Economic Hard Times And Massage Therapy
You better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone, for the times they are a changing. I grew up with that Dylan song in the 60’s. And Bobby apparently was right on. The economic challenge that many are experiencing, has hit every aspect of our massage industry, and it may be here for a while. I have moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to weather the storm, as the demographics for massage therapy is much better here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. I hear the grim reports of the impact of eight years of government madness and banking greed, wherever I travel to these days. You might ask, “what does that have to do with massage continuing education”? “When the going gets tough the tough get going” is another old saying that is applicable more today in the sense of economic survival then ever before. But, in the realm of massage therapists looking to rise to the top of the ranks…I hear nothing but fear and contraction coming out of the mouths of massage therapists these days. Its easy to say I can’t afford it. I have heard that mantra from massage therapists when it comes to spending any money on their continuing education for two decades! Its the mantra of the weak and fearful. What you think about you will get, is a true axiom. Massage therapy continuing education exists as a tool for you to climb the ladder and ascend the ranks of mediocrity.
I have talked with many teachers, some who have been teaching for 30 years. Many are challenged to fill classes these days. Its very expensive for some students to travel to classes when you consider airfare, hotels, food and the cost of the seminars. Oftentimes I spent in excess of $1500 for one 30 hour massage continuing education course. Multiply that by 3 or 4 and you get my point. That is why I advocate the use of high quality, in-depth training using DVD’s. Once the material is well learned, which may take over a year for a motivated massage therapist, not only is the student capable of applying the massage techniques, but they have also satisfied their continuing education credits for their respective state’s licensure. Then the student can travel to a hands on class, or in my case become an apprentice in either cranial sacral therapy, Rolfing or both. By the time the student has reached the point of wanting to are dedicated, motivated and the fundamentals have been covered. That way they can actually learn tactile expression from me with either of the disciplines, because I have had more experience. I believe I learned more about Rolfing while working on and receiving work from my advanced instructor at the Rolf Institute, then I did the entire time at the Institute in the classes. Simply because you can’t teach feel unless you are being guided by a competent teacher who is touching you and you are also touching!
When you are considering rising to the challenge of these tumultuous economic times, consider a fantastic DVD program when you are in need of massage continuing education credits. And better yet get the DVD series not to met any massage continuing education requirements, get them to raise the bar on your skill levels and meet these economic times fearlessly.