S.W. Florida Massage by Reanya Magda

As a massage therapist we are forced to make decisions every day. Really, as human beings we make decisions every day. Ranging from what to make for dinner, to who you should hire to fill a new position, the consequences of our decisions can be long lasting. Making decisions feels very permanent with far reaching effects which causes us to over-think, rather than make the right decision.

This is why many people hesitate and second guess themselves when the time comes to make a decision. When it comes to making the decision they start to think about how they will implement their decision and what could happen if they make a particular decision.

Before they decide, they run through their head how they will implement their decision, what it?s going to cost them, what will happen if they fail?.all the reasons they shouldn?t make a decision.

I would like to suggest a different process to use when making a decision. I was taught this technique from David Neagle and it works very well.  

First make the decision. Put the ?how am I going to make this happen? aside. Don?t think about what others are going to say or think ? put your energy into making the right decision for you. If you need $20,000 to invest in your business, but you have terrible credit and nothing in your accounts receivables, you may start thinking about why you can?t get $20,000.

What I am asking you to do, before you think about how or why, is to make the decision to move your business forward. Make the decision that you are going to manifest $20,000. Just make the decision you are going to do it and nothing else.

Once you?ve made the decision (whatever it is) write it down on a piece of paper. Draw a line down the center of the paper. On the left column write down these words ?Why I can?t?. On the right column write down ?How I can?. Cross off ?Why I can?t? with a big X. You are done with that column. Why I can?t is no longer an option for you. You?ve made the decision to manifest $20,000. The Universe will bring it to you once you make the decision.

Now write down every single thing you can think of for ?How I can?. EVERYTHING; even if it seems crazy and impossible. Once you?ve written everything down, methodically exhaust every item on the list. Somewhere on that list is the solution to making your decision a reality.

It may be that one of the items you wrote down leads you to something else, which makes your decision a reality. The answer is somewhere on that list.

The key is to make the decision without thinking about the how. The universe will make the how happen. Your job is to go through that list tirelessly until you find what you are looking for. In this case it?s raise $20,000.

Here?s an example:

Decision:    raise    $20,000  

      Why I can?t      How I can

                                    Loan from bank
                                    Money from mom
                                    Sell 30 ebooks
                                    Gain 25 new clients
                                    Ask friends
                                    Have a sale
                                    Partner with Marathon
                                    Etc.

Try it. See if it works for you.

About the author

Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning author, copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. Kelly is a blogger for both ChiroEco and MassageMagazine and is the author of Marketing 101: Why Successful Alternative Healthcare Practitioners Specialize as well as co-author of The Practice Evolution Success Kit. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, ?5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits? at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.

Some MT?s think if they invest thousands of marketing dollars into a high-quality brochure, patients will be attracted to it simply because it?s there and looks nice. The truth is that massage therapists should really use a brochure as an educational marketing tool that patients can use to answer questions on their own. They key to an effective massage therapy brochure is to provide patients with something new that makes them want to pick it up, read it, and keep it around long after they leave your office.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating a massage therapy brochure:

• Include helpful information that makes clients want to keep it, such as three tips to reduce neck pain, or five steps to stay relaxed after your massage.  

• Share benefits rather than updates on new features or equipment. For example, describing new technology or equipment available in your office doesn?t attract interest, but showing clients how and why the new equipment helps them through less pain, faster appointments, etc will make them want to learn more.  

• Provide a strong sales message on the front cover. For example, ?Your health is our priority?. This is your chance to grab the patient?s attention and make the brochure keepable.  

• Move the reader forward in the sales process. Accomplish an objective, such as answering common questions, and then ask the reader to call to make an appointment or visit your website for more detailed information.  

• Ensure your contact information is easy to find and up to date. Always include your phone number, web address, hours of operation, location and directions.

Don?t print expensive brochures simply because you should have them. Set objectives and make sure your brochure leads the reader to specific and helpful information about your practice.

About the author

Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning author, copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. Kelly is a blogger for both ChiroEco and MassageMagazine and is the author of Marketing 101: Why Successful Alternative Healthcare Practitioners Specialize as well as co-author of The Practice Evolution Success Kit. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips.

Contact Kelly to receive her free report, ?5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits? at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.

