Category Archives: Community Stories

Un-Couplings

Providing massages for married couples has always been a pleasure. I enjoy seeing the same people for massages and hearing from them how they are doing with life’s stresses – the kids, the business, the in-laws, whatever.
            
It’s always made business sense as well. I will do two instead of one massage at a house call, or in the office, and often couples like to have longer massages. I may head home from a couples massage having done three to four hours of massage in a single call.
            
Married folks often send referrals my way, so in general, it has always been a pleasant experience.
            
Mostly.
           
Here’s the bottom line:

When a couple is getting a divorce, which gets the massage therapist?

I had not realized I was part of the settlement issues as one of my couples wound round the full circle of life and gunned it to Splits Ville. I have seen these folks since 1996, almost my entire career. To say I have felt uncomfortable about this whole d-i-v-o-r-c-e thing is an understatement.

First, I had to deal with some bad news for my ego. Massaging together does not prevent divorce. It might even help people see more clearly that they need to make new life arrangements 

Second, I had to deal with the table talk. Listening, but not getting involved. Listening, but not taking sides. Listening, and trying to be sympathetic without asking any questions. Listening to very oddly un-alike versions of the same incidents and conversations. Do shrinks go through this?

Some of this process felt like being accidentally stuck in a coat-closet while a couple have a furious and hushed argument right outside the door. I cringed, I twisted, and I tried not to hear any of the intimate details

Happily, most couples I see for massage are not going to be breaking up very soon. They seem not only content, but bonded in a way that works for them as the years pass.

Oh, and she got me in the settlement. His nibs was embarking on a new path that apparently does not involve massage. Whew!
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Vacation Massage Finders

Everybody else is going on vacation this weekend, so I took my vacation last week. This was a trip to the mountains, a friend’s cabin and a week spent looking at birdies and not doing massages.

          
But part of the fun of a vacation is trying to find a good massage, far off from home, without knowing much about the locals. I looked in the local tourist magazine, which listed a couple of day spas and a mobile service. I looked in the local phone book, this time a few more names and more private practice therapists.
           
Vacation massage for me is part fun-hunt/part market research. I want to see if I can find a good massage, in what venue, etc. Last vacation I had used the tourist magazine and lucked into a small place with a good therapist, although I felt bad for her as she was working in a tiny room that required leaning over the table.

Vacation before that, I had gone to the front desk of a hotel spa and asked for their best therapist. I got the newbie working in the worst room – and her touch was so good and her body mechanics so bad I ended up breaking the “fourth wall” and told her I do massage. We traded how-to tips on massage and had a great time.
            
This time I wasn’t feeling the vibe from the print ads. I looked on Yelp. These guys list reviews from customers, and they have tried to make the system harder to post fake reviews, so there is some expectation that you may get a more honest opinion about a service or place.
            
This time Yelp told me where not to go. Pretty much everything in this mountain community got horrible reviews: pricey, low-quality, inept. Except for one place, with half-decent comments, so there I went.
            
Well, it was a salon. I tend to avoid salon massage, having had a long trail of so-so massages at salons. But I reminded myself that I had a part-time job at a salon when a massage student. Everyone starts somewhere. Plus, in some communities, salons are the best option for massage.
            
I called and talked to the owner, and told her I wanted a firm, therapeutic massage from a knowledgeable therapist. Might as well cut to the chase.
            
I did enjoy a great massage – from a therapist who is just starting out. She definitely knew how to find and treat knots, and at some point in the massage I drifted off into zone-out land. I promised her a good yelp.
           
What did I learn? As a stranger in a strange place, the “electronic shingle” helped me more than asking around or trying to judge a place by the size of their print ad. Something to think about.
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Supporting Pregnancy with Massage Therapy

Find Touch would like to present a guest writer, Carole Osborne. Carole is a renowned author and leader in the world of massage therapy. She has pioneered the reintroduction of therapeutic massage and bodywork to healthcare for the childbearing year. 


