Posts from — October 2008

In 5^th Place with a combined 8%…the disparate team of Liat & Jenelle…

Enough voters mistook Leisha & Craig’s pumpkin for an Obama look-alike giving them 4^th Place with 10%…

The talents of John & Jen overcame the subject matter (yes, that’s my face on a pumpkin) to achieve 18% and 3^rd Place…

Jan & pinch-hitter Joe Bob drove Nancy’s idea home with 30% and a very close 2^nd Place…

And in 1^st Place…

(drum roll, please…)

With the help of props…

(drum roll, continues…)

And electric lighting…

(drum roll, a little more intense…)

Denise and Vanessa claim a 1^st Place victory with 33%!!

Congratulations to everyone!!

Maybe it’s something in the water, but we have more baby news at NHI!  John Caguin and his wife Pinky recently welcomed Kaelyn Rae Castillo Caguin into the world on October 15.  She measured in at 20.5 inches and 5 lbs 7 oz.  In case you missed it, we had a baby shower for John & Pinky a few weeks ago.  Click here for that blog.  Congratulations John, Pinky & Kaelyn!

This week, Petaluma Campus Manager Klayna Snider became a first-time grandmother welcoming Sontino Fiore Ventimiglio into the world.  Here is her commentary.

Our little bambino Tino immediately took to the kinesthetic world of snuggles, kisses, and, of course, massage. He received his first mini massage from me with some energy (Reiki) work just hours after his birth. He is a shining beacon of light. It was such a delight to share the gift of massage as a sacred connection with my grandson.

He was born (no drugs whatsoever for Momma) with 12 hours of labor including 2 hours of intensive labor. My son, Sontino, was a champion coach who literally received Tino into his arms as he was born at a birthing center in Santa Cruz. Sonny was very comfortable, calm, and extremely present and grounded throughout. Heather Marie was a “rock star hero” according to my son, throughout the miraculous birthing process.

Grandma arrived 15 minutes after the baby was born just in time to witness Tino’s awakening to the world of senses. I was stuck on Highway 17 into Santa Cruz during commuter traffic! Good thing I knew how to use my breathing techniques and ground myself!

A few nights later, we noticed that Heather was having some pretty extreme swelling in her feet. After calling her doctor and getting the “it’s normal and not to worry about it,” I spent over an hour massaging her feet with lymphatic massage techniques and joint mobilization to get the fluid moving. The swelling reduced dramatically along with her discomfort.

It’s such an amazing thing that the first sense that develops in the womb for the embryo is touch. During the birthing process, the baby receives his first “deep tissue massage” as it goes through the contractions and enters the birth canal, stimulating vital organs and muscles to prepare for his first breath. And finally he is embraced into the world by the loving yet confident, strong hands of his father and mother only to continue attuning to the world through his amazing capacities for touch.

It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it!

Okay, bad pun aside, I had great fun over the weekend participating in the Biotone Spa class taught by Travis Ochoa.  For 2 days, we got to both apply and experience an aromatherapy wrap, cellulite treatment, and more, concluding with a full body exfoliation and mud wrap.  I’m still glowing!  Thanks to my weekend partner Lila Lewis-Peace for putting up with my messy “painting.”

Congratulations new graduates of Group 57!

Just when you think you’ve seen it all…a spa video game!  I laughed so hard I cried playing this.  It may not exactly replace our business classes, but it sure is fun!  Here’s the description from the website:

Sally’s back and ready to take the spa world by storm! Indulge yourself with hours of fast fun in ten original spa locations around the world. Refresh your customers with facials, manicures, massages, and more. Enhance the experience of your clients with more than 65 upgrades for your rapidly growing business. Melt away the stress from a wide variety of customers including blushing brides, demanding fashionistas, relaxing couples, and more! A wonderful escape for gamers of all ages, join Sally on her adventure in the business of fun!

It costs $19.99, but you can download a free demo from the Lifetime channel’s website and play for an hour.  Click on any of these screen shots to get there.

Three Scorpios and a Capricorn - Mason, Nancy, Jenelle and Tim.

At every quarterly meeting we celebrate all staff birthdays occurring before our next quarterly meeting (and then we often celebrate them again when they actually occur – we’re a celebrating bunch!).  In this picture, our President Mason Myers shares a birthday on November 5 with teacher Nancy Gouge, followed by admissions representative Jenelle Menashe on November 16, and squeezing in just before the quarterly deadline is our Director of Development Tim Veitzer on December 29.

Even in these shaky economic times, NHI had a lot to celebrate at the quarterly meeting as enrollment increased 22% in our 3^rd quarter over 2007!  Also, our completion and placement numbers are tracking higher than last year’s extremely good numbers.  When times get tough, it’s nice to know people still value the benefits of both massage therapy and proper career training.

Here is a view of the AMTA National Convention from San Jose Campus Manager Alicia Ramos.

I had a great time at the National Convention recently.  It was my first time at a National Convention and I was thrilled to meet so many great names in the industry!  Most notable for me was Judith Aston (above, with Melissa and me), who gave me lots to aspire to, personally.  I decided I want to be just like her “when I grow up”!  She is poised, graceful, strong, flexible and radiates wellness on all levels from her very being!  She was gracious enough to chat with me at the dinner/dance and I was able to see that not only was she amazing from a far, but she was genuine, too.

The other “big name in the industry” that I met that was most influential to me was Carol Osborne (www.bodytherapyassociates.com) who was honored as AMTA’s “Teacher of the Year”.  She gave an inspiring and touching speech at the Teacher’s Networking Luncheon and she taught “Balancing Art and Science in Massage Therapy”, which was one of the “teacher tract” workshops I attended.  From that class, I felt both validated (that NHI already uses some of her suggested activities/techniques to include both Art and Science in all our classes) and excited to share with the NHI faculty her tips that I believe will add even more depth, understanding and fun to our already fabulous classes.