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 at the new location on Sunday, September 12.  Prices on the student massages will increase to $30 at the new clinic, so we’re offering a Gift Card Special until we move at the current clinic price of $20 for each 50-minute massage: Buy 5 gift cards, get 1 Free OR Buy 10 gift cards, get 3 Free!

We have a lot of great neighbors to make your experience at our school and clinic even better. In addition to picking up groceries at Ralph’s, you’ll be able to shop Rite-Aid; grab lunch or dinner at Togo’s or City Wok; have a cup of coffee at Starbucks; get a smoothie at Jamba Juice; drop off your dry-cleaning; even get a manicure and more!

Click Here to book a massage at our Encino clinic and enjoy a $20 50-minute massage until September 10.

Click Here for directions, parking, and information on our new Studio City campus as we get closer to the move date of September 10.

Teacher Nancy Gouge tries her hand at some demo.

Petaluma accepting a food donation.

At National Holistic Institute, helping people is part of our mission statement.  So, the holidays are an extra special time for us, a time when our students and staff do even more for our communities.  Here is a sampling of what some of the NHI campuses are doing this holiday season…

San Francisco will have a “Sock Hop.”  Clinic clients will get $5.00 off a massage for donating a new pair of socks throughout December.  All donations will be distributed to local homeless shelters where socks are a high priority.  On December 14, an extra clinic will be held with all proceeds going to charity.  Students and clients are encouraged to wear their most creative socks!

Encino is currently in the midst of their 4^th Annual Food Drive.  By donating at least 2 non-perishable food items, clinic clients can get a 50-minute massage for the rock-bottom price of $10.  Last year saw over 650 pounds of food donated to the L.A. Food Bank.  This year’s goal is 1,000 pounds!

Petaluma is hosting its 3^rd Annual Food Drive to benefit the Redwood Empire Food Bank.  Now through December 20^th, clients who donate a non-perishable food item at their appointment receive their massage for only $15!

We hope you take advantage of these specials by booking a massage through our clinic website.  It’s the perfect way to help yourself while helping our students and helping the community.  Happy Holidays!

Encino food donations.

International Students Ella Bleeker & Kim Forgham.

National Holistic Institute may have to change to International Holistic Institute as more and more students from other countries come to us for massage therapy training.

Beth Fisher coordinates the International and National Outreach for both Northern and Southern California NHI campuses.  She ensures that international students have all questions regarding our program answered and provides them with requirements for the M-1 visa.  Beth tracks our international students from admissions to completion.  She really enjoys this challenging yet rewarding process!

Recently, teacher Jen Moore interviewed two of Beth’s international students – Kim Forgham of London, England, and Ella Bleeker of the Netherlands – who both attend NHI Encino.  Here are Kim and Ella’s thoughts on NHI, massage therapy, and living in Los Angeles.

NHI: When searching for schools in the States what were your priorities?

KF: I was looking for a school with a good reputation in teaching massage therapy and where I knew I would receive thorough and high quality training in both Eastern and Western modalities. I knew that I wanted to continue this as my main career following graduation and that the only way to be successful would be to get a top quality education in this field.

EB: The quality of the school. I already have an education in massage therapy and was looking to extend my knowledge. So it had to be a school that could teach me more than I already knew. The curriculum was great at NHI. It was a plus that there are different styles of massage so I could taste a little bit of everything and in the end choose which technique caught my attention most, and I can specialize in that even further.

NHI: What drew you to NHI? How did you first hear about us?

KF: I found NHI on the internet whilst searching for massage therapy schools in the area. The website was very in-depth and all the students looked like they were having a great time. I visited several schools including NHI and I have to say NHI Encino stood head and shoulders above the other schools I visited in terms of facilities, professionalism, the people I met on the day and I also had a really comfortable feeling which was super important for me as I was going to be such a long way from London and my friends and family.

EB: I found NHI on the internet and it was my first choice. I had to look further though and forgot about NHI because I didn’t have the money for it so I picked an other school, they turned out to be a big scam and so I decided that I really had to choose the best school I could find and got a loan so I could attend NHI. They were very professional from the get go and have never disappointed me after that.

NHI: How was the admissions process for you as an international student?

KF: The visa process is a bit drawn out and includes trips to the American Embassy in London etc but Beth Fisher from the NHI really helped us and completed all the paper work efficiently for me which made that side of the process easier.