Supporting Pregnancy with Massage Therapy
Nurturing touch during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period is not a new concept. Cultural and anthropological studies reveal that massage and movement during the childbearing experience was and continues to be a prominent part of many cultures’ healthcare.1 Studies indicate that most of the more peaceful cultures use touch prominently during pregnancy and early childhood.2 Midwives, who for centuries have provided maternity care, have highly developed hands-on skills.
Current research on the benefits of touch is providing a contemporary basis for its reintroduction in many technological societies, including the United States. Scientists have found that rats restricted from cutaneous self-stimulation had poorly developed placentas and 50% less mammary gland development. Their litters were often ill, stillborn, or died shortly after birth due to poor mothering skills.3 Pregnant women massaged twice weekly for 5 weeks experienced less anxiety, leg and back pain. They reported better sleep and improved moods, and their labors had fewer complications, including less premature births.4  Studies show that when women received nurturing touch during later pregnancy they touch their babies more frequently and lovingly.5  During labor the presence of a doula, a woman providing physical and emotional support, including extensive touching and massage, reduces the length of labor and number of complications, interventions, medications, and Cesareans.6
Why Prenatal Massage Therapy?
Profound local and systemic changes in a woman’s physiology occur as a result of conception and the process of labor. Changes during pregnancy span the psychological, physiological, spiritual, and social realms. Massage therapy may help a woman approach her due date with less anxiety, as well as less physical discomfort.7
A typical session performed by a therapist specializing in pre- and perinatal massage therapy can address pregnancy’s various physical challenges: postural changes, pain in the lower back, pelvis, or hips, and edema. Touch during pregnancy may facilitate gestation by supporting cardiac function, placental and mammary development, and increasing cellular respiration.8 It also may reduce depression and stress by contributing to sympathetic nervous system sedation. 9 Deep tissue, trigger point, and both active and passive movements alleviate stress on weight-bearing joints and myofascial structures, especially the sacroiliac and lumbosacral joints, lumbar spine, hips, and pelvic musculature.10 Structural balancing and postural reeducation reduce neck and back pain caused by improper posture and strain to the uterine ligaments. Prenatal massage therapy also may facilitate ease of labor by preparing the muscles for release and support during childbirth.11
Beyond these physical effects, an effective prenatal massage therapy session provides emotional support. In the safe care of a focused, nurturing therapist, many women unburden their worries, fears, and other anxieties about childbearing. Bodywork may help the mother-to-be develop the sensory awareness necessary to birth more comfortably and actively. Laboring women whose partners learned and provided basic massage strokes to their backs and legs had shorter, less complicated labors. 87% of these massaged women were more satisfied with their partners’ support during labor.12  Imagine the benefits generated by the skilled hands of a trained touch specialist!
The Postpartum Period
Beginning with the baby’s birth, a new mother must cope with more changes. She is typically only 10 to 12 pounds lighter, yet she is still maintaining her body with an anterior weight load posture. Additional musculoskeletal stresses occur during the many hours of feeding, carrying and other newborn care. The massage practitioner may facilitate proprioceptive reprogramming to gently return the body to its pre-pregnancy state, to alleviate pain, and to bring about a renewed sense of body and self.13
Postpartum sessions often focus on relaxation, physiological recovery and pain relief. Longer- term care may normalize pelvic position and re-pattern overall body use. Postpartum massage sessions may restore functional muscle use in the lumbar spine area14, as well as strengthen and increase tonus in the abdominal musculature stretched and separated by pregnancy. Additionally, the overtaxed, hypotoned iliopsoas muscle functions can be improved. Upper back muscles which now support larger breasts and the carried infant’s weight need attention to reduce strain, and to help maintain flexibility despite the physical stresses of infant feeding and care.
For post-Cesarean mothers, specific therapeutic techniques also can reduce scar tissue formation and facilitate the healing of the incision and related soft tissue areas, as well as support the somato-emotional integration of her childbearing experience.15
Qualified Pre- & Perinatal Massage Therapists
While approximately three quarters of pregnancies proceed normally and are uncomplicated by medical conditions16, it is still advisable for massage therapists to be knowledgeable about pre- and perinatal physiology, high risk factors, and complications of pregnancy. Even without problems developing, physiological changes necessitate modifications to or elimination of various techniques and methodologies, depending on the individual and the trimester of pregnancy. When medical conditions develop, additional adaptations and consultation with physicians and/or midwives prior to sessions is prudent. Additional specific specialized training in prenatal and perinatal massage therapy helps to qualify massage therapists to safely and effectively meet women’s many and complex needs.
