Become a certified Massage Therapist

I’ve taken a HUGE detour from Massaging. In the past 3 or 4 months, I’ve joined my family in doing their business, and have let my own interests lie by the way side. As a result I have not been massaging consistently AT ALL! And, as a result of THAT I’ve been feeling cheated on by my own self, like I just don’t care enough about what I want to do, to devote my whole self to it.

What I’m realizing as I record this thought, and these feelings, is that eventhough I have been largely absent from actually rubbing on people, I have not really fallen off the horse, so to speak. Seems to me that I have been taking in a whole bunch of information on something that has been of interest to me for a very long time, but that I never approached, for one reason or another.

What I’m recognizing, for the first time, is how the everyday happenings in my life help to both modernize AND focus me at the same time. IOW, (in other words, for future reference), me working doing photography and photoshop AND copy for a pretty robust website, has helped me take on projects that I not only finished, but decided, even, to glorify… IOW, to make the best I can do. I saw that there was great benefit in fully throwing myself into the inner workings of 100 candles, and get to know how a website works, how it speaks to users and customers, and how, they, in turn, communicate WITH THE SITE. I’m always intrigued when I talk to a person on the line, and get to know what they think about how information is arranged, and what they need assistance with. And how they even got to us in the first place. It’s a kind of a strange feeling to know that I am interacting with people from everywhere who know me only because of the site.
I have a sort of feeling of being the Home Depot, when they were brand new. Customer service to the Tees, No item is turned away for being broken, or not looking as appealing as it was in the picture, on the site. It feels like we’re all about the customer, and can take great leaps in the service of same. It feels glorious to be involved in something like that, like I have a real great role to play, and, THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is what it’s all about!

“Where your skills, and the needs of others intersect, there lies your vocation.” ::Aristotle.

So to get back to the massage thing, and how badly I feel about not having being into it as I’d like to, is that maybe I’ve been getting “honed” by the environment I’m around. That I’m not going farther away, but closer to where I’m headed.

Think about it like this… I need to get into the “surf zone;” that place just in front of the wave, and moving sufficiently in the direction of the wave, to be able to catch the wave, to be able to be around people, to be able to take on and complete tasks and responsibilities, to be dependable and resourceful, to have the means to work around problems, to research, to concentrate and hold my focus on whatever my task is, and so forth.

So to recap. It’s OK to be doing what I’m doing. It’s OK to learn as much as you’re interested in knowing about what you’re doing, and to hone those latent talents that surface during this time. It’s good to do your very best. There is great joy in exploring deep within me, and finding out what kind of games and activities make me feel really great and vital. I’m guessing that computer aided physical and emotional release and exercise are going to be major amongst those interests. There is also Gardening, and watching Bees look for the Honey root, and walking in great big meadows, recycling water, and making cheap clean electrical power, in finding ways to get big corporate money to sponsor Global Solarization Equivalency, to find new ways to communicate the importance of level headed living and interaction with the environment. And particular to my own interests, to find a place of my own in this world, where I can go to think, dream, and create, as well as rest and be happily alive.

Selling is the means by which we get to keep on doing that which we like. IWO… we must get people INTERESTED in us and in what we are doing. Once there is sufficient interest in your product, you can get to selling it and doing more of it to sell to more people and so forth, and to that end, being involved with this web site, which is teaching me how to tell the world, 24/7, about me and my doings, is the most wonderful opportunity ever! This is really a wonderful thing, and, so, this too is good for me.

Having massaged before, and having a background in Hypnotherapy, etc…, I feel that now I’m getting to see how the Human body and its symptoms very much is a reflection of what going on in business. I’m getting to glimpse how the world out there is the same as the workings of the body, in here. It’s fascinating to see how it all works, how it adjusts and mutates to changing conditions. It’s wonderful, really, and therefore not bad at all!

Be glad, then, and take heart. You be on the King’s road after all… right where you at.

I’m back on the trail. Just a few more months to finishing this goal.

I’m feeling great about the progress, and already a whole bunch of opportunities have been presenting themselves. I only need to be careful about how I go about entertaining all these possibilities.

This thing is getting stronger now. Feels like i’m ready to take this on and make it my own thing. Been doing a bunch of new massage techniques and getting away from the impression that i have to be the “perfect” massage therapist to have any clients at all, and all of that.

Idea is to just keep on doing my thing and tell people about myself and what i do in any way i can. And to keep on doing it.

im typing on this foreign kybd, so please bear with my non punctuated rantings.

im finding out, from talking to people , and from rubbing them, that i am a natural for this massage thing.

Well, Duh! ive already known that!

What i dont like about the whole Therapy thing (see therapy being in quotes here please), is that it sort of implies this standardization of processes which i dont buy into (read heavy resistance into this please).

For me, massage is a connection thing that depends on two people willing to become as vulnerable to each other as is possible, or appropriate. In the absence of that vulnerability all the rubbing you do will not reach your intended (combined actually) purpose, which is to get to the heart of the pain or discomfort.

Most people think that physical discomfort happens because of purely physical problems, ie, sitting in wrong positions, performing rote tasks over and over, etc… and, while this is true, to an extent, the clincher is still to be found in the emotional state of a person.

Psychologically speaking, trauma is incorporated into our emotional bodies when there is great residual fear or apprehension about the trauma that took place. So if we go through something nerve wracking and we continue to be in a fight flight mode, that experience is going to take root in our nervous systems and we will keep on reacting internally (unfocused fighting fleeing), even as the seed experience is no longer present. Checking my own self (which is all i have to check into… ever), i find that physical trauma follows pretty much the same route due to the emotional component.

When looking at vectors of force we see that any kind of force consists of 2 or more components, depending on how many dimensions it occurs. For the purpose of this writing, im going to consider a force in the 2 dimensional world, and in that world, i see that any force (other than totally horizontal or totally vertical) will have an x component and a y component. So for every varying degree of force between 0 and 90 degrees, for example, the x and y forces will vary in their proportional makeup of the entire force actually exerted, as will be the resulting direction of the force.

If i were to make a parallel argument for the physical/emotional makeup of physical discomfort, i can make the same case for it. In other words, every pain or discomfort we hold on to in our bodies, will depend on how much of a physical attachment we devote to that pain/discomfort, and how much we still feel as if we are still immersed in the causal origin (emotional attachment).

To bring this concept home, just think about some time you have experienced working in a high pressure, rushed environment (finals, a tight timeline on a cornerstone project) and reflect back to the way you were acting, moving, (for me, the rate of chewing food), and think about how long after it was all over you were still moving and acting (chewing) with the same rythm and so on.

So, as as someone who massages, ive always felt that ive needed to address more than just the physical body (rubbing on someone). ive always felt that i needed to form and firm a connection between me and the person under my fingers/hands, etc…, become aware of the physical/emotional spread, then bring in a calming force to create a calming trusting environment. It is only then that i start to really do the work of actually massaging the muscles.

In broad terms, thats why ive always resisted becoming a Certified Massage Therapist (in quotes, again).

So… ive decided to start to accept that my version of what type of a MT im going to be will have to guide my practice, and that i will have to advertise what i do in order to set myself apart from the myriad of others who are working in that same field.

To summarize…. i am going to put myself out there (in a collective pool of similar professionals), and trust that i am going to attract the kinds of clients who believe in, and want, specifically, what i have to offer.

To summarize the summary: i am not for everyone, and thats OK!