Colorado has just passed a regulatory bill (SB-219) for massage therapists that is awaiting the Governor’s signature. Although it started out as a bill for state licensing, it ended up being state registration, with all of the components of licensing, just by a different name. Such is the nature of legislative compromise. Passage of the bill is the result of several years of work by a coalition of AMTA and ABMP. As always when state regulation is on the table, there is a wide variety of opinion about the need or desirability for regulation.

I personally believe that regulation will be good for Colorado. We have many resort towns that have had no regulation at all, and anyone could show up for the ski season and proclaim themselves a “massage therapist”, whether or not they had any training or experience. In my mind, this put vacationing skiers at more risk for receiving substandard, possibly injurious, massage.

I welcome your thoughts on Colorado regulation, or on how things work where you live.

Denticulate Ligaments.

Denticulate Ligaments (DLs) are strands of connective tissue that suspend the spinal cord within its membrane sac, which is called the dual tube.

The dural tube is comprised of three layers of membrane surrounding the spinal cord. The membrane layer attached to the surface of the spinal cord is called the pia mater. The layer surrounding the pia mater is called the arachnoid membrane, and the layer surrounding the arachnoid membrane is called the dura mater.

DLs extend from the inner surface of the pia mater, travel through the pia mater, through the arachnoid membrane and then attach to the inner surface of the dura mater.

There are 21 pairs of DLs on the lateral aspects of the spinal cord. The first is attached to the foramen magnum. The last is attached to the conus medullaris, which is the end of the spinal cord at L1, and a small portion of the Filum Terminale (FT) beginning at the conus medullaris. The FT is a band of tissue extending from the conus medullaris to the coccyx that is made of spinal cord glial cells surrounded by pia mater.

DLs and FT shortening, twisting, bending or immobility can place adverse stress upon the spinal cord leading to neurological strain and dysfunction. Conversely, balancing the DLs and FT can decrease spinal cord stress which in turn can enhance neurological function.

DLs are fascinating components of the dural tube that seem, to me, to create a ligamentous suspension system cradling the spinal cord. Very little DL research is available.

These questions arise when I ponder and work the DLs and FT:

1) Since the spinal cord needs to move in its bony container more than the brain tissue does in its container, do the DLs provide protection and flexibility while allowing motion?

2) The dura mater of the dural tube is only one layer thick rather than the two layers within the cranium, so do the DLs create additional tube strength without compromising movement?

3) As the spinal cord moves within the spinal canal do the DLs, like thousands of tiny interlinked bungee cords, help dissipate stress and allow the spinal cord to find its most favorable position?

4) Structures that can affect the spinal cord, such as the occiput, spinal column, sacrum and coccyx, dural tube, adipose tissue within the spinal canal and nerve roots can each have restrictive patterns that in turn can distress the spinal cord. Do the DLs help to protect the spinal cord by balancing, dissipating and fine-tuning tension that is transmitted to the spinal cord?

5) Some theories suggest that there is a down and up flow of cerebrospinal fluid within the dural tube. Since the DLs separate the dural tube into anterior and posterior compartments, could that then organize the flow of cerebrospinal fluid?

I hope you?ll join me next month to explore this suspension system further. I’ll share some ideas on how to feel and work with DLs and the FT.

References:
Cramer, Gregory D., D.C., Ph.D., and Darby, Susan A., Ph.D., Basic and Clinical Anatomy of the Spine, Spinal Cord, and ANS, Second Edition, Elsevier Mosby, St. Louis, Missouri, 2005.

Sills, Franklyn, Craniosacral Biodynamics, Volume Two, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California, 2004.

Tubbs, Shane R., M.S., PA-C; Salter, George, Ph.D.; Grabb, M.D.; and Oakes, Jerry W., M.D. ; ?The denticulate ligament: anatomy and functional significance?, J. Neurosurg: Spine / Volume 94 / April 2001.

Are you thankful?

For most of us, it’s extremely gratifying when a client or colleague refers a friend, family member, or patient to our practice.  A personal recommendation carries much more weight with a potential client than any form of advertising or marketing.  Referred clients already expect to get results before they even pick up the phone to set an appointment.

I think it’s important to truly appreciate how much our “referrers” contribute to our success in building a practice.  When it comes to saying “thank you”, I’m old-fashioned.  I don’t make a “thank you” phone call, or send a “thank you” e-mail or text message.  I prefer to snail-mail a handwritten note expressing my appreciation. 

