Category — Community Outreach

I am always pleased to see the reaction on people’s faces when you offer them FREE massage. There tends to be a moment of disbelief followed by complete gratitude. It is amazing how 15 minutes of compassionate skilled touch can completely change a person’s outlook for the day. It is a privilege to be a part of that.

The new Whole Foods in Santa Rosa has been designed to support public awareness and health education. The experience of offering massage there has been phenomenal on so many different levels. One of the most exciting aspects for all involved has been the opportunity to connect with a lovely community of individuals, be it the customers or Whole Foods staff. As a massage therapist it has been wonderful to make connections with individuals that are interested in health and well being from a holistic perspective, including nutrition, supplementation, energy healing, massage, stress management, etc..

As an instructor it is so fulfilling to see the students and graduates of NHI at work. While we are there we get to talk to people about massage and share our passion for therapeutic touch. One student stated as she arrived for the day that she was very nervous about talking to people and “marketing” herself. By the end of the day she had networked with several customers and even booked a massage for her private practice!

Next we will be offering a workshop at Whole Foods on the value of infant massage. Imagine what this world would be like if we all started off getting massage on a regular basis! I wonder if we could change the world one massage at a time…

~ Breanna G.
Mentor, NHI Petaluma

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

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 →]

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 →]

On June 12^th, National Holistic Institute’s Petaluma Compassionate Touch Team (Instructor Shoshana Frieden and six Group 40 seniors) happily set out on the back roads of Sonoma/Marin County to Walker Creek Ranch to offer massage at Camp Challenge. 

Camp Challenge is a weekend family retreat, where everything is free for adult cancer patients (in all stages of cancer) and their families.  One student commented, “Thank you for finding this amazing event; it deeply touched and [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 →]

Melanie Burns & Joe Bob Smith (2nd & 3rd from left) join the Food Bank's Michael Flood, Flori Schutzer & Jeanna Kindle.

During the Thanksgiving and Christmas Seasons, several National Holistic Institute campuses run food drives, offering discounted massages for donated food.  It thrills us to see the number of people coming in for massages, dropping off bags of food to help those in need.  But, once it gets picked up, we never knew exactly what happened to all that food…until now.

This past year, the Encino Campus doubled its previous donation by turning in over 1,200 pounds of food!  As a thank you, we were invited to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank headquarters to see where all the contributions actually go. 

On a recent spring day, campus manager Joe Bob Smith and teacher Melanie Burns trekked just south of downtown Los Angeles to Food Bank central.  Upon entering the building, we [Read more →]

Waking up at 3:00am to be ready for this year’s 25^th Anniversary Los Angeles Marathon seemed impossible.  However, over 30 student and graduate therapists from National Holistic Institute were pumped up and ready to go!  A few arrived earlier than staff!

This was the inaugural year of the Marathon’s route starting at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier.  Massaging runners at the beach – how cool!  It was optimally temperate marathon-running weather, with the fog never quite dissipating at the beach.  We warmed up quickly though as the runners started finishing and the line lengthened.  Despite what seemed like a never-ending queue, the NHI therapists worked tirelessly and with few breaks so that no runner had to wait longer than 15 minutes to receive our much needed touch.

As in years past, our students were chosen to [Read more →]

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.