Recently, I was invited to the Massage Envy Annual Franchise Conference for a peek behind the ME curtain.  As a presenter on the massage industry expert panel, I met many franchisees and home office staff.  All were more than congenial and seemed to care tremendously about the work they were doing.

Even more impressionable was the time I spent with their Top 50 therapists from around the country.  Out of thousands of therapists, these are considered Massage Envy’s best.  They were a diverse group representing various ages and races, with anywhere from 2 to 20 years of massage experience.

Among this elite group was National Holistic Institute’s own Raymond Washington, a 2007 graduate of the Petaluma campus and one of many NHI grads who have worked for Massage Envy.  In talking with Raymond and the other therapists, they found Massage Envy as a place where they could thrive with their massage careers.  Some hoped to own their own franchises someday.  Others liked that they could just focus on massaging their clients while someone else took care of the business side of things.  All shared a common passion: they love what they do!

Joe Bob Smith, Raymond Washington (NHI Petaluma Grad, Massage Envy Regional Therapist of the Year), and CG Funk (Massage Envy VP of Industry Relations)

Massage Envy has little shortage of clients.  Consumers eager for more massage have helped drive the company’s growth.  While demand is relatively high, supply has proved a growth challenge – supply being the ability to hire so many quality therapists.

For the uninitiated, Massage Envy is the largest massage franchise chain in the country, employing more massage therapists (16,000!) than anyone in the world.  With nearly 700 locations in the U.S. and 200 more in the works, Massage Envy is readily fulfilling their mission of bringing affordable massages to the masses.

As demand for exceptional massage therapists grows, National Holistic Institute looks forward to continuing its work with Massage Envy and other massage employers to fill that need.  With 6 – soon to be 7 – California campuses, a nationally accredited 720-hour core program, a unique 400-hour Advanced Neuromuscular Therapy Program, and 32 years of “helping people have work they love,” NHI is fully prepared to educate the future of massage therapy.

-Joe Bob Smith

The Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon was last weekend, and NHI was there to support the runners, have a good time and get some great experience doing sports massage. Due to lots of traveling lately I didn’t get a good of a jump start on recruiting for this event, and I was afraid that the event might be a struggle, or be unsuccessful, but as it turned out everything & everyone associated with being there was just superb!

The Team Challenge organization that we were there to serve was offered quick 10 minute massages, but they really made a difference and the team was so thankful. There were 500 runners at this event, and we worked on more then 300 of them! 13 massage therapists and three hundred clients. WOW!

It was a great day, but the best part was listening to students who had their table set up closest to me. They talked about how excited they were to be in school learning so much. It recharged my battery, my hope, my excitement about teaching & confidence that things will work out.

From time to time I noticed one or two other students copying exactly what I was doing; techniques that they had not yet been taught in class. They were clearly in learning mode despite the circumstances of working  non-stop on sweaty tired bodies; the athletes lined up for 20 or more minutes to get 10 minutes of free massage. Just 10 minutes of massage can make such a difference!

These events are so inspiring! We get to put our knowledge into action and help athletes. We work together as a team and the bond that results is tremendous. Students learn new techniques, build their confidence and make connections that are invaluable as they begin their careers as professional massage therapists.

But most of all, I get to help people have work they love through doing work that I love! Wow!

~Mark Nielsen

For updates on where our Sports Massage Team will be healing next, check out our NHI Sports Massage Facebook Page!

I was deeply touched recently by an experience I had in the classroom. I have been a massage therapist for 13 years and an educator for 3. Every day presents an opportunity for me to learn about myself and others. That is one of the things that I love most about my job. It is so exciting to witness a client get reacquainted with their body, or watch a student when those light bulbs go on as they learn new massage skills.

I recently taught a class focusing on work with the abdominal muscles. The technique being taught that night was something called Myofascial Therapies. This is a therapeutic technique that helps with postural issues and injury rehabilitation. What is special about Myofascial Therapy is that it allows you to figure out exactly which muscles to work on so that the client can get immediate and lasting results.

