Decatur's Barefoot Massage Specialist...and more!
Here at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy & Reflexology we are Lite(ing) it up Pink for the month of October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness.
***Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, Ashi-Thai and Bamboo-Fusion Massage
Did you Lite It Up Pink? Read More »
A few weeks ago I was asked by Lauren Bertolacci of LaurensFitness.com to write a guest post for her blog. I’ve been admiring Lauren and her blog for a while so I was honored when she asked.
Then I went on a camping trip and did a lot of hiking. The whole time I was on vacation a small part of my brain was on the prowl for a nugget that could bloom into something worthy. Towards the end of the trip I still didn’t have anything solid and started to get nervous. Then I came home and the consequences of being away a week slammed into me. Laundry, the new dog, grocery shopping, work, and clients all came back into keen focus.
The first night back on the table with a client made me realize that I was stronger and more centered. I was working with a sense of peace and joy that I hadn’t realized I’d lost before getting away for a while and resting. Driving home that evening I contemplated how I could have gotten so far into burnout territory without realizing it. And you know how one thought leads to another and I remembered an article I had recently read about muscle recovery and massage and suddenly I knew that I wanted to write an article for Lauren about the importance of rest and massage for muscle recovery.
For several days I rolled the subject around in my head and even looked up the article and several other pieces of research and related information. I just couldn’t seem to get started on it though until one morning I had a stern discussion with myself and finally sat down to start writing.
A few paragraphs into the article I realized why I had been procrastinating. Something about the subject wasn’t sitting right and most of what I’d written was more about body awareness and the brain/body disconnect than muscle recovery.
So I went with it and yesterday Lauren published Body Awareness and the Brain/Body Disconnect: A Bodyworker’s Perspective by yours truly.
A big thank you goes out to Lauren for giving me this wonderful opportunity, not just for publishing my work, but also for giving me the opportunity to look inside myself, listen and respect what is there.
Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, Ashi-Thai and Bamboo-Fusion Massage
Awareness – Body and Soul Read More »
I just realized that today is my 3rd anniversary of being a fully certified Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy therapist.
I remember driving all the way to Cincinnati, OH by myself. Gulp! I was acting like a big girl, but felt a little like when I was in driver’s ed and the teacher told me it was time to drive my passenger side tires off the roadway. You want me to do what?!?!
I learned how to not freak out and jerk the wheel that day so long ago just like I made it safely (and on time) to Ohio. That trip was great, except for the getting lost part between Mary-Claire’s gorgeous training facility and the HoJo I was staying in. That only happened the first day and after that I was set.
It was a great training, physically very demanding, but so worth the effort. I will admit after the first day of DeepFeet2 class I was beginning to wonder whether my triceps would survive. I had lots of strength issues remaining even though I’d been practicing one-foot moves on clients for six months. The triceps survived, but I finished that class wondering if I would ever look as graceful as Mary-Claire while working.
I left Cincinnati stronger and more confident on so many fronts. I made a bunch of friends, discovered that I never wanted to travel alone again without a GPS, fended off a HoJo stalker (scary, but no harm done), and learned AOBT with two feet.
Ashi has defined my massage career. It has brought me so much joy and allowed me to bring comfort to so many of my clients. Here’s to many more years of bringing the Ashi love.
Thank you, Mary-Claire Fredette. I dream of being the Ashi goddess you are.
***Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, Ashi-Thai and Bamboo-Fusion Massage
Happy AOBT Anniversary To Me! Read More »
I know I’m a few days late, but I wanted to remind everyone of my 9/11 promise. It’s a long-standing special at Harvest Moon Massage so you’ve probably seen it before, but here it is again.
Every day of every year $10 off any one-hour massage for police, fire, rescue or military personnel.
***Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, Ashi-Thai and Bamboo-Fusion Massage
A couple of months ago I got a wild hair and wrote another article for the Alabama Kneads newsletter (our AMTA Alabama quarterly publication). It was finally published yesterday so here for your reading pleasure is the full text.