EB: It was fairly easy. It seems like a maze when you get started but you will find your way throughout the process and NHI was very helpful.

NHI: How are you enjoying your time at NHI? What is your favorite part of the program so far?

KF: I love school – I wish I had had this attitude towards school the first time around at University, it is an eye opener to be a more mature student (I will be 33 next week!). I am excited to learn and study! I think the very first part of Western was my favorite – going from knowing nothing to being able to do a good full body Swedish massage in a matter of weeks felt like such an achievement and very rewarding when I started to work on the public in clinic. I really enjoy clinic and meeting a new “body” each time as they are all so different and require a new approach each and every time.

EB: I love to go to school every day. We have the best teachers and I learn so much! The combination of classes is what I love the most. I have a slight preference for the western segment but am very curious to learn more about the eastern. I loved MFT and Hot Stone and Sports is probably my all time favorite.

NHI: What, if any, is the main difference in the field of massage here in L.A. compared to your home town?

KF: The only experience I  had of massage in London was as the client and as a highly stressed Media Director it was always a pleasure to go somewhere where I was forced to relax and let my mind and body repair. A real difference is that in the UK massage is seen as a real luxury and a treat whereas in LA people really understand the importance of massage as part of their general health and well being which is a mindset change that I would really like to see happen back in the UK!

EB: Here the school brings much more focus on career planning and what happens after school. There was practically no guidance in that in The Netherlands. Everybody had to just figure that out for themselves. It is very professional here.

NHI: How are you finding living in the Los Angeles area? What do you see happening after graduation? Staying in the US or moving back home?

KF: My husband and I absolutely love LA! The people are great – fun and very interesting!!! Really, we have felt very welcome and of course you can’t fault the weather especially when you previously lived in London! Well the dream is that my husband and I get a visa and we can stay here in LA – I would love to start a business that combines fitness (spinning, Pilates, boot camp) with massage, all in all strengthening and improving peoples well being. However that will all depend on your Homeland Security, but if it’s meant to be it will happen so that’s what we have to believe! As my wonderful NHI mentor Craig says – “you have to believe in the process!”

EB: I LOVE it!!  Love the weather, love the people, love the food, and love my new apartment and roommates  The only thing I wish is that I could stay here forever visa wise, etc.  So if NHI has any tips on how to do that…PLEASE let me know!

NHI: Thank you, Kim and Ella, for sharing your experiences with us.  If it were up to NHI, you both could stay and thrive in the U.S. forever!  We’ll put in the best word we can with the government.  After all, if everyone got more massages, there would be less need for a Department of Homeland Security!

While National Holistic Institute offers class starts year-round, we experience the most enrollment excitement during the back-to-school time of August and September.  So, with great delight, our campuses recently threw open their doors to the many new prospective students with several Open House events.

From San Jose to Encino, prospective students, friends, and family members snacked on cheese & crackers, cookies, and assorted fruit while mixing with members of the faculty, admissions, current students, and graduates.  Attendees visited an anatomy-rich science room; received sports massage treatments; participated in Thai and shiatsu demonstrations; and got pampered at a mini spa, where they could experience hot stone therapy, salt scrubs, and aromatherapy as well as examine the plants from which the essential oils originated.

To attend the next NHI Open House, please call 800-315-3552 or visit www.nhi.edu for more information.

Our first continuing education class of the year, Gayle MacDonald’s Massage for People Living with Cancer, comes to the Encino campus Feb 6, 7 & 8.  This class is a must for massage therapists specializing in the medical community.  When we last hosted Gayle back in 2007, participants raved at the chance to learn from this oncology massage expert and renowned author.

Comfort-oriented massage or touch can be administered to people with cancer regardless of the severity of their condition.  The purpose of this class is to train touch therapists in the basics of oncology massage.  The experience derived from this training creates new-found confidence in bodyworkers about working with clients, particularly private practice clients, who have cancer or are recovering from it.  Therapists who focus on hospice and hospital work also find this course to be valuable for their special needs patients.

Participants must be a professional massage therapist or other touch practitioner, a student who has completed the basic Swedish massage course, or be licensed in another health care field, such as nursing or chiropractic, that involves touch therapy, or by permission of the instructor.

This course will take place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – February 6, 7 & 8, 2009 – from 9am-6pm.  Students will receive 24 NCBTMB approved CE hours.  The cost is $495.  Enrollees who sign up before January 16 will save $25.  Call Denise at 818-788-0824 x 354 to register.

