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 →]

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 [Read more →]

Allyn Hall & Laura Repetto

At NHI, our reputation as a massage school is only as good as the quality of our teachers.  Thus, as qualified as our teaching staff is, we never rest on our laurels.  Our teachers constantly learn new material as in the recent Ayurvedic massage training led by fellow teacher Allyn Hall.

Since Ayurveda is a hot spa trend, San Francisco campus manager Tiahna Skye scheduled this training to help our teachers stay current in the field.  The treatment is similar in theory to shiatsu – it balances energy lines known as Nadis and helps to balance one’s dosha which can be thought of as one’s current constitution.  The hot oils are a blend of olive oil and sesame with fresh herbs and essential oils added to them. They are applied in strokes that trace the energy lines with a pressure and pace adapted to the individuals “dosha needs.”

Allyn Hall teaches, “Ayurveda can be translated as the ’study of long life.’  Everyone is made up of 3 different doshas and the level of each dosha can change depending on the weather, food eaten, stress in life, etc.  An abhyanga, or application of warm oil massage, can be used as one of many ways to balance a person’s dosha combination.  The abhyanga that our teachers played with at the training is a lush combination of physical and energetic massage that leaves the client both relaxed and uplifted.”

Some trainings are so delightful, it’s hard to call it work!  That’s one of the many perks of being a massage profession.

Here is an interpretive video of the NHI experience from one of our graduates, Giovan Medrano.

Giovan now works at the Remede Spa in San Francisco where he has gained quite a following.  Check out some of his client reviews on Yelp by clicking here.