It’s easy to forget that we are really in the business of building relationships.  According to Florence Isaacs, author of the book, Business Notes, “…a personal note is a powerful tool.  People appreciate it and respond to it in a way they don’t to other means of communication.”  She goes on to quote a business executive she interviewed for her book.  “Building relationships with customers and being thoughtful about their needs is a major part of what business is all about…When you write ‘Thank you for your business,’ you let people know you care about them.  Then what do they do?  They talk about you.  If they see someone who needs your product or service, they say, ‘Go see this guy.’  We’re all very attracted to courtesy because we get so little of it today.”

I know many of you have ways of showing your appreciation to your “referrers”. I hope that a written thank-you is one of them.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Here’s a link to to the Amazon page for: Business Notes

Since this post is not intended as an attack on the National Certification Board, I decided it would be okay to post it.  The readership needs to weigh in on this, as they are about to undertake an important project:

The NCBTMB announced today in a press release that the organization is getting on with the task of offering an advanced certification examination, with a target date for the exam to start beta testing in April 2010.

While I applaud any effort from them towards that at all, the issue here is that I think they’re a little off target, before they get started. I have heard input from hundreds of therapists who would be interested in gaining an advanced certification in their area of expertise, such as Medical Massage, Oncology Massage, Maternity Massage, and so forth. I haven’t heard anyone say they would line up to take a general type of exam. Furthermore, since the day the MBLEx was introduced, the NCB has propagated their existing exams as the hallmark of advanced knowledge, even though in reality it is an entrance-level exam, so they’ve kind of lost ground by way of their own press.

I think it is of the utmost importance for the massage community to weigh in on this before this Job Task Analysis gets off to a big start. The NCB has reportedly assembled a team of 20 experts in the field to lead this effort that is to take place in November.

I will forward all answers to this on to the powers that be at the NCB. PLEASE weigh in: Would you be interested in taking a modality-specific exam, and if so, in what area of expertise would you seek that advanced certification?

OR would you be interested in taking a general advanced certification exam that just designates you as an advanced professional?

Does either of these work for you? Come on, people, we need for our voices to be heard on this one.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

Hi there,

If you are reading my blog you are probably an advocate for quality of life of those at the end of life.  The doors for massage therapy in hospice have been opening the past few years, but proposed Medicare funding cuts for hospice could close those doors once again.  I have recieved the following information today from a colleague at the Suncoast Institute in Florida and want to pass it along to you so you can evaluate the situation for yourself and act if you feel so moved.

Hospice Needs Your Help

Over the past few months Hospice advocates from around the country have written, faxed, called and visited members of Congress urging them to help stop the Hospice rate cuts scheduled for October. Our efforts have paid off so far, as over 200 Representatives and Senators have signed a letter requesting President Obama to prevent the cuts from occurring. We must keep up the pressure as the President has not yet acted.

As tough as these cuts will be, the stakes may have just been raised even higher. This past week a new report detailed across the board Medicare spending cuts being considered in health care reform legislation. We are ready to do our share, but the combination of the rate cuts already proposed and these new Medicare cuts will be devastating to all hospices nationwide: we estimate a 6.4% decline in revenues if these cuts are enacted. We must work hard to prevent this from occurring.

You can continue to make a big difference. On Wednesday, we will participate in a national ?Virtual Advocacy Day? to urge the President to preserve hospice care and prevent these cuts. Please stand by as more information on how you can help will be sent tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few things you can do today to fight these cuts:

• Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper )
• Send an email to the White House:
  http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
   
• Send a letter to the President urging him to stop the cuts:
  The White House
  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
  Washington, DC 20500
  (Please include your e-mail address)
   
• Call the White House Comment Line:
  202-456-1111

 Visit:  http://www.capwiz.com/nhpco/home/ and our advocacy website http://www.thehospice.org/help/voice/stop_cuts.aspx  for more information

Many massage therapists have worked long and hard to pioneer our valuable place in hospice care. I think we all would hate to see our steps forward pushed back.  We have so much to contribute to hospice and palliative care and I, for one, want to see that continue to grow!

With kind regards,

Ann

When I worked in a spa setting, the offering of aromatherapy – with a $10 price tag – was little more than an application of some highly diluted vague smelling oil with a name like Tranquility. Is this what aromatherapy really is?