During this particular class the student that was receiving the work during a demonstration of the techniques had a scoliosis (a side curve of the spine). This condition is something that she was born with, and it has always restricted her movement and had an effect on her posture. It also causes chronic pain and discomfort.

After receiving the body work, I did a “reassessment” which means I had the client/student go through a series of movements to see if there was any change created by the massage. The change was AMAZING! She stated that she was not in any pain at that moment, and was amazed by how much further she could move. Nobody had ever told her that change was possible.

This was inspiring to both of us. My student gained a whole new sense of possibility, and I had the privilege of being part of that transformation. It leaves me feeling like I just want to share this work with anyone I can get my hands on!

And then there was the response of the rest of the students. They are so excited and eager to share what they have learned with their clients, family and friends. They know that the work they do can truly change lives.

Let me just end by saying I LOVE MY JOB. I have a career where people walk away from their time with me feeling good. They are smiling when they leave and eager to come back for their next visit. What a gift!

~Breanna Gieseker
Mentor,
NHI Petaluma

Take a deep breath.  Relaxed, open body.  Peaceful, calm mind.  Less tension, more ease.  Energized yet focused.  This is what clients of massage therapy leave with after they get off your table.  This is why we love the work that we do.  Then why should we, the massage therapists, feel less like these descriptions after a long day of giving massage?

How do we provide this for ourselves?  How can we get some of this everyday?  It is important for us to practice proper body mechanics and make sure we receive massage as well, but one answer has been around for over two thousand years.  Yoga!

There are at least as many different types of yoga as there are massage modalities.  And, like with massage modalities, different styles of yoga have similar benefits which directly improve your ability to provide high quality massage therapy for the length of your career.  Self care is of utmost importance if you want to help your clients- both by maintaining your ability to give massage and also in your aptitude to be an example of health in your client’s lives.  Yoga and Body Mechanics

Yoga: Inversion Pose from wellandgoodnyc.com

Yoga focuses on developing strength and flexibility by moving mindfully through a series of poses, called asanas, which serve to not only keep our body resilient but also to develop a deeper awareness of our movements.  This translates into your massage therapy practice as an increased stamina of maintaining good posture and practicing optimal body mechanics.

 
Yoga and Joint Health

An occpuational concern for some massage therapists is repetitive stress injuries from overuse of thumbs, hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders.  How can we provide relief of pain for others when we ourselves are afflicted?  Yoga works to counteract the stresses by building balanced strength in the muscles which support these joints and maintaining flexibility of tendons and joint structures.  Yoga may also work to break up adhesion within our tissues and improve joint lubrication.  Yoga moves our blood, giving renewed oxygen and nutrients to these areas, and also warms our fascia which can free the body to develop more functional movement patterns.  In a way, yoga may be like giving yourself a massage. 

 
Yoga and Presence

All forms of yoga emphasize breath and a meditative quality.  It focuses and calms the mind through slowing our breath, and slowing our thoughts.  This allows us the mental and energetic space to be present during the massage.  Being present helps you deliver quality massage sessions, whereas scattered and poor quality massage sessions can result when our minds are elsewhere; when our energy is scattered.  Not only does the mindfulness from yoga help you to be a more effective massage therapist, it also gives you practice in allowing the stresses of your practice to naturally fall away as you leave your office for the day.  This kind of presence in turn gives you the space that you need to fully recharge.

Yoga: Om illustration, by Chris Macivor, from the book The Key Muscles of Yoga

Massage therapy is well-known for decreasing stress on the body. Stress can inflict our bodies in many different ways physically and emotionally. Sometimes we are able to easily take away the stress in our lives. It could be as simple as changing jobs, putting on another coat for warmth, or changing your diet. But, what happens when something in life occurs beyond what we can change or control?

The last thing that any parent wants to imagine is what would happen if their child is seriously sick or injured. Thankfully, there are resources and charities to help families during these kinds of situations. Enter, The Ronald McDonald House, a non-profit charity that provides housing and meals for families who are travelling in need of healthcare for seriously ill and injured children.