Somatic practitioners will find reliable, detailed, research- based protocols and contraindications in the second edition ofPre- and Perinatal Massage Therapy, and in other media and training programs created by this author. For those seeking comprehensive hands-on training and certification as a maternity massage specialist, practitioners should consider enrolling in the upcoming 32-hour technique certification workshop.
This book and these training programs have developed from over 37 years as a somatic practitioner and educator and 30 years of specialization in maternity and infant massage. Students benefit from a continually expanding body of knowledge, research, clinical experience, and consultations with other perinatal health care providers.
The highly qualified instructors of Pre- and Perinatal Massage Therapy offer a safe and comprehensive approach to pregnancy, labor, and postpartum massage therapy. They also encourage an empathetic, non-judgmental attitude in supporting women’s ‘pregnant feelings’. These certification workshops include over 80 techniques specifically adapted for pre- and perinatal needs, and the practical marketing strategies, ethics, and skills to elicit collaboration with other perinatal specialists and to build a successful pre- and perinatal massage therapy practice.
These courses are approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (32 continuing education credits). Each workshops and staff is also approved by the Florida Board of Massage (and other local state boards as required) and the California Board of Registered Nursing; meet current American Massage Therapy Association continuing education standards; can be used for Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals membership; and can be used for continuing education credit with Doulas of North America.
Skilled, nurturing touch is good for moms and their babies, and for the family of humanity. As complementary healthcare research expands, more data validate improved outcomes from maternity massage therapy. With over 4 million American women pregnant annually, this is a viable and satisfying niche market for therapeutic massage and bodywork practitioners to pursue.
Author:
Carole Osborne has been a somatic practitioner since 1974, specializing in maternity care since 1980. In addition to private practice, she has worked in osteopathic, psychological, and women’s medical settings. She is author of Deep Tissue Sculpting, Pre- and Perinatal Massage Therapy, 2ndedition and is a widely sought-after continuing education provider. In 2008, the AMTA Council of Schools presented Carole with the National Teacher of the Year Award, a high point of her 37 years as a somatic arts and sciences educator. She is also a contributor to Teaching Massage and many massage therapy publications.
To order a book or to learn more about workshops, contact the local sponsor for Portland, East West College at 503-233-6500 or www.eastwestcollegecom, or for Seattle, Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations 425-602-3361 or www.bastyr.edu/continunged.
Call Carole at Body Therapy Associates – (800) 586-8322 or (858) 277-8827.
Facebook page: Carole Osborne’s Prenatal and Deep Tissue Massage Training
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[photos available upon request.]
References:
1    Goldsmith, J. Childbirth Wisdom. New York: Congdon and Weed, 1984.
2    Prescott, J.  Prevention or Therapy and the Politics of Trust: Inspiring a New Human Agenda. Psychotherapy and Politics International 2005;3:194-221. DOI:10,1002/ppi.6. http:..www.violence.de/Prescott/politics-trust.pdf. Accessed 2/6/2009.
3    Rosenblatt, J.S. and D.S. Lehrman. Maternal behavior of the laboratory rat. Maternal Behavior in Mammals, Wiley, New York, 1963, p. 14.  
4       Field, T., M. Hernandez-Reif, S. Hart, et al. Pregnant women benefit from massage therapy. J. Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 20(1), March, 1999, 31-38.
5       Rubin, R. Maternal Touch. Nurs Outlook, 11/1963,  828-31
6       Klaus, K, Kennell, J., Klaus, P. The Doula Book: How a Trained Labor Companion Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, and Healthier Birth. New York: DeCapo Press, 2002.
7        Field T. Diego MA, Hernandez-Reid M, et al. Massage therapy effects on depressed pregnant women. J Psychos Obstet Gynecol 2004;25:115-122.
8       Roth LL, Rosenblatt JS. Mammary glands of pregnant rats: development stimulated by licking. Science 1996; 264:1403-1404.
9       Field, 2004.
10   Pryde M. Effectiveness of massage therapy for subacute low-back pain. A randomized controlled trial. Can Med Assoc J 2000;162(13):1815-1820.
11    Bodner-Adler B, Bodner K, Mayerhofer, K. Perineal massage during pregnancy in primiparous women. Int J Gynecol Obstet 2002.
12   Chang M, Wang S, Chen C. Effects of massage on pain and anxiety during labour: a randomized controlled trial in Taiwan. J Adv Nurs, 2002 Apr; 38 (1):68-73.
13   Pirie A and Herman H. How to Raise Children Without Breaking Your Back. Second edition. W. Somerville, MA: Ibis Publications, 2003.
14   Quebec Task Force on Spinal Disorders. Scientific approach to the assessment and management of activity-related spinal disorders.  Spine, 12:Supplement 1, 1987.
15   Andrade C-K and Clifford P. Outcome-Based Massage: From Evidence to Practice. Second Edition. Baltimore: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, 2008.
16   Ricci S. Essentials of Maternity, Newborn and Women’s Health Nursing. 2nd Ed. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009.

