Think and Grow Rich for Massage Therapists

“Think and Grow Rich” is the timeless classic by Napoleon Hill written in 1937. I hadn’t read it until a few weeks ago and now am writing the “Think and Grow Rich for massage therapists” based on this book. As I was reading and researching I did come across some interesting findings one of which is that there are various versions of the original classic. I found this out from reading the first part of a new book by Ester and Jerry Hicks called “The Astonishing Power of Emotions”. They mentioned that they were being interviewed for the movie “The Secret” and somehow or another got cut out in the end. They think they got cut out because they focus on the concept of vibrations and how your thoughts and feelings carry different vibrations. They talked about how “Think and Grow Rich” original version got the word vibration taken out of it too. The movie “The Secret” doesn’t tell you what the secret is just like the edited versions of “Think and Grow Rich” didn’t focus on the actual ’secret’.

The Secret is the vibration of the feelings and emotions that you have that tell you what you are thinking. I’ll get into that in another post.

One of the first things that “Think and Grow Rich” talks about is having a passionate determination. In the first chapter he says:

Thoughts are things and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence and a BURNING DESIRE for their translation into riches, or other material objects.”

He talks about how having this ‘burning desire’ and a definite purpose will drive you to success. He gave a few examples such as a ship taking soldiers into battle and dropping them off somewhere and the ships being burned so they couldn’t leave, leading the men to be more determined to succeed.

After reading about being determined and having a purpose, I realized that the massage profession itself is keeping massage therapists from believing that they can be successful in this business. Most massage schools will tell students to not quit your day job when just starting out. This is telling people that they won’t be successful!!!!
I am sure they rationalize it by saying you have to be realistic - but what is that really. Nothing more than their own beliefs. So massage schools don’t even believe in what they are doing to prepare a student enough that they can jump right into creating a full time practice. Sure it takes time to build a practice, but you have to be prepared to go the distance. You have to be willing to do what it takes. You have to believe in yourself enough to not go back and take the giant leap.

That’s the way I did it 18 years ago. I actually quit my job before I even graduated from massage school as I couldn’t stand it anymore. (Actually I was so miserable they laid me off so I could collect unemployment!) I finished massage school and went right to work setting up my practice in a health club with a friend of mine right out of massage school. I never looked back. It was sink or swim…and since I am such a good swimmer - I dove head first into it all not knowing what I was really getting into - but I knew I loved the whole concept of being healthy and working with people.

So the massage profession itself is showing how it doesn’t believe in itself. How else does the profession actually hurt us and hold us back? By not standing up to the plate and defining the profession? By not setting standards of education? More blog posts to come!

Posted in Building Your Practice, Massage Schools/Students, Recommended Reading, Starting Your Practice, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | 1 Comment »

Defining Deep Tissue Massage

In my last post I touched on how defining massage affects the profession and how we are perceived by the general public. Learning to communicate what we do is the core of creating a successful practice and creating a image for the massage profession.

The way deep tissue massage is defined and experienced by others is one of the best examples.

A few months ago I called to make an appointment at a local spa for a relaxation massage. They asked what kind of massage I wanted and I said I just wanted a really firm relaxation massage. I didn’t want any painful deep tissue techniques. The receptionist said what I was looking for was their special signature massage which included some kind of warm eye mask being applied. I said that sounded fine. When I got there for the massage, the therapists touch was so light I could hardly feel her touch on my skin and she wasn’t engaging the tissue in anyway to create the relaxation I needed. I asked her if she could apply more pressure. She said that would be the deep tissue technique - but she wouldn’t have time to do the eye mask part. I said that was fine. She then proceeded to just do the same thing. She never asked -”Is this enough pressure? Is this what you were looking for?” To make things worse I was so disappointed when I left and when I went to pay for the session, no one asked how my massage was. By that time I was so frustrated I just left thinking I would never go back to that place. But I got home and was still thinking about it and I thought that they just don’t know how to communicate what they are offering or what their therapists are trying to do. I emailed them and I ended up getting a free massage and went in with another therapist and had a great deep relaxation massage - what they think and call deep tissue massage on their menu of services even.

My definition of deep tissue massage comes from 8 years or so in structural integration training with the Zentherapy Institute and going through Rolfing and Hellerwork sessions. Now that in my mind is deep tissue. The deeper muscles of the body are accessed sometimes with a fair amount of pain.

So how we define what we do affects every client and potential client. What do they think they will be getting? What do they want as far as a massage? What has their previous massage experiences been? What do they have in their experience to compare to the session I am giving them? I always ask people what types of massage they have had and try to get an idea of what the pressure feels like to them. Even then we are faced with them being unable to verbalize just what it is that they want for whatever reason - their not wanting to hurt our feelings, their thinking that we know best what ‘they’ should be getting, their lack of experience in getting massage to be able to compare it to other sessions so they know just what they want.

All of these things come into play when trying to build a massage practice and most do not even know how what they do and how they communicate what they do will affect everyone - not just their session with their current client.

I have an exercise I like to tell massage therapists to do who I am working with in peer supervision - go out and search out a new massage therapist online or from the phone book or from getting a referral and actually go and get a massage -even a few massages. This is a great exercise for keeping you in touch with just what it is that you do and learning to provide the service that clients need.

