Category — Around NHI

In our continued efforts to give back to the community that supports our students and graduates, the National Holistic Institute is proud to share the success of our Sports Massage Team.  Sports Massage is a growing profession that focuses on the application of a variety of massage techniques and stretching exercises to enhance athletic performance. The NHI Sports Massage Team was formed in response to student requests to provide massage therapy for the community. The team is run on a volunteer basis, and all massages given to the community by NHI students at sponsored events are free of charge.  If the event is for a charity, all student tips go back to the charity sponsor!

In 2010, we were active in 40 Outreach Events throughout California.  Over 300 students and graduates were trained in sport-specific sports massage and volunteered their time and skills at these events to perform over 8,000 complimentary massages!  We are proud to have developed relationships with amazing organizations such as Diabetes Foundation, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Team In Training, MS Society, Best Buddy International, and the American Heart Association.  We would like to thank them for their support and all of the positive work that they do.

In 2010, the team also touched smaller populations such the Native American Indian population at an annual Pow-Wow; a family whose daughter was critically injured in a car accident and a local rotary club who was raising money to fight diabetes.   Our program has been extremely successful and this has shown through high praise that students have received from event coordinators like Tri-Cal, Finishline Productions, Avanti Sports, LA Marathon and Kaiser Permanente, to name a few.  The students developed a supportive, proactive team and succeed in promoting the benefits of massage.

The Sports Massage Team not only benefits the public, but the students who volunteer are exposed to new and exciting situations that are only possible in real-life experiences.  They are exposed to a high volume of clients for an extended period of time and learn how to work together in a setting that many students have never been a part of.  Many students took it as a chance to look at their own fitness and began training for similar events and becoming involved in some of the charities that they had been benefitting. They also gained an understanding of how their participation in sporting and charity events can help them develop their careers as Massage Therapists and how important community outreach work is to their personal as well as professional lives.  We hope to be even more active and work with more wonderful organizations in 2011!

To learn more about the NHI Sports Massage Team visit our Facebook pages:
NHI San Jose Sports Massage Team
NHI North Bay Sports Massage Team

Wrapping up 2010 with a streak of good news, we are excited to share the success story of NHI’s long-time teacher and Training Coordinator, Melissa Wheeler. Melissa was just featured in Massage Magazine for being named the American Massage Therapy Association 2010 Jerome Perlinski Teacher of the Year.  In addition to congratulating Melissa for her dedication to massage therapy education, we would like to thank her for her continued support of all of the teachers, so many graduates and the current students at the National Holistic Institute.

“I will never forget walking into the doors of the National Holistic Institute and feeling the professional, fun buzz” says Melissa remembering her first experiences as a perspective NHI student . ”I knew instinctively that NHI was the place for me.  I loved every minute of my education at NHI and had so much respect for the teachers who gave their all to us students.  It is hard to believe that I became one of those teachers that people looked up to – truly, this award is as much for all the teachers and students from NHI as it is for me.  I did not get here alone.”

Here’s to Melissa and anybody else that thought they’d never make it to where they are today!  Individuals like her are making a positive change in the field of massage therapy, and we look forward to our graduates following her example. We hope you and your loved ones enjoy the coming holidays and that we all continue to support each other in everything that we do.

You can read more about Melissa’s achievement in Massage Magazine’s article here.

We are pleased to announce that NHI‘s very own Cynthia Ribeiro has been voted President-Elect of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA).

“I am very excited and honored to have been elected as President-Elect of AMTA! Thanks to everyone who participated in our election process, including everyone who voted and all of the candidates. It’s a very important commitment. I appreciate your kind wishes and hope to serve you well.”

As she moves ahead in this new role, we want to thank her for her dedication to the massage therapy industry. Her extensive [Read more →]

The National Holistic Institute (NHI) is excited to announce its expansion with the addition of a fifth location in Northern California. Classes are scheduled to begin at the new Sacramento campus in Spring 2011 with 150 students expected by 2012.  You can read details about NHI’s expansion in the San Francisco Business Times or the Sacramento Business Journal.                                                          

NHI has been exclusively focused on teaching massage therapy since 1979. NHI is expanding in terms of geography and curriculum as the massage therapy industry evolves. For instance, demand is increasing for [Read more →]

On 12/7/10, KGO-TV featured interviews with National Holistic Institute staff and many shots of the school’s Emeryville campus for Health Reporter Carolyn Johnson’s interesting piece about the medical benefits of massage therapy which aired on “ABC 7 News” throughout  Northern California. Johnson’s story explains how a recently-released study from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles demonstrates the clear health benefits of a single massage therapy session. The story describes the positive biologic effects of massage therapy including an increase in the number of white blood cells to a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol.

