The first step in growing and expanding your massage therapy business is to ask yourself the most important question: What would I love? Love is the most powerful emotion that a human being experiences in life! This feeling of love can ignite actions that create results that come from your dreams.
Everything we do and see and experience begins as a thought. We live in a thought universe full of the energy that we create with our minds.
Transformational Moments
The massage therapist is uniquely positioned in our profession of respectful touch to create a transformational moment for our clients and ourselves that supports the power of the human experience. This is because the nervous system is truly the client and not just the physical orthopedic body.
The two divisions of the nervous system that regulate our relationship with the environment and maintain homeostasis are the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.
The sympathetic division of the human nervous system is responsible for preparing the human form for fight, flight or freeze when presented with external or internal stimulation that is perceived as a threat to the survival of the human body. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for transforming the human experience to a state of rest, recovery, digestion and creativity. Our breathing is the motor that moves us into these states of transcendence while our thoughts are the fuel for this motor.
When we massage therapists are with our clients, touching our clients, breathing with our clients, talking with our clients—we are providing therapeutic intervention on multiple levels, physical and energetically. We are moving that client’s experience to a different state of awareness that supports their relaxation and discovery of noticing what matters for them.
Change Your Thoughts
The body-mind connection from massage therapy is irrefutable! It does not require decades of studies and double-blind tests to recognize the power of touch. We see it daily in our own experiences interacting with other human beings. A handshake, a hug, a hand on a shoulder, a hand on the back. A parent’s hand or a loved one’s hand on the face or the head will create a shift in the mind of the recipient and the giver.
When I go into a massage therapy session with a client, I organize my energy to become and remain in harmony with what I would love for my massage session, for that specific client to be, each and every session with each and every client. What this means is that I have choreographed in my mind what I will do in that session—I have thought it and visualized it in my mind. I also begin the session believing that I will help this client on this visit—even at the level of fact that I don’t know yet how I will help them, but I deeply believe that I will.
I find it is essential to allow your core values to guide your massage therapy sessions. Write a mission statement, write a core values statement. Read your mission statement and core values at the beginning of each day in your massage business to evoke a state of being energy that supports your clients massage experience with you. Display your mission statement and core values where your clients are made aware of them. This not only supports your transparency, but it demonstrates publicly that you care.
It takes structure to move your energy effectively and efficiently when providing a respectful touch experience called massage therapy. Your attention to the details of your client’s visit for a massage session appointment begins with a welcoming smile and choosing words that express a high vibrational frequency of support, compassion and caring.
The words that you use during the massage session will amplify the perception of your clients of this shared experience with you. The meaning that the client will assign to what they feel from your touch, what they smell in your therapy room, what they see, and what they hear will be combined into a therapeutic result that matters to the client.
Give attention to all these factors, because all these factors influence the massage therapy experience for our clients. Remember that you have dominion over your thoughts. Choose your thoughts carefully before each client session begins and put your attention and focus on your vision for that client’s experience. If required, ask your client, what they would love for this massage session.
Be Open & Curious
I am often asked how I have continued to provide massage therapy services daily at the 46-year mark of my career. My answer is that I remain open and curious to what I am perceiving with clients and what matters for them. I put my full attention and focus with each client during their appointment time with me. No texting, no reading text messages, no taking phone calls, no interruptions, no leaving the massage room.
Remember, no massage client is interested in how hard you are working. They are only interested in results. The massage therapist, through touch, can evoke a close companion called intuition. Intuition speaks to us via vibrational frequencies, like radio waves. The more we, as massage therapists, use our intuition on a regular and repeated basis, the better we become at helping our clients to the level of awareness that matters to them. Be reminded that we all can choose our thoughts.
As you perform your massage therapy sessions, know that your mastery is derived from repetition. Dream big, set goals, and act. The dominant patterns of your thinking will create a healing and supportive atmosphere around you. Start by asking yourself this question: What would I love?
[Visit massagemag.com on April 22, 2022, to read the second of three articles by Benny Vaughn on massage therapist personal development.]
About the Author
Benny Vaughn has been a working massage therapist for 46 years. He created a highly successful massage therapy business. Benny lives in Fort Worth, Texas. At age 70 he has transformed into life coaching services for massage therapists. Visit his website, bennyvaughnlifecoach.com, to learn more about his solutions related to learning, leading, motivating and inspiring others, finding emotional peace, and to schedule a free consultation.
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