How to Give a Spa-Worthy Massage At Home: Top Five Tips

Got a spot of tension in your shoulders? Or perhaps your other half is complaining of aches and pains? Good news! There’s a simple, effective and inexpensive way you can banish any stresses or strains: via an at-home massage. To help you on your way to a relaxed, tension-free body, we’ve put together five top tips on giving a spa-worthy massage from the comfort of your own home. Read on…

1 - Use Your Body Weight

Avoid sore arms or hands by using your body weight to ensure you don’t get tired too quickly. Expert masseuses say good massage is less about your grip and more about your stance and the use of gravity. Bear this in mind the next time you give your partner a massage, altering your position and using the weight of your body more often to relieve pain and fatigue. You can do this by having your partner sit on the floor on a pillow while you sit behind him or her on the couch or a chair.

2 - Choose Products Wisely

Choose the right products ahead of your massage by doing your research online. A good massage oil makes all the difference; it helps prevent uncomfortable friction and ensures your hands can glide across your partner’s back or shoulders more easily. Warm up the oil in your hands before you begin and apply pressure where needed.

3 - Consider Pressure

While some people love a firmer massage, others don’t. So it’s important to establish what your partner is looking for in terms of pressure. In general, though, avoid pinching or grabbing muscles. Do this by keeping your fingers together and using the whole hand while you massage.  Start with soft strokes to warm up the muscles, before you begin ‘kneading’ them and being too firm. Always check to see how the pressure is working for you partner too; they should feel a little pressure, but not pain. It’s important to ask at regular intervals, especially if you’re a professional masseuse, as more often than not people will stay quiet out of politeness!

4 - Don’t Break Contact

When massaging the neck and shoulders, start by making a loose fist before using the base of your hand to apply pressure on the left shoulder. Then, run your hand up the side of the neck until you get to the base of the skull. Continue by running your hand back down, always without breaking contact. Repeat on the other side of the neck and do this a couple of times each for the best effect. Use the base of your hand and the pads of your thumbs to massage the back, rubbing in circles up and down the spine in a bid to warm up the muscles. Avoid pressing on the spine itself, and instead apply a little pressure with your body weight if necessary.

5 - Use Caution

If in doubt, stop. If you’re new to massage and your partner’s wincing in pain, the chances are you’re causing more harm than good. Instead, offer a gentler massage which is unlikely to harm him or her. Take a look online if you need some tips on softer massage, or start cautiously and see what works. The last thing you want is an injury on your hands, so be careful , but if you think you’ve done some damage ensure your partner sees a specialist as soon as possible.

Knew all of these tips already? Want to learn real professional knowledge? Perhaps it’s time to learn more via one of our massage courses before trying your hand at a job within massage or working for yourself.

Interested in developing a career with the beauty and spa industry? Your timing couldn’t be better as potential employees within our market are in high demand! Although often overlooked by jobseekers a successful career as a beauty therapist or specialist often leads to high job satisfaction and a good wage/standard of life.

The Importance of The Spa Industry

Unfortunately in this modern age people are constantly rushed off their feet or being distracted by their smartphone or computer screen. Technology has made it difficult to escape the stresses and strains of work even if we are out of the office or on holiday! When we combine this to an increasing population and a decreasing job market you can understand why more and more people are visiting spa’s to help unwind. We are beginning to realise the importance of relaxation in terms of maintaining a healthy mind and body.

From a positive perspective, it has been the spa and beauty industry that has benefitted from all of these added stresses and burdens within the average person’s life. Online medical reports and specialist doctors recommend that we should take the time out to relax properly (quality over quantity!) and obviously a spa is a great way to help melt away those worries and recharge your batteries.

Job Availability in The Spa Industry

The more people realise the benefits of a spa on their well-being, the more the industry grows. The more an industry grows the more specialist staff will be required. This is hopefully where you come in! Researching a spa or beauty job website will show you the job market is booming and this demand doesn’t look like it’s slowing down any time soon.

The career options within our line of work are huge, these include (but are not limited to) positions within medical spas, club spas, day spas and for the more adventurous, the tourism sectors of the business. Cruise ship spas, exotic spas sold as relaxing holiday getaways found in numerous global locations as well as spas that are sold as an in-house optional hotel facility.

