transformation and connection through safe and healing touch. My practice is continually growing to include specialized knowledge designed to offer comfort and enhanced quality of experience to my clients. Subtle, yet important, acts—such as using inclusive bodily language and respecting my client’s pronoun—is foundational to my practice. I employ integrative work practices, such as inclusive draping techniques designed to offer comfort for people of varying body experience and sizes, as well as consent-based therapy to continually ensure my clients' safety and autonomy. Finally, I offer a variety of specialized techniques, such as trauma-informed care and scar massage techniques for those healing from gender confirmation surgeries.
As a massage therapist, I see endless possibilities for learning and growth, but I feel most excited by the potential to inclusively expand the culture of massage and by the opportunity to offer healing touch to important communities in need.