Massage & Bodywork

JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2015

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SAVVY SELF-CARE best practices The beginning of a career in massage and bodywork is so exciting. There are a lot of milestone events: our fi rst paying client, our fi rst successful outcome, and our fi rst full schedule. After we have achieved our initial dreams and successes, how do we keep the fi re burning? How do we stay engaged and enlivened by our work over time? You know it's time to raise the bar when you feel your enthusiasm for your work start to wane. If your work begins to feel monotonous, or if you're starting to get that itch that it's time to go back to school, take a moment and ask yourself: "When was the last time I made a deliberate effort to raise the bar?" RAISE YOUR THINKING The fi rst step to raising the bar has a lot to do with your mind-set. If you fi nd yourself with persistent thoughts like, "That will never work," or, "It doesn't matter what I do," it is defi nitely time to work on your thoughts. Sometimes it is obvious when we are thinking negative thoughts, but sometimes the thoughts are so embedded in our lives that it is diffi cult to see them. Asking a trusted coach, friend, or therapist to help you identify these thoughts is usually what it takes to become aware of them so you can change them. Every time you feel negativity sneaking in, take a moment and refl ect. Is what you're thinking the truth? Is there another way you could look at the same thing that would give you a more positive outlook? I used to think I couldn't charge more because nobody would pay a higher rate. I looked around at what other massage therapists were charging and thought, "If they're charging less than me, nobody will come to me." With some help, I realized that was not an accurate thought. For one thing, I had no evidence to support it. All you have to do is walk into Whole Foods to realize that people will pay more for what they value. So I switched my thought. Instead of Raising the Bar By Jennie Hastings Stancu 28 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5

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