Finding The Right Career For You

The next step is vital in terms of finding and choosing the correct career path for yourself. There are many questions to consider in terms of how to make sure you choose the right role for you. Take a pad and pen and answer the following:

• What skills do I have to offer?
• What role(s) within spa and beauty suits my skill set best?
• What sector do I want to work in?
• If necessary can I afford to start at the ‘bottom’ on a lower wage?
• Am I willing to invest in training for the benefit of my career?

How did it go? Feel like you understand a bit more about what you want from you career? Excellent! Normally the biggest concern with any career change like this is financial. Questions about wages and training costs can be a worry but with decent planning and training with the right people you can find a way to develop your dream career.

How To Improve Your Career Prospects Once In The Industry

According to the Global Spa & Wellness Summit in 2012, there were very limited opportunities to become a fully trained therapist. However, the board have committed more time, resources and effort into resolving this issue, and training more people in specific areas such as spa management. Great news for an aspiring therapist like yourself!

Experience, as with any job role, is also an important facet to expanding your future horizons within the industry. Taking a lesser paid job or a trainee role is a good start, and it’s also optional to land a trainee role without having to invest in training beforehand. Trainee roles will at least help you decide if you really are getting yourself into a career that you will enjoy. Once you have tried and tested your new found profession, and you decide this that this is the right career for you, then you can begin to plan how you can pick up some vital qualifications on the way.

There is a large range of qualifications in spa treatment, including beauty courses, massage courses and a whole lot more. This is what could really give you the edge when it comes to applying for a job in the industry. Being lucky enough to couple a spa training certificate with a degree in tourism, you could be whisking yourself away onto a Caribbean cruise ship or an equally equivalent picturesque island in a tropical climate!

Future Career Opportunities

Once you have gained the required experience and/or training you will have the option of taking a management course in view of starting your own spa business! In a market that is benefiting from upward demand, growth is highly likely, and it is an industry that is relatively resistant to economic stress factors that contribute to failure of many other commercial businesses. Basically, in this profession the world is your oyster!

In short, the spa industry is big business right now, and there are certainly no shortages in opportunities from an employee perspective or in even developing your own business. Furthermore, a career in this industry can also open up the doors to new opportunities such as being able to travel with the job!

If you’re determined to make a big change in your life and need help making it happen, then I can help. I’m here to support you because I know how challenging change can be and know how to make it less scary and more manageable.

Ever wondered why many New Year's resolutions often don't last beyond January 31st? For a start it's probably because deep down we don't believe our need to change is compelling or urgent enough.

Which desire to change do you think is more sustainable long-term?

I want to lose weight because I can't fit into my jeans anymore OR

I must lose at least 2 stone because if I don't, I could seriously damage my health and not be around long enough to see my kids grow up.

Yep, you guessed it, statement no 2. More compelling. More urgent.

The second reason why change can be so challenging stems from our beliefs. The limiting beliefs we hold about ourselves and the world around us are what stop us from making the big changes we want. So here's what I do: I help you uncover, explore, transform and update whatever's limiting you so you can begin to discover a more authentic, more present and more capable you.

YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO COME TO ME!

I offer coaching over the phone or by Skype to save you on travel expenses and it can be arranged for a time that suits you.

Coaching

Change can be scary. Most of the time, it happens and we get on with it. But sometimes...we're determined to make a big change in our lives, we take the first few steps and then – life takes over, our friends distract us, work gets more busy, our partners and kids need us, bills start stacking up, the ironing piles up, the car breaks down and suddenly…vegging out in front of the telly with your tipple of choice and a takeaway seems a safer option!

To me, coaching is about three key things:

    Giving yourself the gift of time to focus on you – what you want, what you need
    Having the space to be and to think clearly without all the other white noise of life
    Knowing you've got someone on your side who'll make sure you stay focused on yourself and your goals

Let's face it, great athletes have coaches to help them excel: you deserve similar support and encouragement to make that big change in your life happen.

So what are you trying to achieve? Do you want to:

Change career?
Start a new business?
Live a healthier lifestyle?
Adapt to a new role in life?
Attract the right relationship? Or:
Simply be who you are for a living?

As a certified NLP Master Practitioner, I work with you to uncover what it is you really want to achieve, clearly map out how you'll achieve it (your personal game plan), identify what obstacles are getting in your way, help you transform or overcome those obstacles and encourage you to build strong thought patterns and beliefs to achieve and sustain the change you fully deserve.

And here's the thing - by gifting yourself the space to think and by focusing on what you really want, you actually become more present to life and those around you. So what are you waiting for?