By Sharon L. Bryant
I was just minding my own business one afternoon, trying not to waste time and attempting to do something professionally responsible. This is how I found myself on the Alabama Board of Massage Therapy (ABMT) website toodling around and reading the minutes for the past few board meetings when I caught myself diving down a rabbit hole. Lured by the promise of easy money (aka free CEU credits) I went on a two-week odyssey that you can read about here without having to dust yourself off afterwards.
I suppose it depends on what you consider free, perhaps no-cost, sweat-equity CEU credits might better describe what I found on this journey. As I was reading in the ABMT Board Meeting Minutes for April 13, 2012, I found this statement, “Mr. Warren reported that licensees can obtain 25% credit toward CEU if they write published articles in the Board’s newsletter.” So what does that mean exactly?
My assumption was this: If I were to submit an article for consideration to the In Touch newsletter (the official newsletter of the ABMT) and if it were accepted and published then I could earn 4 hours ( = 25% of the 16 required hours per bi-annual license renewal period) of CEU credit.
In order to verify my assumption I took to the ABMT Administrative Code otherwise known as the Rules & Regulations. I kept thinking the four hour credit sounded like something I’d read before, but alas, the PDF file that downloads from the ABMT website is not searchable and I couldn’t find it. So I shot an email off to the board asking for more details and boy am I glad I did.
You know how things aren’t always as they seem? Mr. Warren’s statement, as published in the minutes, wasn’t entirely accurate. Ms. Renee Reames responded clarifying that the 4 hours of credit would not pertain to articles published in the In Touch newsletter unless you were actually a member of the Board. Which doesn’t mean you can’t submit to the In Touch newsletter, it just won’t earn you credit if they publish your article. However, if you submit to Alabama Kneads, our very own AMTA Alabama Chapter newsletter, you will earn the credit.
The rules are pretty simple, write something up that is of interest to massage therapists, have your friend proofread it, submit it to Kristie Williams and wait to see if it gets published. If it is published, then you can claim 4 hours credit on your CEU reporting form next time you renew your license. You will probably want to keep a physical copy of the newsletter it was published in, just in case, but then aren’t all writers enamored enough with ourselves that we would keep it in the bottom drawer anyway?
There are a couple of other stipulations that go along with earning CEU credits non-traditionally, i.e., not paying someone to stand in front of you and teach. You can only earn 4 hours of credit with this method for each bi-annual renewal period and since one article counts for 4 hours of credit then only one article per bi-annual renewal period will actually earn the credit. Further, 4 hours is the limit of non-traditional credit you can earn per renewal period so other non-traditional CEU opportunities can’t be counted for credit.
If you want to read more about how to earn those no-cost, sweat-equity CEU credits, refer to the Alabama Massage Licensure Act section 34-43-21 part B. A little research and elbow grease could add up to saving some dollars you may or may not have in your pocket when it’s time to renew your license and verify that you have indeed fulfilled your CEU obligation to the Red Queen, excuse me, the State.
References:
1. Alabama Board of Massage Therapy
2. Alabama Massage Therapy Licensure Act – Code of Alabama Title 34 Chapter 43
3. Alabama Board of Massage Therapy Administrative Code Chapter 532X1
Or you can read the full Alabama Kneads Fall 2012 newsletter. My article is on page 6!
***Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Barefoot Massage Therapist
Free CEU Credits or Down the Rabbit Hole Read More »
I realized recently after talking with some massage therapist friends that I don’t do a very good job of educating my clients on the benefits of regular massage. After careful examination, I realized it’s because I never want my clients to feel like I’m trying to upsell to them. I have an intense dislike of pushy salespeople trying to sell me things when I already know what I want.
So in order to better prepare myself and share with you, gentle reader, the following is why I and some other very knowledgeable people think it is important to make massage a regular part of your health and grooming regimen.
I think the most important benefit of massage is relaxation. Our society does not value it; instead opting for longer days, shorter nights and higher and higher levels of stress. For some, relaxation is a state they can no longer obtain and the lack of regular rest and relaxation, i.e., stress, wreaks havoc on the body.
