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| Rewarding Massage Practice The key to building a successful
practice doesn't involve marketing practices, having the best techniques,
or client education. These things
may add to the development of your
practice but the real driving force behind these practices is Love and
Passion.
When I was deciding to go to massage school I read a book called "Do what you love and the money will follow" by Marsha Sinetar. It's about finding your passion in life and making it your work. When you are passionate about your work, nothing can stop you. If you have family members being unsupportive of your choices, you need to continue without their support. If the massage school tells you not to quit your day job until your practice is thriving, quit anyway if that is what think you must do to start your work. My school did tell me that and I quit anyway and put myself totally into my practice. I did a lot of waiting around for clients to book appointments in the beginning. I was always available when they were ready. I just couldn't work in a job where I felt like I was selling my soul just to make a few dollars. Love and passion will show in every aspect of your practice from marketing, treatments, networking, brochures - everything. It will show up in your phone calls, your hands, your smile. Do you wake up everyday thinking about health, people, bodywork, wanting to know more? Are you constantly working on yourself and your issues through bodywork and other modalities? Are you taking care of your self in the way that you wish clients would take care of themselves? Do you educate clients and empower them to take care of themselves? Do you take classes and read the latest health information to keep up to date? If you put yourself into your treatments and always do the very best treatment you can, success will follow. Do your clients get off the table saying "Wow, that was the best hour ever" or "Wow, what did you do to me- I never felt this good"? Even your regular weekly client should be saying that. Is your mind focused every minute on what you are feeling in the tissue, what layer of tissue are you working on, do you feel resistance or tightening? Is the client sleeping or under your fingers feeling every touch and opening to new awareness? Do you do whatever is needed everyday to take care of yourself? Stretch, meditate, walk, exercise, breathe, eat right, sleep when you need to? If you are not taking care of yourself, you are less likely to be able to be of any service in the healing of other. Knowing yourself is 90% of building a practice. The other 10% is the technique you do. Knowing yourself involves knowing your story. What beliefs and values do you have that create your who you are? What false beliefs do you have that keep you stuck in your rut rather than flowing like a river? Learning about yourself as a massage therapist can be done in the process of supervision or peer supervision and is really the key to developing a practice that will be financially rewarding as well as emotionally and spiritually enlightening. When you know more about yourself, you will be able to create a practice that empowers clients on their path to healing.
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