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Four In-Laws, Two Parents and One Wedding

We have minutes, centimeters, inches and cups and all kinds of ways of measuring things, but we massage therapists don’t have a great way to measure tension.

How tense is someone during final exams? What about IRS audits? Or a divorce?

It seems that if we can measure everything in life we should have some sort of gold standard for tension, especially in these days when the relative value scale of stress as expressed in soft tissue has reached new heights.

I hereby propose the FILTPOW, a measurement of muscular tension that I dedicate to a lovely client who actually has four in-laws, two parents and has just survived organizing a big wedding.

The FILTPOW measures the exact angle of stoop between T3 and C6, multiplied by the number of shallow breaths per hour and divided by the number of minutes it takes to get all the old folks to go potty and into the van and off to the church on time.

It can be lowered on the wedding day by a medicinal glass of wine at 7 a.m. or a primal scream in the safety of the ladies room, but is heightened by the arrival of the groom in a wheelbarrow.

Thus a 10-hour day reading budget lines on a computer screen would be the equivalent of .23 FILTPOWs while a trip to jail to bail out a spouse should be about 1.5 FILTPOWs. Having to post the house to make bail would raise the bar to 2.2 FILTPOWs.

Using the FILTPOW scale would help us in documenting our massages, and we can, like the folks at the earthquake tracking center, use a scale that out-Richter’s Richter.

True, some measurements such as the mile are quaint reminders of when we walked a lot and felt every step. In the modern world, a mile is a minute on the freeway, but a FILTPOW is a true measure of how much a vertebrate organism can take at family gatherings.
Well, I hope FILTPOWs catch on.

I’d like FILTPOWs to go the way of Smoots, a measurement of how many times it takes a group of friends to roll a drunken MIT freshman named Dick Smoot to get across the Mass Ave. Bridge. If memory serves, the distance was about 1538 Smoots. Thus history is made.

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Gender of-Fenders and Service with a Smile

I don’t like to think about sex in the context of massage, but I am somewhat ticked at what I see as some pretty serious whining going on amongst male therapists responding to Lynna Dunn’s recent article about “discrimination” against male therapists.
Gentlemen, please put yourselves in the place of the person at the front desk, booking massages for multiple rooms and dealing with whatever comes their way in the form of client complaints. Any front office/schedule person, after five minutes in the massage business, will learn to ask that question. Why? Because a lot of male and female clients do not want a male therapist.
Is that right? No.
Is that fair? No.
Now get over it.
I sympathize, I empathize. I rage against human nature and its folly. Why is there such discrimination allowed in this enlightened age. But that won’t change hearts and minds. People are as people do. And most don’t ask for male therapists.
Massage is, after all, a service industry. We serve the clients. If the clients don’t want such an intimate service from a male, we can’t stand there and argue. Service means their problems, unfortunately, are our problems. Our problems get to stay our problems and should not be shared with the clients.
Sometimes this problem is sexual, sometimes it is about past experience and abuse, sometimes it’s about not having a perfect body.
On the occasions when I have asked clients about their preferences, I’ve gotten some pretty strange stories in reply. They may tell me about a creepy massage they had where the therapist seemed to be checking them out. One client told me that a male therapist had slapped her copious cellulite hip and recommended a local surgeon saying “Most clients who have this problem have it removed.”
On the bright side, I’ve had clients tell me they always ask for a male because they don’t want a namby-pamby application of oil from someone with weak wrists. One such lady told me she went to the spa only because she had a gift certificate. Otherwise she had a nice man come to the house and massage her “everywhere” for only $50 – for two hours.
Gentlemen, I feel your pain. I also know that in every other job I have ever had in my life, males have the advantage in pay, promotions and perks. So butch up!
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The Best Compliment

Sometimes you get the nicest compliments from clients when they don’t say a word.

