Joseph Sage Raindancer
May of 2018 marked 20 years of Sage practicing massage therapy and bodywork. During these years, he has practiced from Hawai’i to Washington, D.C. Sage has taught at several schools such as Potomac Massage Training Institute in Washington, D.C., the Heritage Institute in Virginia, as well as the Arizona School of Massage, and New Samaritan High School in Arizona. Sage has studied various therapeutic modalities from a variety of cultures. From the formal training of Swedish, Deep Tissue, and Myofascial at the Baltimore School of Massage; to Medical Massage, Lomilomi, Thai Yoga, Reiki and many more; to the training and studies of esoteric modalities such as shamanic healing, energy work and sound therapy. Sage’s outdoor experience expands from being a veteran in the US Army Reserve in the 90’s, as a bike messenger in the mid to late 90's, and currently extends into REI’s Outdoor School as an Outdoor Instructor/Experience Guide, as well as, a Guide for Nature and Forest Therapy.
When asked how I got onto my career path I typically begin the story with, "Most of the time in high school I had no clue what I wanted to do after graduation. But at some point l I thought I wanted to become either a high school English teacher, a cop, or a massage therapist. And then my senior year began, and I still was clueless. My mom had told me, "You're either going to college, joining the military, or joining the Peace Corps".
So I joined the Army Reserve as a Military Police Officer. During my civilian time I ended up going to Montgomery County Community College but soon found out that college was not for me. Years later I learned that the teaching environment of colleges/universities was not conducive to my particular learning style. From my time during Basic Training & Advanced Individual Training I realized that I was more of a physical/kinesthetic learner. I then began to look into massages schools and enrolled into The Baltimore School of Massage. From juggling my time with the Army & massage school, I took side jobs doing retail, waiting tables, and becoming a bike messenger in DC.
It was at the end of the 90's, my raver & messenger days waning. I had spent four years, year round, getting paid to ride my bike, but it was time for me to ride for myself. My time with the Army was drawing to a close, the shuffling of paperwork transferred me from the Reserves to Individual Ready Reserve. I had graduated from the Baltimore School of Massage in May of 1998 & I had wanted to give back to the community that I connected with and that had helped me pay for my massage education. I wanted to give back to the messenger community. Interestingly enough, through the bike messenger grapevine I heard that the following September the Cycle Messenger World Championships was going to be held in Washington DC.
I decided to offer my services, a free massage to any & all of the bike messengers, whether they raced, observed, volunteered, or vended. From that one event I learned a plethora of things that would aid me on my path. Little did I know that those two career paths would become passions, and then later, those passions would become my purpose. Little did I know that more elements would come into play expanding my career paths.
At the start of the new millennium I began my time teaching at the Potomac Massage Training Institute. For the next 6 years I taught massage therapy at various schools in Arizona, DC, Maryland, & Virginia. During this time I also began to work part-time at one of the local outdoor stores, REI. Initially, working the retail end of REI was supposed to be a brief part time gig. After several years of working the sales floor I became a shared employee between the store and the Outdoor School. Through REI's Outdoor School I've taught countless kids and adults how to ride a bike, further advanced novice cyclists with their skill sets on the trails and roads, and have guided overnight bike camping trips along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Park. It may not be high school English, but through my passion of cycling and therapeutic touch, I've had the opportunity to provide edutainment and enlightenment to a variety of students in skills that will always be utilized and cherished.
In 2018 I embarked on my journey with the Association of Nature & Forest Therapy. From being a Guide in Training to becoming a Certified Guide, I’ve led walks for, and/or, collaborated with members of Parks RX America, Corazon Latino, Biophilic DC, Unity Health Care, National Park Service, US Forest Service, Brookside Gardens & Brookside Nature Center.
A decade after I graduated from Albert Einstein High School in Kensington MD, I had accomplished my three career goals in a rather non-conformist way. Two decades after graduating from the Baltimore School of Massage I embarked down the path as a Nature & Forest Therapy Guide. From this I have been able to manifest my various passions from this eclectic journey of mine to create a personalized niche to master my craft and purpose. Creating a sacred space for the therapeutic and healing transformation through bodywork and nature & forest therapy.