Money, Marketing and Soul for Massagepreneurs
Posts tagged Self Care
Rest
Feb 12th
I can hear you yelling at me already. “When do I have time to rest?” That can become a theme song of therapists. It seems like there is seldom enough time to get half the important things done, let alone spend any of our precious time resting.
I have discovered that resting doesn’t actually have to be sleeping. With resting, you have a number of options.
Stretching can be restful, especially if you have been doing a number of massages back to back. Stretching between your appointments is an easy way to relax those tight muscles and the exercises you find helpful can be passed on to clients who experience tight, painful muscles.
Massage sore pressure points with an essential oil blend that is designed to help relax or calm the body. Your use of Aromatherapy will also enable you to speak confidently to your clients of what you have experienced. (Try 20 drops of Lavender (relaxing and uplifting) and 20 drops of Sandalwood (relaxing and calming) in 2 ounces of carrier oil. I like Hazelnut Oil.)
Lay down on your massage table. It feels just as good as your clients have told you. Just lay there for 5 minutes, taking deep breaths. You will be surprised how much better you feel.
Meditation is one of the nicest ways of resting for a short period. Allow your awareness to rest in quiet. Allow your busy mind to gradually desist from bothering you and rest, even for a few minutes. This can be done with open eyes, looking at a picture that pleases you or with closed eyes. I find I drop into meditation quicker by looking at my favorite ocean picture and letting the beauty of the picture capture my mind and still it.
Breathe deeply. Slowing down an automatic movement is an easy and excellent way to center and relax your body. As you slow your breathing, you can alter the way you are feeling or thinking and discover a new sense of stability and calm. To breathe freely, your belly should be relaxed; your back straight and your shoulders down with a relaxed diaphragm. With conscious effort, take a deep breath, hold it for the count of three then slowly release. Do this at least six times.
Open your mouth wide and let the jaw relax. Keep your head still then move your lower jaw around into as many shapes and positions as you can without strain. This will reduce the tension in this area. It is amazing how this helps the neck and shoulders.
Get adequate sleep. This may be the hardest one to actually do. At least three nights a week try to get adequate sleep. Since “adequate” is different for each of us, if you are really rested after four hours, then four hours is what you need. Most of us, however, require closer to eight or more (I know I require about ten, yes, ten hours). Whatever you need, get it. It really makes a giant difference in your massages and your health.
Just one thing to keep in mind, the less sleep you have shorter than eight hours a night – the more it affects your output. You have to look at the overall impact to see that falling asleep in front of the TV every night is not good for you!
You may be one of those people that can ‘naturally’ cope with very little sleep – but the rest of us need to make sure that we have a nightly ‘oil change’ to keep our minds in gear and working efficiently.
As you noticed, most of these don’t take but a few minutes to do. It is the remembering to do them that is hard. Rest well.
How can you ensure that you have a decent amount of sleep every night?
Here are some ideas:
· Take a bath
· Use lavender essential oil on your pillow
· Dim the lights and close the curtains/blinds in your bedroom an hour before you want to go to sleep.
· Have “blackout” curtains or blinds installed in your bedroom so you can sleep without having light come into your bedroom waking you up too early (especially as we move from Winter into Spring).
· Soundproof your room as much as possible – turn the telephone ringer off.
· Get one of those “white noise” machines.
· Use ear plugs.
· Read a book before falling asleep. Just make sure it is not a book that is going to get you all revved up so that you have to stay up half of the night finishing it.
· Go to bed earlier…rather than getting up later. That way you can make the most of the beginning of the day…and begin achieving things before most people even get going!
· Listen to peaceful music.
Getting enough sleep is as essential to your success as the amount of work that you do.
Do you have any other tips you would like to share about getting the proper amount of rest?
Nutrition
Jan 22nd
Nutrition is the intake of nutrients and their subsequent absorption and assimilation. The first thought response to the word nutrition is FOOD and indeed food is important; however, nutrition comes to us through all of our senses. The body is fed food. The mind is fed information. The spirit is fed tranquility. All work together in harmony to maintain the balance of a healthy three-part body. When the PSE (physical, sensory or emotional) environment is fed, it either absorbs needed nutrients or eliminates what is not required. Each part is of equal importance.
The PSE environment is continuously responding to stimulation provided second-by-second through breathing in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide through exhalation; processing food into nourishment and eliminating the unusable; or through the skin which both absorbs and eliminates everything from air to physical contact. This continuous bombardment by stimulation (sounds, sights, smells, tastes, sensations) is filtered through our experiences as well as the body systems to determine what is necessary or interesting enough to be retained and incorporated while the remainder is released and eliminated.
When the PSE environment is overwhelmed by unnatural or unwholesome substances, it severely overtaxes the complete system, creating opportunity for discomfort, disease or total breakdowns.
Everything we assimilate into ourselves affects our day-to-day energy. This includes the hurried meal, the quick soda or coffee instead of water, the angry motorist, or the late client.
Only you can ensure that the nutrition you eat, read, dream restores rather than depletes your balance. Remember you often have to CHANGE habits and thought patterns to establish balance. While change can be an unwanted guest, remember that your own healing ability must first be directed to yourself before it can be utilized to help others. Change is worth the reward.
In order to maintain our inner healing force, the right input is needed for the body to function at its fullest potential.
Some guidelines:
· Stay within 10 pounds of your best weight at any given age.
· Eat a high percentage of fresh foods. I recommend keeping your diet at about 75-85% organic.
· Consume adequate roughage.
· Drink water (not soda, beer, coffee or tea) in sufficient quantities for you.
· Take a day off every week and sleep without the alarm.
· Read articles or books that stimulated your mind.
· Help the lymphatic system through exercise and deep breathing.
· Get regular massages.
· Remember you are a 3-part person and need to nourish all 3 parts.
How can you let go of old patterns and find a kinder way to treat yourself? Three books I have found particularly helpful in changing my eating habits are “The Seven Pillars of Health” by Don Colbert, M.D.; “YOU: The Owner’s Manual” and “YOU on a Diet” both by Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehment Oz, M.D. These books gave me a better understanding of my inner body needs and have made a direct impact on my energy levels. I was also surprised to find it easier to change thoughts and attitudes when my body was receiving what it needed. It is well worth the effort.
Do you have a book you would like to recommend? Do you have any other information on nutrition you would like to pass along to others?
