Nebraska takes its massage regulation and licensing very seriously, requiring 24 hours of continuing education for its Massage Therapists every two years in order to renew our licensing. LMT’s do get a choice in which classes we take. The local massage schools offer classes, and some independent companies and massage therapy entrepreneurs travel around the country to teach these classes. This renewal cycle, I decided that the special techniques and aromatherapy class hosted by the Universal School of Healing Arts in Pierce, Nebraska. It was the first time I’d ever been in Pierce, the first time I’d been to Norfolk even. But the subject seemed interesting enough to travel the 2.5 hours from Omaha.
The first day focused on holding and light touch techniques that come from the same school of thought as Ortho-Bionomy, Myofascial Release, CranioSacral, and energy work in the neck and shoulder areas. This work is often hard for us massage therapists to wrap our heads around. So much of our work is movement and firm to deep pressure. And yet, when we practiced on each other, we couldn’t deny that it felt good to have someone just hold your neck or lightly move our muscles. It’s slow work. Our nervous systems were able to calm and allow deep relaxation. Even in stillness, you get a feeling that something is happening. In myofascial work it’s referred to as unwinding. Reiki practitioners might talk about it in terms of energy movement. But whatever was happening, as a client I loved it!
The second day focused on the arms. Some of the pressure remained light to work with the facia. Other techniques were more traditional massage, with stretching and range of motion at the wrist and elbow. We also made our own still point inducers. We attached two tennis balls together with athletic tape for a very low cost self-care DIY. These devices are meant to place pressure in one static place, usually in the neck but also along the spine and back, by laying them on the floor and using your own body weight to apply the pressure.
Day three was focused on the use of herbs and essential oils to create oils, salves, and creams for treatment of our clients ailments. We learned a bit about the growing, harvesting, and drying of herbs and how to make oil infusions. We also learned about the safety and medicinal possibilities of essential oils, and got to make some goodies. We got a little hands on experience with mixing in beeswax in order to make salves and creams. I walked out of there with all kinds of adorable tins and jars of salve and raw herbs for the future making of plasters and teas. It would be impossible to learn everything about so many herbs and oils, but it was a fun introduction to getting creative with the making of my own product.
Overall, it was a lovely CEU. The LMT’s I met were all interested in the subject and we all had fun learning. And of course, it’s always nice to spend a weekend getting massage work. It was interesting traveling to small towns and seeing a bit of the recent flood damage. And I have some good smelling product to try out on my clients.