So it was Friday when a client came in after a hell week at work, plopped on the table and pointed at the right side of his neck.

A few minutes after getting his lymph flowing and addressing the rebar in the area where his trap and posterior scalenes should have been, the big thank you came.

“Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….”

Gee, I felt good.

What is the best compliment you have ever gotten from a massage client? Come on now, you know we kind of live for them. They are a blast. I bet when someone does a great job on some horribly long commercial litigation case, the client doesn’t often give up a hug.

I’ve gotten hugs. Tips, yeah they are great. But that spontaneous expression of total relaxation followed by a good nap? I love the sound of good buzz-saw snore.

So what does it take to really snore up a storm? I had a therapist friend once who would get crabby if the clients fell asleep. “She fell asleep while I was working on her SCMS!”

I’d like to think it was a compliment, not exhaustion. Not too many people will let you play with their violin strings like that.

Catching those Zzzzzzzzz on the table came at the end of a long week of fun, feel-good moments. One lady I wasn’t sure of at all – fibromyalgia, lots of accidents, lots of angst – called back after a detox lymph massage to say she felt reborn. Usually massages give her the flu-feelings for a few days. Not this time.

We talked for a bit before doing her second massage about modulating moods and fatigue with breathing and mindfulness. She had heard about these things before, but I got the sense she was connecting the dots.

“I feel really good. I’m impressed!” she said.

Now if I can only get her to drop into the Zzzzz-zone.

I like nothing if not a challenge. And it sure beats commercial litigation.

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Banishing Our Demons

The history of massage includes some interesting twists and fascinating ironies. For example, The History of Massage by Robert Noah Calvert notes that ancient cultures primarily used massage to heal those afflicted by demons or demonic influences. And because pain and disease were believed to be caused by the inhabitation of demons or demonic forces, the direction of massage was downward, toward to the distal parts of the limbs, to force the demons out.

Later, when massage reached the great Greek physicians, massage became much less about spirit, much more about body. So we see the beginnings of what we know as modern massage, with strokes going upward, what the Greeks called anatripsis, toward the heart. And yet when the Greeks fell to the Romans, and then the Roman Empire itself declined, massage almost died away in Western civilization due to the fact that the medieval church considered massage a pagan practice: the same practice that had originally been used for the same type of exorcism that the church upheld. Fascinating, isn’t it?

But of course, the art and science of touch—or massage—did not die away everywhere or for very long even in the Western world, despite any pagan associations. However, like many healing modalities that the Western world “rediscovered,” massage as a healing profession struggled to attain a serious and respectable image as scientific theory and modern medicine were born, grew, and threatened to overshadow anything that did not fit whatever current paradigm they had established.

In my opinion, the whole reason massage did not die, in spite of everything, goes back to its very beginnings. Because we—modern though we are—still have demons, whether they are spirits, or whether they our knots in our emotions and bodily tissues. We call them problems, call them issues, call them needs, call them painful falls in the bathtub, but they are our demons. And we will always have them. And thus the history of massage continues, ironically, much as it first began. Only now, the strokes go both ways.

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A Rose by Any Other Name?: Massage and the Word Masseuse

About six weeks ago, the American Massage Therapy Association sent out an email with an attached press release about a recent Craigslist.com decision. The decision involved the Craigslist.com “Erotic Services” section and the use of the word masseuse in that section as a “cover” word for prostitutes. Although the document’s wording was a bit difficult for me to unravel, what I took away from it was that the AMTA does not support the use of the word masseuse not only because prostitutes often use the word as an attempted legitimate cover for illicit activities, but also because some licensed massage practitioners still use the word as a legitimate title. Clear as mud? Okay, let’s try this instead: “Hookers cannot call themselves masseuses because everyone knows they are not really giving massage, and even though we don’t generally use the word anymore because it makes us sound like hookers, a few of us either still use it or might want to use it in the future, so it should be off-limits to… hookers.” Hmmm… well, I tried.