We have a brave group of students from our Sacramento Campus who travel to do on-site massage at the local Ronald McDonald House as a part of their externship hours. They are providing massage for stress relief to families who, most likely, are in the most stressful situation in their life.

“Providing massage for these families and individuals not only helps me grow as a professional massage therapist, but also as a person,” says one student. “I cannot imagine going through what they have to, but helping them relax for even one minute gives them that extra boost in helping them to keep going.”

In this world situations arise that deplete our energy. Massage Therapy can play an important roll of returning us to a state of peace.

Being a massage therapist is certainly a practice of nobility. There are people all around us that are in desperate need of assistance towards relieving the stress in their bodies. By allowing ourselves to show compassion through nurturing massage, we can assist to break the cycle of pain not only of the physical, but of the emotional as well.

Breathe.
It seems simple enough. Inhale, then exhale. We do it all the time.
But do we do it well?

Breathing improperly creates a constant state of stress in the body. We can live without food for months, we can live without water for days, but we can live only a few minutes without air.

Yet most of us breathe inadequately. We rush through our lives breathing shallowly, and the cost is great. The stress this creates in our bodies diminishes our well being on many levels. Improper breathing can reduce immune function, cause depression, poor muscle function and recovery, and the inability to think clearly. And this is just a sampling of a very long list of the possible negative consequences of not breathing well. Decreased breath equals increased stress. Stress is the underpinning of many diseases and often exacerbates poor health conditions.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to evaluate your current stress level:

• Do you sleep poorly and wake up still tired?
• Do you have aches and pains that seem to come from nowhere?
• Do you get frequent headaches?
• Are you irritable and/or short tempered?
• Do you find yourself easily frustrated?
• Are you tired all the time?
• Do you often feel like there just are not enough hours in the day to get everything done?
• Do you frequently suffer from colds, flues and other illness?
• Have you lost your enthusiasm for life?

These are just a few of the common complaints of people suffering from stress. Stress diminishes our quality of life, and breathing properly can restore it!

The bonus is breathing well can be done anywhere at any time. To breathe properly simply let your belly relax and expand as you draw air in through your nose. As you continue to inhale let your ribs expand, and then finally fill your lungs to the top. Then reverse that process as you exhale through your mouth. Make sure that you empty the lungs completely before you take your next breath. It’s that simple!

…And the benefits are immediate. You will find that after just a few short minutes of breathing well, you can think more clearly and that ideas and solutions to problems come more readily. You will feel calmer and more peaceful, ready to handle the challenges of life. You will be more energized. Your muscles will relax and need much less effort to move. In short, life will be easier and you will be happier.

Create new breathing habits for yourself. Use daily activities as a cue to remember to take a deep breath: waiting at red lights, taking a shower, laying down to sleep, preparing a meal, entering and leaving your home. Anything can become a cue to remember to breathe deeply and fully, and soon you will find that it becomes automatic.

So why not start right now?! Inhale slowly and deeply, exhale fully and have a great day!

NHI Teachers practice what they teach during their annual Staff Day in Tilden Park. Every year, NHI staff gather together to reflect on the past year and discuss how we can improve the student experience. This year we were inspired by our guest speaker and had presentations given by each campus on Connectivity.

The San Francisco Campus ended the day by giving a Dance Lesson. Dance, at a Massage School? Hmm…?

One of the many lessons we try to impart on students is the importance of helping clients live healthier lives through massage but also through self care! Dance provides us with the opportunity of incorporating a fun physical activity in our busy days. It also lifts the spirits and balances the energy in our bodies – not to mention letting us tap into our inner child!

Traditionally, before class we might do some Tai chi, Chi Gong or Yoga to prepare us physically for bodywork and mentally for learning.  So we thought, why not dance?  Dancing provides not only an entertaining way of getting physical activity in our lives, it also helps us with flexibility, stamina and gracefulness.

