“EVERY ONE SHOULD KNOW THIS!” I have been teaching massage therapy since 1982, teaching all around the U.S. and in England. In every single class I hear a voice in my head loudly saying, “Everyone should learn massage therapy.” And they should. Because the lessons we learn through massage training, when it’s done very well, are ones that no one should be without.

Know your body –
Most people lead lives of desperate “psycho-physical illiteracy.” Incredibly, most people do not even know the names of their muscles. You have to pass a test to drive a car, but to operate and appreciate your body – which is infinitely more complex and miraculous – nothing is required. Massage training makes up for this outrageous gap in our education.

Know your nervous system –
Do you know how your brain works? Why your thoughts and feelings are hard to get on the same page sometimes? With good massage education, you learn how to coordinate your mind, body and spirit in your life and work. As you develop the skill of being more in unity as a person, you naturally become much better at helping your clients attain it.

Deal with stress –
Massage is perhaps the most effective and thorough antidote to stress. In a matter of minutes, clients calm down (so does the therapist – it’s good for us too!) and let go of recent and accumulated effects of stress-filled lives. The nurturing quality of touch triggers the “relaxation response” in the nervous system. The relaxation response helps with sleeplessness and all stress-related bodily pain and tension.

Receive an education in kindness –
Massage is the art and science of applied kindness. Touch is the first sense to develop in the embryo. It is the foundation of our sensory world. In massage education we cultivate a touch with heartfelt quality. As we work with people over time, we realize more and more that everyone needs and deserves compassion. Touch is the most tangible way to deliver kindness.

Join a community of learning –
Many of our basic and advanced students say that their experience at our school was “the best experience of my life.” Everyone is here because they WANT to be here. That creates a transformational atmosphere, an abiding trust, and a community of students that is a dream come true for both students and teachers.

Know your kinesiology –
One of the most fascinating things to learn is how muscles orchestrate movement. A therapist who understands this orchestration is like a conductor helping clients perform the symphonies in movement that are their everyday actions.

Be a problem solver –
Each therapist – especially with a high level of training and skill – is a healing detective! With advanced knowledge of how problems can be caused variously by postural issues, repetitive motion, overuse, bad furniture, and the effects of stress and trauma on the body – the well-trained therapist discovers the source of clients’ problems and resolves them incredibly well.

Experience the deep satisfaction of really helping others –
Most health complaints are of soft tissue pain and tension. Massage therapy is the only therapy that exclusively deals with muscular pain and tension. Therefore, it is the most important therapy for what bothers people the most. There is an unspeakable delight in helping people out of their discomfort and seeing the light go back on in their eyes!

Care for yourself –
With a really good training, you learn how to conserve and amplify your own energy and physical prowess. When you learn to work with less effort, you get a greater therapeutic result! A good therapist is a healthy therapist. The more you learn, ideally the healthier you become.

Love your work –
Most people get into massage because they want a career change. And students should choose a school with a high level program because it will contain advanced material, a curriculum which is refined each year and that is taught with devotion and care by great teachers. Such students want better therapeutic results with their clients, learn to avoid straining with techniques that break down the therapist’s own body, and they want to be more successful and unique in the marketplace. It is important that the school is dedicated to graduating massage therapists who are therapeutically masterful, economically successful, and personally fulfilled.

When your work consists of truly helping people with touch, kindness and knowledge; when your work makes you a healthier, wiser, and happier person; when your work is a dream come true; then your work itself is a blessing.