You can find most if not all of these essential oils in your own hometown by looking up natural food stores or doing a Google search from your computer.
Bergamot: soothing, uplifting, and good for tension and depression
Chamomile: Calming, suitable for insomnia
Jasmine: a stimulant or a sedative, according to need
Lavender: very useful and popular oil, used in relaxing and as an antidepressant and painkiller
Lemon Balm: Long used to banish melancholy: it balances the emotions
Rosemary: Refreshing and stimulating
Sandalwood: Used as an antidepressant and aphrodisiac
Vetiver: balances the nervous system, good for insomnia
Ylang Ylang: Calming: used as an aphrodisiac and good for panic attacks
Different ways to use Essential oils:
Vaporization: Filling a room with the aroma of your choice is the easiest way to enjoy essential oils. Add a few drops to a saucer of water and place on a radiator or in a burner.
Massage: You can blend essential oils with carrier oil like almond, vegetable or apricot oil and use when you receive or give a massage. Blend 6 drops of essential oils with about 3-4 tsp of the carrier oil; if the scent is too strong use more carrier oil. Massage the oil into the area of the body that is tense, if you are using it to relax rub it into your temples and the neck so that the fragrance reaches your nose and inhaling the essential oils will help you calm down.
Baths: Only add non-irritant oils to bathwater such as Roman Chamomile and Lavender without diluting first, others to be safe dilute in a carrier oil first then add to your bath water, add the oils after the bath is drawn and not while the water is running otherwise most of it will be lost in the steam of the running water.
Rebecca White is a mother to 3 boys ages 12, 10 and 4. She loves to grow herbs for cooking and medicinal uses. Rebecca owns http://www.medicinalherbguide.com where you can find many more tips and great articles on owning your own medicinal herb garden. Be sure to stop in to see books she recommends using and software that saves you time when recording your plants’ progress. Gardening is Rebecca’s hobby and passion.
Tags: essential oils, massage, baths, vaporization
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The therapeutic relationship or container (we will refer to as the therapeutic container from now on) is the space you are able to create or provide for your client during a massage session. This container is a safe space for your client to experience and express emotions while being supported and comforted and without fear of shame or abandonment. Here we will attempt to make this abstract idea more concrete and easily implementable in your practice.
The ’space’ referred to above is an emotional, mental, and spiritual space that requires the consent and participation of both the client and the therapist. As therapists it is our responsibility to make this space as available, expansive, and secure for the client as we possibly can.
This means that we accept into this space what we can handle and keep out that which we cannot. This is especially true when we are well bounded, dynamically bounded. If our boundaries are too open an experience may find its way to us that we feel unprepared for. A natural reaction to feeling overwhelmed is to retreat into yourself and away from the overwhelming stimulus.
If the emotional situation is overwhelming to you, the massage therapist, then you must break the container and not remain in the situation. Perhaps this means that you simply aren’t willing to discuss something with a client and that’s the end of it. It might be that you need to leave the room. I recommend trying to find a ’soft’ reason to leave, like you need water, instead of telling the client that they are scarring you.
However, if you are comfortable with the highly charged situation that often accompanies emotional release or a trauma processes of our clients you can help to reverse patterns of abandonment in their psyche and promote the healing process they are attempting to undertake. When things get intense it is of the highest importance that (if comfortable) we stay in physical, mental, and emotional contact with our clients to make sure that they know that another human being is there to support them.
In this realm we must be very careful to not overstep the limitations of our scope of practice and wander into the ground of psychological counseling. A good general rule when it comes to scope of practice as it pertains to counseling is to avoid trying to deepen a discussion.
For instance if a client begins to cry during a session it is completely appropriate to ask questions like “Are you okay?” or “Would you like me to continue the session?”; at this point if a client opens up to you and wants to talk about something it is fine to let them talk. There is never an ethical problem with letting a client say whatever they want, as long as you, the therapist, remain comfortable.
Likewise it would be inappropriate to try to deepen the experience by saying something like “Why do you think you are crying?” or “Let’s explore your sadness.” Unless you are certified as a counselor these would be inappropriate conversations for a massage therapist to start. Unfortunately it is hard to give specific guidelines across the United States as each state has it’s own rules governing the appropriate actions, statements and wording around healthcare and massage therapy.
Maintaining a distinct and balanced therapeutic container during a massage therapy session ultimately allows for emotional and physical release by a client and increases the potential for self-healing because it helps to relax and reassure clients. And remember the therapeutic container is predicated on the massage therapists level of comfort. If you are uncomfortable you have a responsibility to yourself and your client to address the issue by either working through it or avoiding it.
Brandon Thomas is a Nationally Certified massage therapist in Boulder Colorado with 7 years of experience in the field of massage therapy. He currently operates a nationwide chair massage service and enjoys working with clients on a regular basis. You can find him at JoyLifeTherapeutics.com Chair Massage.
Tags: massage, therapy, therapeutic container, emotional safety
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While there are scores of massage colleges and schools, curriculums vary, as do total hours necessary for course completion. A number of massage therapy schools may offer minimally-required certificate and/or diploma program hours of instruction; however, there are a few massage colleges that provide extensive, hands-on training that may involve 1,000 class hours and more.
Because there are virtually hundreds of individual massage modalities, it is wise for prospective students to carefully review massage colleges so that they can determine whether or not the specific academic program is right for them. In many cases, massage therapy schools and colleges provide at least 2-3 different styles of bodywork, but may offer many more therapeutic healing art disciplines as well.
Basic massage college courses are regularly comprised of Swedish Massage, Sports Massage and Deep Tissue Massage, and may be supported by general education curriculums in human sciences (anatomy and physiology), business, career development and work ethics, psychology, and other associated topics of study.
Elective or supplementary massage college studies may include practical training in aromatherapy, acupressure, canine and/or equine massage, chair massage, geriatric massage therapy, infant massage, kinesiology, lymphatic drainage massage, medical massage, orthopedic massage, prenatal and postpartum massage, reflexology, and Shiatsu - to list just a few.
Furthermore, massage colleges and schools usually provide internship programs for students so that they may gain practical client experience. Internship setting may vary, but are often comprised of community hospitals, medical centers, stadiums, veterinarian offices, assisted living centers and other geriatric care facilities, family medical practices, sports clinics, and home hospice care.
In general, students that successfully complete a massage college course of at least 500 hours* may earn their certificate or diploma of completion, and may become nationally certified through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. In addition, massage colleges frequently offer continuing education courses that may be taken onsite, through home-study courses, and through distance learning programs as well.
As an added incentive, massage colleges and schools usually afford students with opportunities to participate in both full and part time courses, and may even offer day, evening, and weekend classes, too.
To learn more about Massage Colleges and additional learning programs, search our site for more in-depth information and resources.
*500 hours may be required to sit for the NCBTMB certification exam, depending on individual State regulations and guidelines.
DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.
Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved
Michael Bustamante, in association with Media Positive Communications, Inc. for SchoolsGalore.com
Tags: Massage Colleges, massage training, masseuse, schools, natural healing, alternative medicine, school
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