We chose Bhangra, a dance originitating from the Panjabi region of India – it was first danced by men as a celebration of the harvest.  Its movements mirrored the activities performed in the fields for a particular crop.  We were inspired by the music and the grace needed to dance to it.  We found ways of connecting traditional steps to moves done during massage like the all so famous Effleurage and Body Mechanic Principles like working from Neutral and using your Whole Body.

Pediatric Massage Master Teacher Tina Allen rolled into NHI’s San Jose campus recently to talk about the value of massage for infants and children.  Allen, the founder of Liddle Kidz Foundation travels North America with her husband and young son in a customized tour bus giving workshops and presentations about the benefits of touch therapy for the youngest among us.  Although massage is often still seen by the general public as an annual luxury or first aid for a sore back after a weeketnd of cleaning up the yard, it can also support healthy, well children in the normal process of growth and development, as well little ones who are struggling with complex medical conditions.  And Tina Allen should know: She managed the United States’ first comprehensive pediatric massage program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and recently consulted on the development of a comprehensive pediatric massage therapy program at The Mayo Clinic.

A fun way Tina shared of introducing massage to children is through massage stories.  Using a combination of light strokes such as hand glides, palm circles, finger taps, and cupping, she guided the group of 30+ San Jose students, staff, and faculty through a familiar story: the change of weather from a bright sunny day to one with lots of snow.  It even included a guest appearance by a pair of cats on the top of a chimney!  Ms. Allen encouraged NHI students to develop their own massage stories and to try them out on the children in their lives.  Whether it’s a massage story about making a pizza, planting a garden or taking a swim in the ocean, it’s Tina Allen’s conviction that children who have a positive experience with healthy touch early on in their lives will grow up to be peaceful leaders in the world.  Tina feels so strongly about this vision that she organizes, trains, and leads volunteers on trips to orphanages abroad.  Previous sites included Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand, with Ghana slated for later this year.  She is also a certified trainer of Peaceful Touch.

One of the things that we hear consistently during graduating speeches is how the educational experience at NHI goes so much deeper than massage therapy itself.  It is so wonderful to see students who feel like they have not only learned how to build a successful career as a massage therapist but have also boosted their overall confidence, have have overcome some lifelong struggles and have connected with a very tight community that they feel like they will be a part of for years to come.

Every year for during our annual Staff Day at the National Holistic Institute, we have made it a tradition to read aloud stories of our students’ personal experiences with NHI.  This year we decided to do it a bit different by letting the students share it themselves.  Two graduating students from Group 1 at the NHI Emeryville campus, Saideh Houston and Anne Nelsen, got to have a few minutes in the spotlight to kick off our new series of student and graduate videos.  Cheri Brown, a 2009 Group 47 grad who now has a thriving private practice also shared her story about how NHI helped her to overcome her struggles and become successful and confident in her career.

Congratulations to all of our graduating seniors and a special thanks to Saideh, Anne, and Cheri.  We are looking forward to hearing from many more students and graduates in the future we are also excited to announce another video series with John Caguin (The NHI Guy) who will be giving insight into lots of interesting massage therapy modalities and techniques as well as a sneak peek of campus life and the NHI community.

We hope you enjoy!  Please keep an eye on our Facebook and Youtube pages for more videos in the future.

I can’t tell you how excited I was the other day to get the best massage I had ever had;  it was a dream come true.

He too was a Graduate of NHI.  He definitely knew his stuff and the most distinguishing thing was the confidence that came through in his work.

Like me, he started out Prone (positioned lying flat) and worked the back a ton; long ironing strokes that I guess you could say were effleurage, but kneaded the muscle as they ran from neck to sacrum. I think he used every tool available, hands, fists, sides of the hand, whole forearms and the elbows too.  He then did awesome work on my Traps that really pulled the Traps away from where they had been living just under my ears. It was like lower neck work and back work combined.  Somewhere in there he was working the arm, Axilla, Scapula, and Deltoids too.  It felt like my Scapula got thoroughly moved & flipped around and put back a little lower than when I brought it in to be worked on and the Delts & arm felt like the way a towel feels when you wring it out after falling into the pool.