Email me here for information on the affordable coaching packages I offer:

http://jackiemendoza.com/Contact.php

How I can help Therapists - Quick Tip - Know your audience

Many therapists often wonder why they spend lots of time, effort and money designing and
developing leaflets and other promotional material, then distributing or displaying them to not get
much of a response.

Believe it or not, the success or failure of your marketing can often boil down
to one simple issue: you’ve not been specific enough about your target audience.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve asked the question: who is your target audience

and get answers like:

• A variety of people
• The local community
• Women of all ages
• Ladies, mainly 35+
• Men and women

Why are these answers a recipe for marketing disaster? Because they’re not specific enough.
Think about it – how on earth are you going to effectively communicate with a variety of people,
your local community or women of all ages?

Unless you have the marketing and advertising budgets of Waitrose or ASDA, I’m afraid to say
you’re never going to reach women of all ages.

And if we stick with our two examples, even Waitrose and ASDA are more specific about their
audiences. Yes, they ideally want to reach women of all ages but they actually target specific
women of all ages.

Think about it: are the women who shop at Waitrose going to be the same as the women who shop
at ASDA? In the majority of cases, no. Generally speaking Waitrose is targeting women of all ages
at one end of a spectrum (commonly known in advertising and marketing as ABC1s) while ASDA
is targeting the other side of that same spectrum (C2s and Ds). Because both retailers are targeting
different types of women (and are clear about that), they will also choose to advertise in different
ways and through different media.

Learning point: Be specific about your target audience

How:

Instead of making generalisations about your audience (ie a variety of people, women of all ages),
be as specific as you can eg:
• Stay at home mums who need some “me-time”
• Professional women aged 35-55 who need to de-stress from their busy desk jobs
• Professional men and women aged 30-45 who are into fitness and running and who need regular
sports massages
• Older people aged 65+ who suffer from rheumatism and other age related issues and need
massage to alleviate symptoms

Why:

Because by being specific you begin to build a picture of the people you are trying to reach.
And by building a picture of the people you are trying to reach, you can begin to be more specific
about how and where you can reach them.
Learning point: Build as clear a picture as possible of the people you are trying to reach

How:

Start imagining what your target audience is like. So, for stay at home mums, for example, ask
yourself:

• Why do they need “me-time?”
• What are the benefits of “me-time” to them?
• How can I deliver those benefits?
• Where do stay at home mums hang out?
• How can I reach them where they do hang out?
• What sort of things do they read?
• How can I reach them via what they read?
• How else can I reach them?

Why:

By asking yourself these detailed questions about your target audience, you begin a) to understand
what they might need b) to understand how you might directly meet those needs c) work out how
best to communicate this to them and d) work out where and how best to reach them.
Once you’ve understood and worked out the points above, you’re already well on the way to
developing a more strategic (defined and specific) marketing or promotion strategy as opposed to
the “shoot and pray” method that so many other people end up using.
Learning point: Use language and stories that touch your target audience

How:

Once you’ve built a picture or got a good feel for your target audience, make sure you speak to
them in a way that will make sense to them. In other words, focus on what they might need and tell
them how you can meet those needs.

Why:

To really influence an audience you need to talk their language and connect with what matters
to them. Yes, you may be the best therapist in the world but what exactly will that mean to your
clients?

So, with the example of the stay at home mums, for example, yes, they find it useful to know about
the different techniques you use but they’ll also want to know a) that you understand the pressures
they’re under and how that can make them feel and b) how you can help them feel better. Be sure
to strike a balance between explaining process (what you do as a therapist) as well as telling a story
(how they will feel as a result of having your therapy/treatment).

If you begin to apply these three simple tips, you’ll be amazed how much more targeted and
effective your marketing efforts can be.

Jackie Mendoza is a change coach and start-up consultant with a wealth of experience in helping
individuals and organisations deal resourcefully with change. She is available for one-to-one
coaching via

www.jackiemendoza.com

Become a Teacher and Qualify with the PTLLS Teacher Training Course

Train to become a tutor now, easy steps fast track professional course.

Ever wanted to train to become a teacher but not sure how? Or perhaps you want to start training people but don't want to go back to college to get the qualification? Maybe you already train people but are looking for a formal qualification? Then this course may be just what you are looking for!