In any case, I have to wonder if the massage community as whole can ever really use the word masseuse again in any lasting legitimate fashion. Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” but that’s not quite true when you’re dealing with language and connotation. Anyone who got uncomfortable at my use of the word “hooker” knows on a gut-level what connotation is. It’s a word plus any associated ideas and baggage that word has picked up through cultural use. Which is why, no doubt, the author(s) of the AMTA press release used the word prostitute, not hooker or whore. The first is cleaner and more objective; the others are… not. The word masseuse has fewer negative connotations for me personally, probably because I grew up in the rural Bible Belt where there were almost no massage practitioners, legitimate or otherwise, and masseuse (and masseur for that matter) was a word I encountered only in fantasy romance novels where rich people go to fancy hotels and spas and get pampered. However, it no doubt has extremely negative connotations for some people.

Language is a funny thing. And I don’t mean funny/humorous, although it can be. Such as the time my grandmother was gossiping in shock about a distant cousin of mine who had “gotten mixed up” with someone paralyzed from the neck down—in her words, “a quadra-pubic.” I confess, I still can’t drink carbonated beverages and recount that conversation at the same time. But when it comes to the word masseuse, language can be a bit more funny/strange and far more politically and socially complex.

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Have You Tried Jojoba Oil?

Close-up of male jojoba flowers.

Over the years I’ve used various massage oils, creams and lotions. Everyone seems to have his or her favorite, and it’s rarely possible to convince a “lotion person” to switch to oil or vice versa. That’s cool. Different strokes and all that (pun intended). But for me, I never seemed to be able to find just the right combination. Oils gave me a good glide (although not always enough grip), but they’re messy and sticky. I hated the way my oil bottles ended up with a sticky film that was almost impossible to get rid of. And it can be difficult to deal with oil-stained sheets and the resulting rancid odors. Lotions tend to absorb too quickly. I found one cream that had a great glide, but it contained ingredients that made it less than pure. So what to do?

About five years ago, I discovered jojoba oil, and I’ll never use anything else. It has fantastic glide and grip, better than any other lubricant I’ve used. It works especially well for deep tissue and myofascial release—you just have to use a little and it provides great control. It doesn’t go rancid, it doesn’t stain the sheets, no more sticky residue on my bottles!.

What is Jojoba Oil?
Did you know that jojoba oil isn’t really an oil? It’s actually a wax that becomes liquid at room temperature. Trivia time: Jojoba was given its botanical name, Simmondsia chinensis, by H. F. Link, who “discovered” the jojoba plant (a small desert shrub) near Baja California in 1822. Link named the plant after a fellow botanist, T.W. Simmonds. As with the “discovery” of America, although Link might have been the first westerner to find jojoba, Native Americans and Mexicans had been using it for hundreds of years. Father Junipero Serra, who founded 21 missions in California in the 18th century, documented jojoba’s use as a skin and hair conditioner, for healing bruises and burns, as a treatment for sunburn, and even as an appetite suppressant.

Okay. History lesson over. If you’re into these kinds of details though, you might have fun doing a little research on your own. It’s pretty cool to see how jojoba began to be used in cosmetics and skin care products. Hint: it happened when sperm whales were declared an endangered species in the early 1970’s. Jojoba oil’s chemical properties are almost identical to sperm whale oil, which, interestingly, is also a liquid wax.

Jojoba: The Swiss Army Knife of Oils
Jojoba is truly amazing stuff. If I hadn’t read the studies and experienced the benefits of jojoba on my clients and myself, I’d think it sounded too good to be true.