A study in 1999 by the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine and Nova Southeastern University in Florida gave us proof that massage reduces blood pressure. The risks of high blood pressure are long and scary and while more research is needed to explain exactly what mechanism of massage causes the reduction, I think we can all agree that however it works, it’s a good thing.
Other studies have resulted in benefits such as a reduction in stress hormones in the blood stream, alleviation of depressive symptoms and a better immune system response. In my opinion, these four benefits are so interrelated that once you get a response from one the others follow along. And these are just a sampling of the benefits that have been proven by studies.
Fortunately, it’s not just the massage industry researching the benefits of massage. The American Diabetes Association now recognizes that stress reduction helps with the absorption of insulin.
And we haven’t even talked about massage and pain reduction yet. Massage improves circulation to the muscles, circulation promotes healing, and pain dissipates as healing occurs. This is a simplistic explanation of the pain cycle, but you get the picture. Another study recently proved that muscles recover quicker after strenuous exertion when massage is incorporated.
All good things, dontcha think? So when was your last massage? Mine was too long ago.
***Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, Ashi-Thai and Bamboo-Fusion Massage
Not Once in a Blue Moon Read More »
Post updated: 11/30/23
Finding a massage therapist online is not hard if you have a little time and are the curious type. My first step and the most straightforward is a search engine. We’ve all done it so I won’t belabor the point of how to do a Google search. The larger question here is how to know if the massage therapist you’ve searched for and found is legitimate. One of the downsides of the Internet is that anyone can position themselves as an expert. Unfortunately, massage therapy is not immune to this phenomenon.
Anyone can stand up a nice-looking website with enough willpower or cash so searching the internet is a good start, but you need to take another step to ensure the person you’re thinking about booking with is who they say they are and has the necessary training and qualifications. So let’s talk a little bit about how to verify that you’ve found a licensed and properly trained massage therapist.
If you live in the State of Alabama, like I do, it’s pretty easy to find out if the therapist you’re thinking about booking an appointment with is properly trained. The state board of massage therapy does that for you. All you have to do is go to the Alabama Board of Massage Therapy’s website and do a Licensee Search for the massage therapist in question. If the name shows up there, you know that the state has done the legwork for you, assuring that the therapist has completed the minimum educational requirements, has passed the National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) or the Massage & Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEx) for massage therapy and jumped through all the appropriate legal hoops to be legally offering massage therapy to the public.
Going back to Google and performing a quick search on text for “massage therapy board Oregon” pops up the massage board for the state of Oregon. I just picked Oregon randomly because I have a dear friend who lives there and I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately.
Getting back to the subject at hand, Oregon is apparently a licensing state and they have a License Verification option. Oooh… I like the information they list on therapists, especially the part where “there has been no discipline on this license”. That’s a good piece of information to know when trying to choose a new massage therapist. I wish Alabama had that little bit of technological information included in their licensee search.
Sounds like a simple question, but as with everything where politics are involved, it’s not. There are states that have a massage board that regulates the massage therapy business and licenses therapists. There are states that have no massage board, but local municipalities regulate massage therapy businesses. There are states where you don’t have to be certified, but you must be registered and vice versa.
It’s a complicated question because we’re not regulated at a federal level. And I’m not suggesting that we should it’s just important to know that this is why it’s so hard to identify a lawfully compliant therapist from one who is not. After a little noodling around online, I found this website that has compiled a list of massage license requirements by state. I can’t vouch for the correctness of all of the information here, but it will give you something to start with if you can’t find what you’re looking for with a search engine.
If the state doesn’t have any type of licensure requirements you still have a couple of options in locating a suitable therapist. The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) offers a Find a Massage Therapist locator service. All therapists listed in this service are insured members of AMTA who meet minimum educational requirements and must agree to abide by a Code of Ethics. Good stuff, folks, I would go to anyone who I found using this service.
The Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP) organization offers a similar locator service to AMTA. I have never been a member of ABMP so I can’t say a whole lot about their organization except that they also insure their members who meet minimum educational requirements and also agree to the ABMP Code of Ethics.
And finally the National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodyworks offers a locator service for those of us who are Board Certified through their organization. This is a good service, but not all states require NCBTMB or MBLEx exam passage to license the massage therapist and the test is expensive so most folks don’t take it unless it’s required.
And when all else fails, it never hurts to ask your friends and co-workers if they know someone good. Usually this is the best way to find a great therapist.
Now, get out there on the information superhighway, find a massage therapist, make an appointment and go. You could use a massage today, I promise.
♥
Sharon Bryant at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy
is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Therapist!
How to Find a Massage Therapist Read More »
I meant to post this notice earlier, but I ended up taking a friend to the ER Friday morning and staying with her through an emergency appendectomy. She is recovering well, I am still so tired I can barely put one foot in front of the other. Why are hospitals so draining?
Regardless, I wanted to put out the notification for the August meeting of the AMTA Alabama Chapter.
When: Saturday, August 4th
Where: Hampton Inn Midtown, 2281 Florence Blvd., Florence, AL 35630
The CEU will be a 2 hour Professional Ethics for the Massage Therapist taught by AMTA-AL President LaDonna Ward. For only $20, you can’t beat the price. It starts at 10am.
The meeting and luncheon start at noon and will run until 2pm. There is no charge for attending the luncheon and meeting.
If you would like to attend either the class or the luncheon or both, please contact LaDonna Ward at 256-962-0149 or ldward12@yahoo.com.
Hope to see you there!
AMTA Alabama Chapter August 2012 Meeting, CEU, and Luncheon Read More »
In my never ending quest to maintain an online presence, I occasionally try new things. That’s why I reluctantly signed up for Twitter, three years ago. It didn’t go well. I didn’t understand it or how it could be useful and therefore, I didn’t really like it. I’ve felt guilty ever since.
I don’t know if you follow Harvest Moon Massage over on Facebook, but I tend to keep that updated on a more regular basis than here on the blog and recently, as in Tuesday, I decided to bite the bullet and figure this Twitter thing out.
Now, I am not claiming to have it all figured out, but I think I’ve successfully hooked my Facebook page to my Twitter account and vice versa so when I post to one it goes to both! And I finally got my profile picture to update so you know it’s me at a glance. Progress, people. I know there’s more, but baby steps. Woo hoo!
But on to what you actually need to know. My Twitter username is @SharonB013 and I’m tracking #HarvestMoonMassage. So go follow me and be sure to use my hashtag when you tweet about how fabulous your last massage was.
Oh, and notice that I’m adding a Twitter button in the sidebar for Other Places to Find Me Online —>… fancy…
Singing Like a Bird Read More »
Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the portability of my Ashi massages. And I’m happy to say that, yes, I can come to your location. In early 2011 I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase a set of Hardee-Ashiatsu Portable Bars.
I have the ability to travel with my portables for different events. To date I have had been able to use them at several outdoor 5Ks and occasionally I throw them up on my front porch just to play with them. I am always searching for more opportunities to travel with my bars. I enjoy introducing the public to Ashiatsu. The adult reactions range from sheer boredom to fascination. The kids are so much fun and will gather just to watch and wait for the opportunity to jump on the table. And yes, I work on kids, but mostly it’s just a simple stretch and they get a tickle if they want it. The adults are a little harder to get on the table, but once they do they are so glad they did.
Portables aren’t really appropriate for just one or two massages unless you’re willing to pay an outrageous set up fee. What they are appropriate for is events or conventions or office functions or anything really where people gather who would like a massage therapist on hand.
The following video features my lovely Ashi-Thai instructor, Jeni Spring, assembling a set of portable bars. I find it highly entertaining as she is really much taller in person than on the video. Her sense of style cracks me up and you can really see her personality coming through starting around minute 3:30 and continuing on until the end. Enjoy!
Portable Ashiatsu Massage Read More »