In this episode, I interviewed Mercedez, who's mission is to create a safe space for massage that's accessible in all the ways she can make it: compassionate, understanding, trauma informed, consent based, queer, and all gender friendly, body positive, and disability friendly.

Mercedez aims to to make receiving bodywork a priority and not a privilege as a woman of color, a person who has experienced trauma, body shaming and queer phobia herself.

We talked about:

• her journey as a massage therapist
• how she makes her work accessible
• how body work can help heal trauma
• fat liberation
• the importance of care work through all of life seasons, from birth, post-partum, child care, elder care, and end of life care

You can connect with Mercedez at:

https://www.massagebymercedez.com/

Follow us to join us on this Infinite Earth Body Journey:

http://www.instagram.com/infiniteearthbody

http://www.facebook.com/infiniteearthbody/

Join our Inner Circle to continue the convo:

https://www.patreon.com/InfiniteEarthBodyCollective

Intro/Outro Music - Feel the Earth by Maya Tokunaga:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO7vTAbpbG4&feature=youtu.be

Thanks to Mara Lazer for help with editing/producing!

00:00:00 Opening & Intro

00:04:00 How Mercedez got into massage therapy

00:05:00 What Mercedez has learned through her journey as a body worker

00:06:00 How Mercedez tries to make her bodywork sessions accessible to all genders, bodies, and abilities?

00:09:30 Healing through giving and receiving body work

00:12:40 What healing has looked like for Mercedez

00:14:00 Mercedez’s experiences in fat liberation activism

00:17:50 Care work with all ages, from birth to end of life

00:22:00 Mercedez’s experience with end of life care for her Grandma

00:28:00 Mercedez’s story from childhood growing up with fat positive family experiences, then facing fat phobia in school

00:31:00 Exploring questions of gender identity and sexuality as a young queer child and coming into more comfort in her body in a young adulthood through the support of community

00:33:00 How body work can change your experience in your body, even feet!

00:34:00 How grief can change how you feel in your body

00:37:00 Feeling in awe of what the body can do despite injuries and changing abilities

00:38:00 Feeling pleasure in your body through community, getting your heart rate up, eating, being in water, decadent baths

00:43:00 How to connect with Mercedez to book or sponsor a massage

00:45:00 Closing