And then there is the what if you don’t do deep tissue or don’t do the deep tissue that hurts and someone is asking you to do that? This is where screening people on the phone and providing enough information on your website comes in handy. If someone gets as far as your table thinking that they want a really deep tissue session and you just don’t do that for whatever reason ( not enough training, don’t define deep tissue as painful, not enough strength or size to work on a larger body) you are faced with having to say “I am sorry. I am not able to do that” and let them leave your table without paying or without doing any work which is a waste of your appointment times. Learning how to describe what you do so that a potential client can figure out if your service will be a match for what you need is also the basis for creating a ‘website that works’ and is all laid out in the free Site Build It! Action Guide.and also in the free Service Sellers Masters Course from SBI!

Posted in Massage Schools/Students, Massage Therapy Jobs, News | No Comments »

Defining Massage

One of the challenges the massage profession has is a major obstacle in educating the public as to what massage is or is not. Since we do not have a clear definition of it for ourselves - how can we educate people as to what it is?

What is massage? What is bodywork? Is massage bodywork? Is bodywork massage? Is Reiki, structural integration, polarity therapy, reflexology, Bowen therapy, Trager, Rosen method, Rubenfield synergy, Shiatsu, Hakomi considered massage? Is it bodywork? Do you need to know Swedish Massage for those types of therapies (and go to massage school and be licensed as a massage therapist to do those types of massage techniques?)

Then there is the whole problem of defining ‘Medical Massage” - is medical massage a technique or just the ability to bill insurance companies for massage therapy services. If it is a technique - what technique or techniques are included and not included? Some are claiming that relaxation massage is not medical massage but if stress is the number one cause of most diseases and conditions and relaxation massage is the best modality for treating stress will we be cutting our own throats by not allowing relaxation massage therapists (who usually have less than 500 hours of massage training) to do medical massage? The problem now is that because it is not defined by the massage profession - the insurance companies are defining it.

The definitions of each different type of massage/bodywork or whatever you want to call it can be further defined for clarification. What is deep tissue bodywork? What is myofacial release? What is triggerpoint therapy? What is sports massage? What is swedish massage?
What type of training and experience is needed for doing each and every type of massage/bodywork?

The reason why we need to start clearly defining these words and techniques is so that we can then show these to state boards when they try to limit what we do or define what we do in other ways. It is also important in educating the public and promoting our profession as a whole and it really affects each massage therapist’s ability to work successfully with each client. This is seen when you go into a spa like I did a few months ago asking for a relaxing massage but not deep tissue as I have a lot of experience in getting Rolfed and doing structural integration. Deep tissue to me means challenging the deeper muscles of the body which usually has a degree of discomfort to it. I said that I wanted very firm relaxation massage and then when I got there I could hardly feel the persons hands on me. Now the clients experience is also so varied, but in this case the massage practitioner had no means of connecting to my needs. She never asked questions to find out how much pressure that meant to me or tried to figure it out in any way. I tried to keep telling her but I got no response and gave up (which is a whole other story - how many people getting a massage do not get their needs met because they don’t say anything?) Needless to say, I got a free deep tissue massage out of it later after speaking to the management. How we define and teach people to use such techniques really has a global effect of creating an image for the massage profession. How can we start defining ourselves to create a more professional and cohesive image? How can we start defining what we do so as to have a common language that ALL can understand?

Massage Definitions by State -www.thebodyworker.com

This research study attempts to help define massage -”Development of a taxonomy to describe massage treatments for musculoskeletal pain”

Posted in Ethics, Massage Schools/Students | 1 Comment »

Why do you do massage?

The Wealthy massage therapist has a clear picture of what it is that they get out of doing massage - not just the obvious factors but what feeling do you get out of doing massage and helping others.

Many come to this profession thinking they want to help others. Some get here because they have been to a massage therapist who was influential in helping them deal with a condition or helped them to feel better. Some come thinking that they just want to be a part of a career that you can set your own hours and have your freedom while making a high hourly wage. Some are called to the profession and feel compelled to pursue massage. Some come to massage after being told that they have ‘good hands’ and that they should do massage.

Whatever the reason that is drawing you to the massage profession or has drawn you to the massage profession will usually be the thing that also leads to challenges as a massage therapist.

Becoming more aware of the reasons why you help can get you started on the right track and keep you in harmony with yourself. You are in harmony when your life reflects your thoughts and beliefs. You are able to take the actions that you need to take to get you what you desire.

The reasons that call you to become a massage therapist also have a shadow side to them or a hidden aspect to them. The reasons why you are called to become a massage therapist are usually reflecting the things that you need to do for yourself. We often give to others what we need to give to ourselves.

Posted in Massage Schools/Students, Peer Supervision | No Comments »

Why become a massage therapist?

Why do people become a massage therapist? What brings people to the profession?

Most come wanting/thinking they are just want to help others. Some may come because they got worked on by a massage therapist and got relief for some condition that they had for a long time. Some are looking for more freedom in their life/schedule and the ability to work where they want and when. The massage schools make becoming a massage therapist look glamorous with people getting this soothing massage at the spa or resort.

While helping others or having more meaningful connections with people seem to be a big part of it, helping has such a deep shadow part of it - a hidden side to helping. Helping is a very co-dependent response and really can bring up core beliefs about yourself. Helping hurts people more than it helps.

Oprah had a show last week that talked about this in a different way. They were talking about raising kids with high self esteem. The only way to do that is to have high self esteem yourself. Showing kids you have a life and that you come first shows them that they need to come first too in their life. Kids learn from watching what others do not really what they are told to do.

I think the same applies to creating a healing relationship. People will respect you more when you have boundaries around yourself and take care of yourself more than others.

My favorite article on this that I have referenced often is of course “In the Service of Life” by Rachel Remen.

Posted in Ethics, Massage Schools/Students, The Code of the Caretaker | No Comments »