Gayle MacDonald, MS, LMT, is the author of Medicine Hands: Massage Therapy for People with Cancer, 2nd Ed. (Findhorn Press) and Massage for the Hospital Patient and Medically Frail Client (Lippincott Williams and Wilkin).  Her expertise comes from more than 13 years of work with oncology patients at Oregon Health and Science University.  She has also supervised massage students and therapists in the oncology unit, in chemo infusion, radiation oncology, and the bone marrow transplant unit. Find out more at http://www.medicinehands.com/.

Leisha Anders has been a teaching fixture at NHI for the last 7 years.  This Friday she leaves us to be closer to her family in Texas.  If only NHI had a campus in Dallas!

Today at our weekly faculty meeting, we presented Leisha with a framed collage of her time here.  Leisha spent her first 5 years at the Emeryville campus.  Then 2 years ago she moved to Los Angeles to help open the Encino campus.  At the time, it was more of a happy accident than some sort of master plan on our part.  But oh how fortunate we were!  I truly can’t imagine the Encino campus without her.

Leisha has been a source of knowledge and inspiration to students and staff alike.  She inhabits the NHI curriculum and culture like few others.  NHI Director of Education Linda Rikli recently said,

“We greet her news with a sad heart, but with the knowledge that we, NHI, are better in so many ways because of her time with us.”

While we will truly miss your presence, Leisha, we will never forget the spirit you’ve left behind.

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!!

Later in the day, we made our way onto YouTube courtesy of Mahalo Daily.  Leah D’Emilio visited us in Encino to learn some tips on how to give a 15 minute relaxation massage.  Over 25,000 people have viewed it so far!  You can add to those numbers by clicking below.

Who knows where we’ll pop up next!

Prior to that, there was a smaller massage school in the same location, Touch Therapy Institute.  TTI had existed since 1989 – a good while, but ten years shy of NHI’s founding in 1979.  Though TTI had a stellar reputation, it lacked the national accreditation, federal financial aid, and program length needed to continue supporting its students and graduates.  Finding that they shared similar cultures, TTI merged with NHI in May 2006.  That summer we remodeled the campus and added more space necessary to accommodate NHI’s larger program.

I’m not a big fan of construction.  It’s dirty, disruptive and always takes more time and money than estimated.  But time has a way of erasing those trialing days, and instead I prefer to happily remember August 23^rd when Group 57 kicked off the NHI era in Encino.

Time doesn’t erase pictures, though.  Here are a couple of pictures of the campus transformation 2 years ago.

The New Rolf Classroom Takes Shape.

TTI Remnants from Six Floors Up.

As a side note, I spent Saturday back in Texas celebrating my parents’ 50^th anniversary.  A coincidence that my school and parents have the same anniversary?  Maybe.  At the very least, I hope it foretells of many successful years to come.

We both knew what a treasure TTI was to the L.A. massage community.  While TTI had come highly referred to me, Ed actually attended another school for a short while.  It was so bad that all of his classmates dropped out and the school cancelled his class.  So, against the advice of our accountants, lawyers, families, friends, astrologers and the voice of reason, we bought Touch Therapy. 

Ed would never let down.

With plenty of blood, sweat, tears, a whole lot of our savings, and much laughter, we turned the school around financially while maintaining its quality of education.  Enrollment rose; completion rates soared; and all was good.  But feedback from graduates and employers told us that TTI’s main 200-hour program was no longer adequate.  Therapists needed more training to compete in today’s market.  Exploring how to extend our curriculum, I met Mason Myers, President of National Holistic Institute.

Over tacos in San Diego, Mason told me how great NHI is.  I countered by telling him how amazing TTI was.  He invited me up to San Francisco to see his campus and arm wrestle over the matter.  When I stepped foot into NHI, I felt like I was at Touch Therapy – only bigger.  So impressed was I, that I let him win the arm wrestling match (but don’t tell him that).  Talks of a merge began.  TTI needed a longer program and NHI wanted to expand to Southern California.  It was a match made in heaven.  I stayed on to manage the Los Angeles campus in Encino.

Now 2 years later, I massage paperwork more than people, but I wouldn’t trade my NHI experiences for the world.  I look forward to sharing these adventures with you as we go along.