We offer an online Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS) course, that is fully accredited, insurable and what's best, you can study in the comfort of your own home! Our qualification is the first step towards achieving fully qualified post-16 teacher status, perfect if you are wanting to become a teacher, tutor or trainer in your specialist area. For example, if you are currently a Massage Therapist, with this qualification you can start teaching other people the skills you have. You could choose to work for yourself or a training school offering massage courses. The PTTLS Online course really can open your world to new opportunities!

Your tutor, Beth Holder has been teaching for over 10 years and is looking to help you achieve your teacher status. She will be there every step of the way, helping you to understand the key principles and practice of teaching. After completion you will feel confident with your new teaching skills and you will also be provided with information and advice as to how to set up and market your business, if this is something you would like to do. Teach, train, tutor with our online PTLLS course.

Start your new teaching career today by enrolling onto our PTLLS Online Course, many happy students already have!

For more information please use the link below:

https://www.gatewayworkshops.co.uk/distant_learning_courses/ptlls-preparing-to-teach-in-the-lifelong-learning-sector-online-course/

What is Myofascial Release?

Myofascial Release is a specialised treatment that releases restrictions within the
fascial network (connective tissue), enabling stuck, hardened and dehydrated areas
to become pliable, soft, mobile and hydrated.
Palpations skills are used to assess the structure and function of the body, allowing
the therapist to determine which techniques to use.
The client may or may not feel much happening, but will feel relaxed and feel “freer”
or “lighter” after a treatment. Myofascial Release can also increase energy, increase
breathing capacity, restore muscle function and postural alignment, relieve physical
and emotional strain, it can help balance the body and promote self-healing and
relaxation. "MFR increases the body’s own restorative powers by improving
circulation and nervous system transmission"
 

What is Myofascia?

The term Myofascia is derived from the Greek word "myo", meaning "Muscle," and
"fascia" meaning band. Fascia is like a three-dimensional body stocking that weaves
its way throughout the body surrounding, supporting all muscles, organs and bones of
the body, right down to cellular level.
It is a fibrous network of collagen and elastin fibres surrounded by a fluid called
ground substance. This ground substance works as a shock absorber. Fascia is
entwined throughout the body and runs without interruption from head to toe like a
spider’s web, penetrating every muscle, bone, artery, vein, nerve and internal
organ. As it is a continuous form, it does not stop at the insertion point of the bone,
but will blend with the periosteum and some will go straight over the attachment
site to the next muscle.

A small section of muscle with its fibres teased up to show how this fascial tissue
permeates the entire body.

Fascia is the body’s energy saving device. If your posture remains the same for any
length of time, the fascia will bind and lay down more collagen. However, if you
are moving regularly, then the collagen will take up more Elastin therefore
becoming more flexible. This explains what fascia is and what Myofascial Release is.
Fascia in its normal healthy state is relaxed and wavy in its configuration and has the
ability to stretch and move. However, if the body experiences any kind of trauma,
either through postural poor habits, surgery, a car accident, a fall, physical or
emotional trauma, inflammation or scarring, then the fascia will lose its pliability and
can become hard, dehydrated and stuck.

It responds to stress occurring in an area by laying down extra fibres, creating
thickening and adhesions both through and between muscles. This in turn leads to
restrictions, limitations of movement and poor tissue health.
Myofascial Release (MFR) is a hands-on, manual therapy focusing on soft tissue
dysfunction, pain, tension and holding patterns. It is a treatment that involves gentle

sustained pressure. The time element within this therapy is vital as fascia cannot be
forced as it has a quality known as “Thixotrophy” where force is met by a returned
force. Thixotropy is the property of certain gels or fluids that are thick (viscous) under
normal conditions, but flow (become thin, less viscous) over time when shaken,
agitated, or otherwise stressed. Therefore we have to allow a sustained but gentle
pressure for at least 2 - 3minutes to allow the fascia to elongate and restore to a
healthy position.

MFR techniques are now becoming very popular in bodywork and it is gaining
recognition as the missing link in traditional bodywork.

What we will be learning on this course

• The function and physiology of Fascia
• How to alleviate pain and restore Range of Movement (ROM)
• Specific Myofascial Release Techniques including Grounding, Cross Hand
Stretches, Skin Rolling, Sacral Release and Cranial Base Release
• An Insight into Unwinding
• Postural Evaluation
• Devising Treatment Plans
• Receive a treatment and learn about your own fascial restrictions

For more information and dates check out our course page:

http://www.gatewayworkshops.co.uk/massage_courses/myofascial-release-massage-course/