This past week, National Holistic Institute’s own Mark Nielsen conducted an in-depth workshop on Sports Massage for Therapists at the Ritz Carlton Spa at Half Moon Bay.  Rianon Cepriano, the Spa Therapy Supervisor at the Ritz, was extremely grateful to Mark for expanding her staff’s professional skill set. She said of the workshop,

“…the attendees were not only impressed with the [Read more →]

With Thanksgiving approaching and thoughts of helpfulness and selflessness on our minds, we thought it would be the perfect time to share answers to the simple yet powerful question, “Why Do You Do What You Do?”.  This self-inquisitive question has become a popular meme that is, as Google’s Evan Wittenberg mentions in a recent Wired Magazine article, “…a deceptively simple way to get people to connect to their core values and tell their story.”

 Check out the article by clicking the Wired link below!

 
At NHI’s San Francisco Campus, all of the Staff and Faculty post their responses to the question [Read more →]

National Holistic Institute Advanced Program Developer and Instructor Cynthia Ribeiro is currently running for President-Elect of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA).  We encourage all NHI family, friends, and supporters who are AMTA professional members to vote for her.

In her candidate statement, Cynthia writes, “The immediate needs of AMTA, our growth and success, relate directly to the immediate needs of our members. It is important for us to help our members succeed by opening doors to a variety of opportunities as the economy, technology and profession change.”  She believes this can be done by looking “at different ways of supporting those needs through services such as social networking and internet-based business practices.”

Before joining NHI about a year ago, [Read more →]

Scholarship winner Asad Khan with his sister and NHI staff Joe Bob Smith & Jan Takeshita.

Asad Khan, a National Holistic Institute student who began his journey with us at the Petaluma Campus before moving to the Encino Campus, has won the 2010 JoyLife Chair Massage Ambassador Scholarship.  Way to go, Asad!  His winning essay is featured below.

Each individual is a world onto themselves, and massage therapy has the power to bring vitality and harmony within each person. Massage therapists are able to reach into a person’s microcosm and create abundance by sharing touch. Whatever a person feels inside reflects to the macrocosm, the world we all coexist and function together in. The more people that receive therapeutic touch, [Read more →]

Thanks to Petaluma Campus Manager Klayna Snider for this blog.

Petaluma held the first National Holistic Institute classes outside of the “Mother Ship” (in Emeryville), on July 27^th 2005.  The celebration activities included plenty of reminiscing, smiles, and expressed gratitude to the many members of the NHI community staff who contributed to our campus’ success. 

The campus buzzed with excitement and sentiment as we celebrated with stories of the pioneering days of start up and the wonderful expansion and growth of our campus. The Petaluma Campus halls were decorated with photos from the faces of over 240 grads that have gone through the program during the last 5 years! 

Included special guests were [Read more →]

 Big news from National Holistic Institute Encino … we’re moving!  After an exhaustive search and over a year of planning, NHI’s Los Angeles campus will relocate on September 10, 2010, to 10969 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

Look for the real sign soon!

 The new campus – in the Ralph’s shopping center at Ventura & Vineland – can be accessed conveniently by car or metro.  Parking is free, plentiful, and underground so your car stays cool.  Also, we’re an easy ten-minute walk from the Universal City metro red line station.

Our first classes and public clinics will begin [Read more →]

Placement Coordinator Jan Takeshita & Teaching Assistant Suzanne Bose outside Bliss Spa.

A fortunate group of National Holistic Institute graduates and students got an exclusive VIP tour of Hollywood’s hottest new spa during a recent career night.

Since opening in January, Bliss Spa at the new W Hotel Hollywood has quickly become the go-to destination for the rich and famous looking to be pampered like a rock star.  In addition to the long list of celebrity clientele frequenting its legendary Hollywood & Vine location, Bliss has brought its unique “Spa-llywood” touches to over 40 high-profile events in just 6 months – awards shows, magazine fêtes, and movie premieres like [Read more →]

Jim Charlesworth (right) responds to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

The massage therapist who created what is believed to be the first team of massage therapists to provide massage to emergency-response workers has died from cancer, age 53.

In 1989, massage therapist James “Jim” Charlesworth was an admissions counselor for the National Holistic Institute in Emeryville, California, when the Loma Prieta Earthquake hit.

“Across the street from NHI was the horrible highway collapse,” read an obituary posted on the website of Emergency Response Massage International. “He mobilized a massage team and worked with many volunteers giving 8,000 massages to relief workers to ease those providing rescue efforts. The mayor of San Francisco [Read more →]

Jason Daniels & Marla Aird of Financial Planning, Marz Jaffe of Placement, and Doonam LeSon of the Business Office greet visitors to the new campus at 59th & Doyle.

