Massage Therapy Blog | Massage Therapy, Massage Therapy Schools, Massage Techniques

Dan Magro of Current TV’s Dan About Town recently visited the National Holistic Institute Encino Campus to find out what it takes to become a massage therapist.

After getting basic chair massage tips from yours truly, Dan joined a class where he received muscular realignment work from student Amber Mathieu and instructor Jan Takeshita.  By the end of his stay, Dan began to realize just how much training goes into making a professional massage treatment so therapeutic.

National Holistic Institute is honored that Books of Discovery, publisher of the highly-regarded massage textbook Trail Guide to the Body, has selected our resident Faculty Trainer Melissa Wheeler to represent them at this year’s World Massage Conference.  Way to go, Melissa! 

To find out how you can join in to the World Massage Conference online, please see the Books of Discovery press release below…

As we visit massage therapy programs across the country, we often hear about the need for more teacher trainings.
 
In response, we asked Melissa Wheeler, an Advisory Council member for Books of Discovery and Faculty Trainer at National Holistic Institute, to present “Ignite Your Students’ Passion for Palpation” on [Read more →]

National Holistic Institute teacher Lucas Nevarez coordinated our largest volunteer sports massage event so far this year.  Here is his report from the field.

The NHI Sports Massage Team at the 2009 Nike Women’s Marathon did a fantastic job!  Over 110 students, graduates, and staff from all 4 Northern California campuses came together to provide over 1,350 massages to these exhausted runners.   

It was a success by many measures – [Read more →]

This past weekend saw not one, but two members of the National Holistic Institute family tie the knot – to each other!

Craig Arakaki has taught at Touch Therapy Institute/National Holistic Institute for over 7 years.  During that time, he has touched hundreds of students for the better.  A drummer-turned-massage therapist, his classroom energy level is the stuff of legend.

Maria Furlano began her massage teaching career before Craig here at what was then Touch Therapy Institute.  She went on to [Read more →]

NHI Student William King

Generally, the National Holistic Institute Sports Massage Team doesn’t travel so far for an event, but this one was too good to pass up.  The Best Buddies Challenge at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA, promised to have the energy of a big family gathering – as participants, sponsors and notable guests celebrated and raised funds for people with intellectual disabilities.  It didn’t disappoint!

The NHI students joined others to create a team of 31 massage therapists.  They provided 465 15-minute massage to cyclists in 100-, 62-, 35- and 15-mile bike rides as well as 3k walkers and 5k runners.  Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis and [Read more →]

On September 1, 2009, California joined 42 other states in providing state-wide regulations for the massage therapy profession.  National Holistic Institute celebrated this tremendous achievement by hosting a series of Grad Nights at all of our campuses.  The purpose of these events was to help our graduates understand and apply for the new California State Certification.  Over 230 grads attended – and we’re only 1 month into State Certification!

Thanks to Placement Manager Allison McLeod Budlong and her amazing Placement Team, attendees were able to [Read more →]

New NHI Advanced Program Coordinator Cynthia Ribeiro

National Holistic Institute welcomes Cynthia Ribeiro, a Vice-President of the American Massage Therapy Association, to the NHI family!  The above photo shows Cynthia participating in a lively Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge forum at the recent AMTA National Convention in Orlando.  The MTBOK is “a living, single source for consistent, integrated information” about massage therapy.  This important work, currently in its first draft, will begin to standardize the language, definitions, and scope of the massage therapy profession.  It will benefit and impact the future of all massage therapists, so I encourage you to check it out and provide your input at http://www.mtbok.org/.

In addition to her many years of service with the AMTA, Cynthia is a respected teacher of massage therapy as well as the founder of the Western Institute of Neuromuscular (WIN) Therapy.  Cynthia will use her role of NHI Advanced Program Coordinator to develop – what else? – a new advanced massage therapy curriculum that will expand and build upon NHI’s nationally accredited 720-hour program.  Watch for details on this new course soon!

MTF President-Elect Ruth Werner & NHI San Jose Campus Manager Beth McNeill

It was an honor for National Holistic Institute to be recognized by the Massage Therapy Foundation at this year’s American Massage Therapy Association National Convention in Orlando.

Only a short year ago at the Phoenix convention, I attended the MTF’s reception for the first time.  Watching so many people within the massage community support the MTF inspired me to do something.  I brought that inspiration back to the Encino campus teachers, which resulted in a “faculty clinic” that raised both awareness and money for the MTF.

During this year’s reception, I presented [Read more →]

Huge thanks to National Holistic Institute Group #30 Senior and NHI Sports Team member Bar Houston for contributing this story…

Pacific Grove Triathlon was another great success! Thanks to NHI teacher Conrad Santos and the nine NHI massage therapists that made the drive to Pacific Grove.

The massage tables and chair arrived in the fog about 6:15am in time to find a decent parking place, but not in time to get into the vendor area. With the help of some high school volunteers and Group 31 MTs, we managed to get 8 tables, 1 massage chair and all the supplies the quarter mile down to our two pop-up tents. Kate and Lynn were our contacts at the event and were very helpful in arranging for a table and access to the Hospitality Tent for breakfast. By 8:00am everyone had arrived, event T-shirts were passed out, and we reviewed the do’s and don’ts for post-event massage. The radio was in place and Anastacio had a perfect radio station setting the pace and we were off to breakfast. [Read more →]

The faculty of the National Holistic Institute Encino Campus recently donated 18 1-hour professional massage sessions to raise money and awareness for the Massage Therapy Foundation.

Students, graduates, and clinic clients alike enjoyed a “professional” version of our regular student-run teaching clinic.  Clients for the evening had the option of buying a limited number of massages outright, winning massages through a raffle, or correctly answering a quiz about the Massage Therapy Foundation.  The faculty and students teamed together to raise $500.

WHY Support the Massage Therapy Foundation?  [Read more →]