A new carreer as Massage Therapist
As a Thai Massage Teacher I meet a lot of people who for many different reasons decided they want to become a Thai Massage Therapist. In this blog I do not want to discourage you but out of my experience of working with my students I want to give you some food for thought.
Becoming a good therapist takes time.
Like everything to become good at something takes time and practice. Sometimes I meet students who think that after a 1 week or a 2 weeks course they will be good therapist, and then when the course is finished they are dissapointed because they really believed that in 1 or 2 weeks they would master Thai Massage. A 1 week or a 2 weeks course is a good start but there is just a limit to what you can learn within this period. The first course I did took about 3 months and after these 3 months I still had not the idea that I was able to give a good Thai Massage. So be patient when learning massage.
Know your own body and limitations
Thai Massage is a form of massage which is usually given on a mat on the floor. As a Therapist you will be sitting on your knees, toes or buttocks, and you need to move around a lot. So it it helpfull that your body is somehow good shape and flexible (Hamstrings legs, hip flexors, lower back) and that your are not carry too much weight with you. If you have a very stiff body you just need to accept that in the beginning you will go through pain and that you need to do some yoga or stretching to open up your body. When you are overweighted a lot (a little bit is not a problem) giving massages on the floor and being on your knees is gonne be hard on your body.
Make sure you are learning how to use your body
When massaging your body is your instrument where you will be working with, so it will be very important to know how to use your body in the right way. When not using your body right it is very easy to hurt yourself, an average carreer of a massage therapist is somewhere between 3 and 5 years. Then he/she needs to stop because of injuries. So make sure that you choose a course which will emphasize body mechanics, if you learn the right body mechanism from the beginning you will not grow in bad habits, which will be late on hard to correct.
Comfortable touching people
This one may sound a bit weird, but when giving massaging you are touching somebody else, how comfortable are you touching somebody else? Sometimes I come across a student who doesnot have a clue or feels scared touching other person. Off course with practice this can and will change.......
Learn different type of massages
When you are in Chiang Mai studying massage do not only study Thai Massage, do some short courses Oil Massage or Foot Reflexology. As a therapist this will make you more flexible when you are going back to your country and learning different kind of massages helps to develop your general massage skills.
These were just of few pointers hope they can be helpfull for you. If you are not sure if you really want to make a carreer in Thai Massage, the best thing to do is just give it a try. Do a short course and see if you like it.
Take care
Remco
Becoming a good therapist takes time.
Like everything to become good at something takes time and practice. Sometimes I meet students who think that after a 1 week or a 2 weeks course they will be good therapist, and then when the course is finished they are dissapointed because they really believed that in 1 or 2 weeks they would master Thai Massage. A 1 week or a 2 weeks course is a good start but there is just a limit to what you can learn within this period. The first course I did took about 3 months and after these 3 months I still had not the idea that I was able to give a good Thai Massage. So be patient when learning massage.
Know your own body and limitations
Thai Massage is a form of massage which is usually given on a mat on the floor. As a Therapist you will be sitting on your knees, toes or buttocks, and you need to move around a lot. So it it helpfull that your body is somehow good shape and flexible (Hamstrings legs, hip flexors, lower back) and that your are not carry too much weight with you. If you have a very stiff body you just need to accept that in the beginning you will go through pain and that you need to do some yoga or stretching to open up your body. When you are overweighted a lot (a little bit is not a problem) giving massages on the floor and being on your knees is gonne be hard on your body.
Make sure you are learning how to use your body
When massaging your body is your instrument where you will be working with, so it will be very important to know how to use your body in the right way. When not using your body right it is very easy to hurt yourself, an average carreer of a massage therapist is somewhere between 3 and 5 years. Then he/she needs to stop because of injuries. So make sure that you choose a course which will emphasize body mechanics, if you learn the right body mechanism from the beginning you will not grow in bad habits, which will be late on hard to correct.
Comfortable touching people
This one may sound a bit weird, but when giving massaging you are touching somebody else, how comfortable are you touching somebody else? Sometimes I come across a student who doesnot have a clue or feels scared touching other person. Off course with practice this can and will change.......
Learn different type of massages
When you are in Chiang Mai studying massage do not only study Thai Massage, do some short courses Oil Massage or Foot Reflexology. As a therapist this will make you more flexible when you are going back to your country and learning different kind of massages helps to develop your general massage skills.
These were just of few pointers hope they can be helpfull for you. If you are not sure if you really want to make a carreer in Thai Massage, the best thing to do is just give it a try. Do a short course and see if you like it.
Take care
Remco
posted by Remco at
6:35 AM
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