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

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 →]

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.

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.

The Admissions Department visits the new Emeryville Campus for which they will soon be enrolling.

Students who join us in January often do so because of a New Year’s resolution they’ve made – a promise to themselves to achieve a specific goal in the coming year.  In this case, to start a new career in massage therapy.

National Holistic Institute is no exception.  Every year we make New Year’s resolutions that will benefit our students and continue our unrivaled streak as California’s best massage therapy school.  This year, our 31^st year helping people have work they love, looks to be our best yet.  Among our 2010 goals and plans:

• New Emeryville Campus – In March, the Emeryville Campus will leave its home since 1989 and move 1 block away into its own building at 5900 Doyle.  This state-of-the-art, [Read more →]

NHI Graduate Jenn Taylor with “American Idiot” cast members Tony Vincent ("St. Jimmy") and Christina Sajous ("Extraordinary Girl").

Jenn Taylor, a student of National Holistic Institute, is very excited about providing massage to the cast of American Idiot, a new musical based on the eponymous Green Day album.  She is completing her externship through the Saint Francis Center for Sports Medicine in Walnut Creek, under the supervision of DPT Patricia Commer.  NHI Student Life & Career Coordinator Aviana Lynn recently had the opportunity to visit with Jenn about the experience.

Jenn has extensive background in theatre and dance, including work with the famous Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat production years ago.  However, the opportunity to massage with American Idiot was [Read more →]

The Festival of Socks held at the National Holistic Institute San Francisco Campus was a huge success, according to Student Life & Career Coordinator Emily Devenny.

The collection box overflowed with more than 100 pairs of socks which will be delivered to the nearby homeless population to warm their feet and hearts during our cold winter months.

The students had blast! They decorated socks, danced in socks, and paraded their socks to the delight of the judges. We had two winners – Jen Butler took the morning prize for her ninja socks and high kicks. The evening prize went to Jim Schmidt who was wearing [Read more →]

For the holidays this year, the National Holistic Institute Emeryville Campus again invited seniors from the Emeryville Senior Center to come and enjoy a free massage from our students during our Holiday Senior Center Day.  Group 16 students provided relaxing and therapeutic Swedish massages to 30 senior attendees!  Lisa Mendiola-Flores supervised clinic again this year, and she made everything go wonderfully smoothly.

Student Life & Career Coordinator Aviana Lynn heard from many seniors that the students did [Read more →]