As I had hoped, he finally got around to working on my legs, I have very long legs and I always hope that people really get as much of the muscle worked on as possible. Well this therapist did and I think it’s because he was a cyclist too. Hams, Adductors, the IT Band, all worked on with tons of movement for the Knee and a reshaping on my Gastrocs & Soleus. It was most certainly not the typical lighter Swedish, it was deep ploughing & ironing that made my legs soo happy mostly because the work definitely felt like it didn’t just address the area we call the “Back” of the leg but all around the leg.  He rolled it around in different directions to be able to better access the sides that were not just facing up. When he was done I could only say that my legs felt “Floppy” and I loved it.

Thorough, professional, deep but also very in tune with what he was doing as to not work too deep on the knots or just think one pressure is good for every part of the body. He watched my reaction and adjusted the pressure accordingly.

Finishing with some forehead swipes & scalp work was just a wonderful way to close out this massage that I would come back for again & again if I could. The massage was perfect! But alas, I only received it in my own imagination. Haven’t we all dreamed of receiving the same massage we give to others?!

The Golden Rule really applies everything, including  massage. “Do unto to others as you would have them do unto to you”.   Stay present in your work, use empathy and ask yourself what everything would feel like and be open to the feedback of the clients as if you were hearing the compliment or criticism from yourself.

~Mark Nielsen, CMT and NHI instructor extraordinaire :)

I recently celebrated ten years of teaching at the National Holistic Institute, and this gave me an occasion to consider some of the life-enriching aspects of a career in bodywork.

Consider this: have you ever had a job you disliked? Perhaps you’ve even had a job you hated?!  If the answer is “yes”, then you already know what a drain it can be to have to work a job when your heart just isn’t in it. But then there is the economy! In this financial day and age, there are plenty of people who would settle for any work! Work can cause stress, to be sure… but not working can stress us even more.

So having work, it seems – particularly, work we can be passionate about – is a blessing.

The term “work” has interesting connotations. In some contexts, work could be synonymous with something arduous, something unpleasant. But in the spiritual tradition of Alchemy, the term “Work” has a very different implication: transformation! Not simply the transformation of lead into gold, the Magnum Opus, or ‘Great Work’, of the alchemists was about transformation generally – darkness into light, ignorance into knowledge, matter into spirit.

I would argue that, in this Alchemical Way, work we love can transform us, teaching us the lessons and providing us with the challenges we need to progress along the Path of our lives. Bodywork especially, with its emphasis on self-knowledge, compassion, safe space, and connection to another person, causes us to get real, to honestly confront our fears and limitations… and to overcome them so that we can continue to facilitate the healing of our bodies, our communities, and our planet.

Work that you love can transform you. Do you have Work You Love?

~William Mathis
Mentor, NHI Petaluma Campus

We want to share with you what a thrilling evening we had here in Sacramento last night! We had over 72 guests at our Open House/Ribbon Cutting event which included the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce.  So many contributed to this very special joyful event to make it a huge success! Our students from group 70 gave samples of chair massage (we had all 4 chairs set up and they were working non-stop), we had floor Shiatsu massage, our shining star senior, Dynasty Castro gave Hot Stone aromatherapy hand and arm massage, Lucas manned our science table and we gave away loads of door prizes! The entire Sacramento team threw themselves into this making it a spectacular event in their own unique ways and with their wonderful beaming selves, and the entire campus looked beautiful.   And check out the AMAZING cake made by Amy Atkins! 

We look forward to watching our new campus grow and become connected with the rest of the National Holistic Institute community!  We also recently began our student massage clinic and had a wonderful first weekend - John Lambert and Lucas Nevarez have done a great job working with our wonderful students!  If you are in the Sacramento area and you need some more incentive to get down to the clinic, you can get $5 off your first massage just by liking our Sacramento Facebook Page!

There is a ritual that every National Holistic Institute student takes part in. This ritual happens all the time, even during the 1^st bodywork class they step into.  We all sit in silence for the first few minutes of class. Only the sounds of the softly playing music fill the space for those few minutes that day. In that quiet time, we encourage everyone to practice a meditation, to help them prepare for the class ahead.

