Zen and the Art of Massage

I feel I must say a little something quickly about the massage therapy client tracking software I use, Customer ProFile.  I discovered this software while working in Ottawa, and decided to use it myself when I started working here in Toronto.  I like it because it is easy to use and inexpensive, yet still has all the features I need.  It allows you to track client information (address, phone numbers, etc) and client payment records, as well as a variety of other things you may want to track, such as business expenses.

However, one thing in particular impressed me: the customer service.  See, back in February when I purchased the software I asked the guy who writes and sells the program if he would be willing to give me a deal on getting the Mac version later.  At the time I had a Windows machine, but knew I’d be moving to a Macbook in the spring or summer.  Not only did he say he’d give me a deal, he offered to move my data over to Mac for free!  And true to his word, he did exactly that for me today.  I now have a fully functional Mac version of the program, and actually must say I prefer this version.  It has a few more little features I never had in the Windows version, and it runs more cleanly.

If you are a Massage Therapist and looking for client tracking software, definitely give this one a look!

I know local RMTs are often frustrated by the low number of continuing education courses offered in Ottawa. You would think that because we are in Canada’s capital city, we’d have instructors coming to town on a fairly regular basis to teach. Instead, a large percentage of the good courses are run in Toronto or Montreal. However, we do have options! Here are a few.

Structural Myofascial Therapy – Offered through Simply Therapy. Level 1 is coming up in November, Level 2 in December.

Active Isolated Stretching – Also offered through Simply Therapy. Next course in November.

Thai Yoga Certification – offered through Santosha Yoga (scroll down for the details). Next class starts in November. Please note: I am not sure if this course would qualify for CMTO CEUs.

Hot Stone Therapy – Offered through Jacqueline Davis, a local body worker, teacher and counselor. It was just offered this weekend, but she seems to teach it every few months, so keep checking her website. If you’d like other options, there are always home study courses, as I wrote about back in August.

Reiki – Lots of options here. I’ll just mention level 1 classes here, but check the individual websites if you want level 2 or higher. Kathy Glover Scott has a class coming up on October 13th. (I took level 1 with Kathy and can recommend her teaching.) T-line services have a class that same weekend. Wendy Armstrong has classes coming up later this month and next month. For other local Reiki options, see Tone magazine’s reiki section; not all of those listed there are teachers, but a good number are.

And one other option: Massage Therapy Practice is an online magazine that offers CEU articles, videos, and other resources for massage therapists. They don’t offer local hands-on classes, but there are lots of other options for earning CEUs!

I’ll be sure to post again if I hear about more local classes.

A story I’ve been reading recently has really touched me, and I felt I needed to post something here about it.

You see, I’ve been hanging out on a few online forums for the last few years. I’ve ‘met’ all kinds of women, mostly from Canada, from all walks of life.

One woman named Sarah caught my eye with her postings about cancer. See, she’d been diagnosed with melanoma at the age of 27, and was trying to educate others about it. Now it’s been several years since her initial diagnosis, and she’s not going to make it. Some of her story has been posted to her blog, with the last few postings from her husband.

Skin cancer is NOT just found in the elderly. More and more young people are being diagnosed with it.

Wear sunscreen, folks. Make sure you choose a good one with both UVA and UVB protection. A tan might look pretty, but it isn’t worth the risk.

More information on sunscreen

More information on skin cancer

I just wanted to draw people’s attention to Andrew Ward’s comment on my post about the 3 minute Angels. If you’re curious what the company might have to say about their services, take a look.

I have a lot of clients who make use of both massage therapy and physiotherapy. While RMTs can be trained to use machines such as interferential current (IFC) or trans-cutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), they are much more commonly found in physiotherapy or chiropractic offices.

However, I do sometimes get questions about what these types of therapies are for. I recently found a link that explains the uses and differences between them:

Two Types of E-Stim