We won!! Pacific College of Oriental Medicine won the CCAOM award for Best School Clinic Video! Check out our winning video here.
OM in the news this week. Check it out!
Massage therapists are naturally nurturing, intuitive individuals. They dedicate their careers to helping others release pain and get their bodies back into balance. However, if a massage therapist doesn’t take great care to avoid it, they may be on a path toward the opposite effect on their own health.
Remember, you best serve your clients by putting yourself first. It’s hard to give a great treatment if you feel run down or have aches of your own. Hours of performing massage therapy can take a toll on the body. Prevent injury or weariness by following these simple steps:
(It’s a great idea to practice these tips with a fellow practitioner before using with patients.)
- It’s common to work with a client lying prone (lying face down) or supine (lying face up) on the table. However, these positions mean that the therapist must bend over the client (the angle can vary further depending on the height of the table). If sustained for long periods of time, this bent position can lead to back problems. Don’t be afraid to switch it up. Change your patient’s position so you’re not in one position for the duration of each massage. For example, you can try positioning the patient in the side-line position, which will allow you to remain upright. Depending on what technique you use, you can also have the client sit in a chair in front of you for a Tui Na Asian bodywork treatment.
- Also, feel free to alter your position in relation to your client’s (even if their position remains the same). It’s common to place yourself at the client’s head so that you’re able to provide long strokes down the back. However, the longer your reach the more you are bending at a ninety degree angle. Try a variation on your own position so that sometimes you are at the patient’s side.
- An electric massage table can work wonders. It will allow you to easily adjust table height per client (and prevent you from bending over lower than necessary).
- Remember to keep your wrists straight as you massage. This will prevent carpal tunnel and loss of sensation in the hands as you apply pressure (which can lead to nerve damage).
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See how acupuncture, massage therapy, and Oriental medicine can benefit you! Pacific College of Oriental Medicine’s fully integrative clinics in San Diego, Chicago, and NYC offer affordable, holistic treatment plans personally tailored to fit your needs. Check out our video!
OM in the news this week. Check it out!
OM in the news this week. Check it out!
OM in the news this week. Check it out!
If you’re a practicing massage therapist, you probably have your hands full (no pun intended!). You have your website up, your business cards created, and you might even be on social media. Many practitioners ask the question: “To blog or not to blog?” The answer might surprise you.
If you can’t commit the time to update a blog at least a couple times a month, it might be better to let the blogging train pass. When blogs go quiet for long periods of time it can reflect poorly on your business. That being said, it should also be noted that for a blog to be successful, it’s not necessary to write a post every day, or even every week. When content is well-written and unique, it can be an excellent way to build awareness of your practice and help optimize your search engine rankings.
Posts should be engaging and informative. If you can build enough quality content, readers will look forward to your posts even if they are infrequent. So, what makes a great massage blog? What will keep readers engaged and give them the urge to return to your site (and your practice)?
Some general rules apply when blogging, regardless of what industry you’re a part of. You’ll want to make sure you strive for quality over quantity for blog posts. Make posts engaging. Offer readers info they can use. Be more than your own promotion. Feel free to mix it up: vary how you present your content. Some of it can be photos, some written articles or surveys, and if you’re really crafty, you can include video posts.
Whatever format you decide to use, in each post, try to give tidbits, insights, or news that readers can immediately implement in their day-to-day life. We’ve put together some great inspirations for your massage blog below.
- Educate. Who better to write about the benefits you can provide to patients than yourself? But rather than making it about you or your practice specifically, focus on your trade. Write a post exploring the different modalities of massage therapy and the different conditions each massage technique is most used to treat. There are great opportunities for pictures with this one as you can demonstrate how Tui Na may look very different from Shiatsu!
- Debunk a myth or misconception about your industry. For example, do people think massage is just for relaxation?
- Interview a happy patient and get their permission to post their massage response on your blog. This is a nice twist for readers to see the benefits of a fantastic massage from the patient’s perspective. Even consider posting a short video testimonial! You can also gather positive quotes from patients that describe specifics about the treatment and post those on your blog. These can even be anonymous if you prefer.
- Use guest bloggers. Feature a post written from the perspective of a different holistic business (especially one that is complementary to your own, such as acupuncture, chiropractic, or a meditation or yoga center).
- Have you been earning CEUs or attended any industry conferences lately? Did you have a great time at Pacific Symposium? Provide your readers with a fun brief write up about the experience and any upcoming trends you’ve noticed in the industry. This is useful for readers who couldn’t attend the event, and also lends you credibility as a continually educated member of your field.
- Do you receive academic journals or read any nonfiction in your field? Have you read up on the recent research of the benefits of touch? Write your take on it or provide a layman’s overview of exciting new massage studies.
- Be useful. You know what your patients love. Are they healthy eaters? Do they enjoy yoga? Are they seeing you for stress and are looking for other ways to lower their heart rate? Give them some info on these issues. It doesn’t even have to do with massage, and in fact, it can broaden your audience if it doesn’t. Write up a list of sources for great vegetarian restaurants in your area, or think of the benefits that tea and antioxidants can provide to someone with a fast pulse.
Above all: try to have fun. Get creative! Think in terms of how you connect with your patients in person and bring it to the page. You’re already passionate about what you do. Bringing that excitement about wellness and healing to your blog will shine through your posts and attract loyal, happy clients.
Get inspired by checking out the recently named Top 50 Massage Blogs here!
“Always say “yes” to the present moment. Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.”
― Eckhart Tolle
A quality massage is a wonder to experience. A massage patient can feel lighter, uplifted, and more energetic for days after a great session (not to mention the many long-term health benefits of Asian bodywork). But did you know that the patient has a role in his or her own massage experience? As a massage therapist, share these tips with your patients and discover how their experiences differ when these ideas are implemented.
What can a patient do to get the most out of his or her massage?
Be Present. A massage can provide instant relaxation that is hard to find elsewhere. Massage is a healthy outlet for stress that has long-term benefits. As a patient, make sure you’re present for it. It might feel tempting to fall asleep or drift off, but if you can stay present and alert in your body, that’s where the healing happens.
Notice any shifts in tension—does one part of your body tense up as another muscle relaxes? Make a conscious effort to let that muscle relax. Do any emotions or images come to mind as you experience the massage? Our muscles hold our physical tension as well as our emotional tension, and a massage can be a wonderful opportunity to release feelings you might not have known you were holding onto—but to do that, you’ll need to be present.
Hydrate. As a massage therapist, you’re probably used to advising patients to drink plenty of water after a massage. But you might want to consider giving this tip ahead of time, before the patient comes to your appointment. Without enough water before a treatment, a patient’s blood flow may be somewhat stagnated and sluggish to process the lactic acid and any toxins that emerge from the muscles during the massage. It’s true that patients should drink plenty of water after a massage to flush out these toxins, but if they enter the appointment readily hydrated, they’ll experience less aches the following day.
Breathe. It’s common for massage therapists to guide patients to take deep breathes during particularly rigorous parts of a massage. As deep tissues are worked on, breathing will help the patient focus on relaxing the muscles and help the therapist release each muscle’s tension. But there is another important aspect to breathing during a massage that is often overlooked. Yogis are familiar with this concept: breathing is our link to the present.
Focusing on breathing puts the patient consciously in the current moment, and enables them to become an active participant in their own massage. This doesn’t mean they have to practice deep breathing for the duration of the appointment. The focus and intent on the breath is more important than the form it takes. A patient’s conscious breathing will help bring awareness to each area of the body that is being worked, and lead to a fulfilling healing experience.
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Are you a little “wound up” with comp exams? Treat yourself to an unwinding massage this week. You deserve it!