The question I hear often in one form or another is; “why” and/or “how”? [Read more →]

Now that our volunteers have dried out from the record rain fall, here’s a student’s first-hand account of this year’s L.A. Marathon…

On March 20th, over 50 current and former NHI students braved the cold, wet, and windy conditions at the 2011 LA Marathon. As predicted, the weather bombarded runners and volunteers, who had to deal with the elements from mother earth.

For both new and veteran volunteers, we were in for one wild ride. The many surprises which we encountered did not deter us from ultimately giving the gift of massage to the thousands of participants who sweated out the 26.2 mile endeavor from Los Angeles to Santa Monica Pier. A number of runners tumbled towards our massage tent, hungry and tired, but mostly elated that they had finished and looked forward to a massage provided by us. We were positioned into teams of 2-3 massage therapists at each table, assisting runners in drying off and warming up. Many runners experienced hypothermia-like symptoms, but with the experience of the faculty who were present, led by Joe Bob Smith, Jan Takeshita, and Marianna Anderson, and the quick hands of the massage therapists, the runners were able to get back on their feet and into some dry clothes.

Although we were blasted with random gusts of wind blowing through the tent, a river of water that flowed ankle deep, and even a little bit of hail, the day turned out to be a huge success. Runners were extremely appreciative of the support provided by the massage volunteers, and we were happy to provide a little bit of warmth and care to each runner that passed through. Despite harsh conditions that started the day off as a challenge, we ended with plenty of smiles, laughter, and many memories. Here’s to another successful volunteer event at the LA Marathon. Until next year…

Because the record rainfall disrupted marathon operations, our volunteers this year didn’t receive the usual volunteer shirt or even lunch. To thank everyone for their hard work, NHI hosted a pizza and movie night on April 15 as a sign of gratitude. L.A. Marathon Coordinator, Steve Jackson, showed up with a stash of marathon shirts he had scored for everyone, thank you letters, and prizes commemorating marathons past. Everyone had a great time reminiscing about the rain, the runners, and the hypothermia!

Are you a National Holistic Institute student or graduate interested in acquiring more clients? Are you a full-time massage therapy practitioner with little or no money to spend on advertising but need more massage clients? Do you have a limited amount of time for marketing and want to invest your energy in activities that have the highest potential return?

If so, consider, you should attending Holistic Buzz Camp, a four-hour interactive workshop designed to provide you with highly effective yet free or inexpensive word of mouth marketing tools and techniques to grow your massage therapy practice. This event will be offered on 4/28/11 at NHI Emeryville and 5/21/11 NHI Studio City. You will learn how to: [Read more →]

Health and well being are some of our most valuable resources. Without them it is difficult to enjoy life, to be productive and to flourish as individuals and communities. Yet often self care takes the back burner as we prioritize everything else in our busy lives.

National Holistic Institute, Petaluma Campus is offering a free monthly Community Education night. Our goal is to contribute positively to this wonderful community we work in, and to offer a respite from this busy hectic world we live in. Come and join us to learn about: [Read more →]

During the entire month of April, 2011, the National Holistic Institute will donate $1 to Doctors Without Borders every time somebody ‘likes’ our page, “National Holistic Institute,” on Facebook.

NHI’s history of responding to crises dates back to the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989.  The work that Jim Charlesworth and others did at that time laid the foundation for what would become the Massage Emergency Response Teams (MERT) (see our previous blog remembering Jim).

Since that time we have massaged the victims and emergency workers of numerous disasters around California and the nation.  Unfortunately, many disasters occur beyond the reach of our hands.  But that doesn’t lessen our desire to help; it just forces us to be more creative in raising funds and supplies.  For example, last year through donation clinics, NHI gave over $7,000 to the Haiti earthquake relief effort.