The National Holistic Institute campus in Emeryville has a new home.  After 23 years in its former location, NHI Emeryville is now located in its very own building just one block east.

The morning of April 23 saw the final classes at the old campus with the afternoon classes inaugurating the freshly appointed new classrooms across the street just 30 minutes later.  Students, staff, and clinic clients have expressed rave reviews!

With the new Emeryville campus and the launch of NHI’s 400-hour Advanced Neuromuscular Massage Therapist program (read article), we’ve completed [Read more →]

Melissa Wheeler addresses her peers at All-Staff Day.

The American Massage Therapy Association has awarded the 2010 Jerome Perlinski Teacher of the Year Award to Melissa Wheeler, a longtime National Holistic Institute teacher and current teacher trainer.

To the many teachers, staff, and students Melissa has touched in her 19 years at NHI, no one deserves it more.  One of the highlights of this year’s NHI All-Staff Day was Melissa’s address to her peers and receiving of a scrapbook created by co-worker Sharlene Philip, containing numerous memories, congratulations, and accolades.  While Melissa remains as humble as always about this rare honor, here are words of praise from others:

“It has been my pleasure to work with Melissa, whose input always puts the teacher first [Read more →]

Cynthia Ribeiro performs a demonstration.

National Holistic Institute has officially (and proudly) launched the largest program expansion in recent history: a 400-hour Advanced Neuromuscular Massage Therapist course.

To spearhead this Herculean effort, NHI partnered with American Massage Therapy Association Vice-President and nationally renowned teacher Cynthia Ribeiro.  She worked hand-in-hand with our own Curriculum Coordinator Jim O’Hara to structure the five 80-hour modules that make up the course.  Teaching alongside Cynthia are NHI’s own Esko Homsi and Advanced Program Manager Al Carbonetti.  Special activities include cadaver lab classes, anatomical modeling, and integral anatomy work.  Click Here for the course flyer.

As a national leader, NHI has always strived to set the standard of professionalism and excellence in the massage therapy field.  “Today NHI took a step towards [Read more →]

The San Francisco Holistic Health Examiner recently featured National Holistic Institute San Jose student Anna Sallas and her personal quest to become certified in oncology massage.  Way to go, Anna!

Read the entire article here.

NHI Teacher Nancy Gouge schedules appointments for the Encino Haiti Fundraiser.

A giant THANK YOU to all the National Holistic Institute clients, students and staff who have participated so far in raising money to aid the Haiti Relief efforts!!

With 4 of 5 fundraising clinics complete, NHI has accumulated over $5,700!  And we’re not done yet…

You still have the opportunity to participate in one last fundraising clinic:

Petaluma              Wed, February 10     1:30p, 2:45p, 4:00p

Living in California, we all have some notion of how devastating an earthquake can be, even for a better prepared community.  In the past, NHI has shared the power of positive touch with both the victims and emergency workers of California’s disasters.  While our hands may not reach all the way to Haiti, with your generosity our touch there can still be felt. 

Some of the Encino student and graduate volunteers celebrate the evening's success.

San Jose became the first National Holistic Institute campus to hold a Haiti Disaster Relief Fundraiser this past Saturday.   With massages booked every available session and donations still coming in, the San Jose Campus has already raised over $1200!

Campus Manager Beth McNeill massaged alongside 10 student therapists, 2 graduates and 3 teachers for donations to go to Haiti victims.  Beth wasn’t looking to massage all three sessions when she came in to lend a hand, “but was excited just like [NHI teachers] Phil, Gena, and Darlene to help out where needed.”

Thanks to the staff and students of National Holistic Institute who are donating their time, skills and supplies so that all the proceeds of our special clinics can go to the people who need them.

Want to participate in one of our Haiti Disaster Relief Fundraiser Clinics?  You still have 4 more opportunities.

Click on your preferred campus below to book an appointment.  If your campus appears unavailable at the moment, please try again at a later date.  Additional massage volunteers will allow more sessions to come available.   

• Encino                   Wed, January 27        6:15p, 7:30p, 8:45p
• San Francisco   Thu, January 28         1:30p, 2:45p, 4:00p
• Emeryville          Thu, January 28         6:15p, 7:30p, 8:45p
• Petaluma              Wed, February 10     1:30p, 2:45p, 4:00p

Simply book and attend a designated massage clinic at one of our campuses and pay at least the minimum massage fee*.  You’ll receive a 50-minute student massage and your entire fee plus any contribution will be donated to USAid.

With your help, we can touch the world!

*Massage fees vary from $20-$35 depending on campus.  No gift cards accepted.  Cash only.