When you look at the historic roots of aromatherapy it is the use of pure, undiluted, unaltered, essential oils for healing the body, mind, and spirit. After all, the father of modern day aromatherapy, Rene Gattefosse, put his hand in a vat of undiluted lavender oil and his severe burns were healed.  

So how did this wonderful modality that can do everything from heal burns, repair tissues, and clean out receptor sites turn into such a watered down offering? Let’s take a look at how aromatherapy is taught, presented, and represented.

We are taught you must dilute 95% with carrier oils so the oils will do no harm (and this is because….?), you can’t use wintergreen (because synthetic methyl salicylate will kill you), and many other precautions. I agree that precautions are necessary, but it is as if we progressed to a place where before you can go out of the house you have to dilute the air by putting a bubble around you because you might catch a cold, or you might get sunburn, or it might smell bad.

So what would it be like to never feel the sun on your skin – and the vitamin D it delivers – to never smell the pure ocean air –  and the healing negative ions you would breathe in – to never experience the healing benefits of air because you are so afraid of perceived negative side effects of breathing pure air?

Aromatherapy is an ancient healing art that was used by the Egyptians thousands of years ago, by the Biblical peoples, and even further back in Ayurvedic practice in India. Today, undiluted use of pure therapeutic-grade essential oils (see my last post) is being practiced around the world with wonderful results.

Many therapists ask me about diffusing essential oils in their practice space.   The first thing you have to decide is what do you want to offer to your clients.  There are different grades of essential oils and which grade you use will determine the result you will get.

If I just diffuse an essential oil does it matter what grade I use?  The answer is yes, if you want to receive the benefit of the essential oil.  Can something that smells good but is not pure make you feel good?  Sure. Think of cookies baking. They smell mighty good and can induce an emotional response but don’t you want more for yourself and your clients than a temporary response?  

Most often, the essential oils found in spas and at essential oil retailers are Grade A (even if they say therapeutic grade on the bottle) which means they are manipulated to a standard. Any oil that is produced to smell the same from one bottle to the next is manipulated to meet the standard of smell.  Nature does not adhere to this standard.  A true therapeutic grade oil will have a different smell each time it is produced due to variations in soil conditions, weather, and other natural factors.  What will remain the same is the therapeutic indicators which must be tested to insure purity and quality.

By diffusing a true therapeutic grade oil you will bring the whole property of the oil in the olfactory (the seat of emotions), and into the lungs where they can circulate through the body and continue their work at a deeper cellular level. 

I began using essential oils by diffusing them at night for my son’s chronic sinus infections.  He would breathe in the oils for hours, and due to the anti-inflammatory action of the oils, his tissues began to heal.  I also diffused oils that were able to clean receptor sites, allowing cellular communication to become optimized. Through the process of diffusing the therapeutic grade oils as well as topical application, he was able to not only sleep through the night, but eventually be free of the infections. This is the power of choosing the right grade of oil to work with!

Recently Sheila Walker posted the following thread on hydration and posed this question to me:

“Dear John,
It seems we?ve become a society obsessed with the notion of hydration, as witnessed by the blooming bottled water industry. Seems as though, everywhere you go, you can see people with their water bottles in tow. Could you please share your thoughts on how relevant our fascial system correlates with cellular hydration and therefore how to improve the effectiveness of keeping ourselves truly hydrated?”

      As Sheila has observed, everyone is walking around with their cute little water bottles, guzzling copious amounts of water.  This is about as effective as pouring water over a stone.  The surface becomes wet, but the water never penetrates to the interior. 

     The “stones” I am referring to are the collagenous restrictions of the fascial system that do not show up in any of the standard testing now being done.  The “ground substance” of the fascial system, the environment of every cell of our body, should be a gelatinous to a fluid state.  When we undergo trauma or a “thwarted” inflammatory  process, the ground substance dehydrates.  As the cellular environment, the fascial system, hardens it produces crushing pressure on the cells and blocks the flow of water, nutrition, oxygen, hormones, and/or medicine into the cell’s interior.  These fascial restrictions also block the excretion of toxins from the cell. 

     So, unfortunately no matter how much water you take in, in the presence of fascial restrictions, it doesn’t get to where your body needs it the most.  This is why I say, without Myofascial Release, the intention of drinking plenty of water is good, but it is as effective as pouring water over a stone!  Myofascial Release enhances cellular function and the effectiveness of good massage, bodywork, and energy techniques.

John