With a devastating series of events in Japan, from a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, to a tsunami which took hundreds of lives, to uncertain conditions of multiple nuclear reactors, Doctors Without Borders is contributing greatly to the relief of the people affected. While the country of Japan is not struggling for funds like Haiti and many other countries have during times of crisis, there are still countless people who were affected by the disaster and have not been able to receive care.  Doctors Without Borders has been providing personal attention and medical assistance to individuals in Japan, but will use funds to provide care all around the world; wherever it is most needed.

All you have to do to help is to join a growing community of healers and helpers by clicking ‘like’ on the National Holistic Institute Facebook page. From injured and helpless families to power plant workers risking their lives and their health, your contribution will go toward a good cause.

We know there is a huge population of people whose passion is helping others in need and creating a positive change in our world.  The National Holistic Institute is constantly striving to connect those individuals and create a dialogue that will support people in times of crisis.  We hope our Facebook page can serve as such a meeting place.

National Holistic Institute is putting up the money; all you have to do is click ‘like.’ Already like us, or want to see us give even more? Share this with anyone who may be interested in helping those in need.  You can link to our page on your Facebook, Twitter, your blog, or any other social network that you are a part of.  Thank you for being a part of our helping and healing community!

You can also help us donate by receiving a massage during our donation clinic days!

Do you like feeling good from receiving a massage… AND feeling good about giving to others through massage?  Then you will want to hear this news.  NHI is hosting two massage clinics focused on raising funds for those affected by the earthquake in Japan.  All funds raised through these clinics will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.  Student and staff volunteers form NHI will be providing the massage sessions.  Clinics occur on 4/03 at the Emeryville campus, and on 4/10 at the San Francisco campus.  Appointment times are 2:00, 3:15 and 4:30pm.  Click HERE to schedule an appointment in Emeryville, and click HERE to schedule an appointment in San Francisco.

About Doctors Without Borders  (MSF)

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization working in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. MSF’s work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.  MSF will be using funds all over the world; wherever they are needed most. Click HERE to learn more about MSF

Disclaimer:

The National Holistic Institute (NHI) will donate $1 for every new ‘like’ we receive on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NHImassageschool between 4/1/11 and 4/30/11.  Users who already like the page will not raise funds by un-liking and liking again, but may instead share the page with their friends and followers.  NHI will donate funds upon the close of the promotion up to a maximum donation of $1000.

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

We take our food seriously in the Bay Area, especially in San Francisco. This is the home of slow food advocates and we are dedicated locavores. We eat out all the time, read reviews, get recommendations from, and talk about food, with our friends. We tweet about our meals, post pictures of dishes on Facebook, and trade recipes at communal dinner parties. In short, we love food. But for all of our love of food, how much attention do we pay to the pieces that make up our meals?

A few years ago, while in school for massage, I was putting together a roast chicken dinner for friends and I realized that our main course has the same basic systems that we have. A chicken has a skeletal and muscular system as well as other similar anatomical and physiological structures similar to mine. I realized that what I was learning in school at NHI could be applied to the main course roasting in my oven.

Now that I am a teacher, anyone who has been in my Kinesiology classes will tell you that I compare our musculature to that of animals. Take our friend the chicken: humans have bones, ball and socket joints, tendons, ligaments, fascia and so on and so does a chicken. Slightly different sizes and configurations, to be sure, and the pieces correlate. Not that long ago, after giving my usual “if you want to understand muscles, make dinner” speech, the students asked me to show them. [Read more →]

For those of you who haven’t found her on YouTube yet, NHI Sacramento’s Campus Manager Klayna Snider Gave a wonderful introduction to the curriculum, community and connectivity of the National Holistic Institute.  We just hosted a wonderful event at the new campus and we’re looking forward to a bright future full of new friends and amazing therapists!

Special thanks also to Gabriel and all of his students for giving a sneak peek into their reflexology class and to all of the other students and staff at NHI who made a cameo.  You are all amazing!

For more information on our new campus, get in touch with us!
NHI Sacramento on the Web
(916) 568-6411

We hope to share more videos with you all in the future – If you’re curious about a certain part of life at NHI, leave us a comment and let us know what you’d like to see!