Andrew Currie - Complementary Therapist

Qualified therapist in VTCT Complementary Therapies. Offering Body Massage, Aromatherapy and Reflexology treatments as well as Attachment Release. Registered member and fully insured with the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT) number 194126

I've spent much of my early life never knowing what I wanted to do and did lots of varied courses ranging from Nautical Science as a trainee deck officer in the Merchant Navy to training as a Chef. Through lots of volunteering with homeless and mental health charities, I finally figured out I wanted to promote mental and physical wellbeing so I studied and qualified in a VTCT Level 3 in Complementary Therapies at the Langside Campus of Glasgow Clyde College in June 2016. The comprehensive course consisted of doing 100 case studies in Reflexology, 60 case studies in Aromatherapy /Massage and 30 case studies in Body Massage as well as Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology.

Through my course I enjoyed working with people and seeing their physical and emotional problems improve over the course of continuous treatments, which brought me to the realisation of how our physical and emotional bodies are connected.
After I qualified I worked as a Reflexologist at Sweet Aerobics - a social project that aims to make exercise, aerobics and yoga fun and accessible to communities across Glasgow and beyond. https://www. facebook.com/sweetaerobics /

I then rented a room at Woodland Herbs, a health shop, herbal dispensary and clinic in Glasgow. I worked there for just over a year and loved seeing clients walk out the door with a smile on their faces after a treatment, I basically got paid to make people happy!
However I was struggling with marketing myself as my values were conflicted with charging money for treatments. Originally I got into massage because I loved doing it, after realising in the Merchant Navy that the pursuit of monetary wealth wasn’t something that interested or inspired me. But in order to run a business and pay business rent I had to be interested in monetising myself through marketing. . . . . and I really hated doing that because it didn’t resonate with my values. So I left woodland herbs because I wasn’t keen on marketing myself, didn’t get enough clients and couldn’t pay the rent.

Since then I’ve been conflicted at how to continue as a massage therapist when my values don’t fit into conventional society. How am I going to promote myself and become successful if I don’t like money? How am I going to get my basic needs met, or any of my needs met? Enter bartering. I’ve been doing small trades and swaps for a few years now, ranging from getting treatments from other therapists when I’ve been poor to skill swaps and food. But it’s only today that I had an epiphany that the “marketing” I do for myself is basically just seeking out people to barter with - my “business” is sharing skills and resources to get my needs met.

I’ve been inspired by Mark Boyle, the Moneyless Man and Giuseppe Spadafora, from the Free Tea Bus, that by removing money from my business I can create more meaningful interactions. Charging money for treatments assumes everyone is on the same playing field to start with, when in reality a lot of people in need can’t afford to pay £40 an hour for a massage. Bartering a skill or resource cuts out the need for money in the first place and puts the power back to the people to decide what is genuinely valuable to their interaction.

So my new business goals are to work towards becoming self sufficient without using money. I’m currently on the Facebook group Brilliant Bartering, https://www. facebook.com/groups /Brilliantbartering / where I’m currently focusing on getting my basic needs met, but will also hope to be expanding my networks to find more people to barter with! I like the idea of living in a van like Giuseppe, which runs off of vegetable oil, generating my own power and living off the grid, which would be low rent compared to living in a flat. But as to what direction my business will take, who knows?

I’ve recently learned to drive but don’t own a car yet. I’m hoping to be able to get a van one day so I’m interested in learning about car mechanics and coach building as these are the skills I’ll need to build my own mobile home. If you have these skills and are interested in bartering for a massage, get in touch!