  • In dermatological tests, it was proven that Jojoba oil increases the skin’s suppleness by 45%, and the effect lasted for more than eight hours.
  • Studies at Michigan University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Port Elizabeth supported the conclusion that five of the most common bacteria, including staphylococcus aureus and pseudomonas aeruginosus, as well as the fungus candida albicans, were not capable of growing in jojoba oil and that jojoba oil destroys staphylococcus and pseudomonas within 1 hour and 15 minutes.
  • Jojoba has anti-inflammatory properties due to its myristic acid content.
  • Jojoba’s chemical similarity to sebum, our natural skin oil, means it’s easily absorbed and rarely causes allergic reactions. If you have clients who are allergic or sensitive to other oils or lubricants, you will probably find that they won’t have any problem with jojoba.
  • It’s rich in Vitamin E, a natural preservative, giving it a super-long shelf life. I’ve had my current gallon jug for close to a year, and it’s not showing any signs of rancidity.
  • Jojoba dissolves sebum, making it an excellent hair conditioner and scalp treatment for both dry and oily hair. It’s proven to be an excellent treatment for dandruff, and has potential for preventing hair loss. It can also be used as a facial cleanser.
  • Skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis and acne have been helped with jojoba. Again, because its composition is so similar to sebum, it works for either dry or oily skin.
  • You can use jojoba oil instead of shaving cream and soften your skin while you shave.
  • Get rid of all those fancy wrinkle creams and use jojoba oil instead.

It’s a Great Massage Oil!
Jojoba isn’t just great for all skin types; it also feels great. It never leaves a greasy, oily feel, even if you use a little bit too much. So your clients will leave feeling silky smooth and fresh. And if you’re tired of oil-stained sheets, jojoba will make you really happy. I found this comment on a bodywork forum: “I’m so confident about the washability that I sometimes wear a nice linen dress to work because it’s comfy, and it always comes clean.” That’s a pretty strong endorsement!

Jojoba is also one of the best carrier oils for aromatherapy.

It’s Cheaper Than You Might Think
A lot of people think jojoba’s expensive. But when you look at the fact that you’ll use just a fraction of the amount you use with other oils and it doesn’t go rancid, it becomes very affordable. A gallon of jojoba oil from The Jojoba Company (formerly Boston Jojoba Company) costs $55 and will last a lot longer than other oils, lotions or creams. You can get organic jojoba oil from The Jojoba Company for $69 a gallon, but even their regular jojoba oil is pesticide-free.

If you try jojoba, let me know what you think. And if you’re already a jojoba fan or have discovered some new uses for it, I’d love to hear about that too!

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What is Your Favorite Pumpkin Patch?

So, today I was thinking…how can I make this blog more interesting? What do we LMPs want to read about, really? Of course it is lovely to hear about various aspects of the massage community, and I love to keep everyone in the loop as well as share positive information, but today I’ve chosen to take a break from all that and talk about pumpkin patches for a minute. My neighbor, whether she realizes it or not, totally inspired me!

Have you ever even been to a pumpkin patch? Yesterday was my first time, and let me tell you…I’m so glad I went! It was as if yesterday’s motto was…”Take it easy”, as traffic was a bit on the slow side, but sometimes it really is necessary to remove yourself from everyone else’s hustle and bustle and take it slow, right? Although I surprisingly enough didn’t even hear one single Eagles song on the radio…I just continued to think to myself “Take it Eeeeaasy”.

I’m guessing you might be wondering where in the heck this mysterious pumpkin patch could be, not to mention where this write up is going, don’t mind if I eeeaase into it do you? Okay, so the pumpkin patch, Fall City Farms, yep, that’s right…Fall City. Have you been? I highly recommend it, for the drive alone is worth it. The leaves are changing right now, so it really is the perfect time, and if you’re in the mood for a hike, you just so happen to be on your way to Snoqualmie Falls!

Now, I’m going to let you have the experience on your own, but I will tell you, it is a small, family operation, and if you need to get in touch with your country roots, go out there and pick yourself out a pumpkin! If I could make one recommendation, it would be to stop and visit the cute teenage cow that greets you on your way in…she really loves and appreciates massages. She even gives you a thank you moo on your way out:)
Thanks for letting me be random today! Have a happy halloween!

Michelle B, LMP

**If you have a favorite pumpkin patch or halloween idea. We would love to hear your comments!

Fall City Farms link: http://www.fallcityfarms.com/
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