A Journey in Massage: What You Should Know Before You Book Your Next Massage Appointment

By Irma Romano

A Journey In Massage is a guide into the industry behind the scenes and into the classroom. It gives you an honest and truthful approach to what it is like being a massage therapist and why it is a profession still trying to evolve in respectability and financial stability. For a client, it helps you decide if massage therapy is for you and what to expect by taking you on a path where you will never be able to go without her sharing her stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452561530

Irma Romano

IRMA ROMANO is a registered massage therapist who has worked in the profession in Canada for the last six years. Her wisdom, work experience, sense of humor, and the invaluable lessons on her journey into massage will give you a new perspective about massage therapy and help you decide whether this career choice is for you. If you’re a first time client trying to decide to make an appointment for a massage she will point you into the right directions with tips of what to expect and what pitfalls you should avoid. Irma’s own life experiences with her car accident, rehab, why she became a massage therapist give her insight into deep healing. She is a world traveler, and has always been in the pursuit of holistic medicine, meditation, and has a curiosity for true healing. Through her own obstacles and emotional and physical pain, Irma has been able to use her life story to share with others what she has learned about true recovery and transformation. She now resides in Toronto and has created a website called massageplanetnews.blogspot.com with the hope of making massage therapy a profession that nourishes the therapist as well as the client. Irma spends her time writing researching, and interviewing healers and experts in the field of healing, body work, entertainment and travel.

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Copyright © 2012 Irma Romano

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-6153-0 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-6152-3 (sc)

Balboa Press rev. date: 11/7/2012

CONTENTS

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE

The Journey Into The Massage World

CHAPTER TWO

Behind the Soft Music and Waterfalls

CHAPTER THREE

Who Is Massaging You?

CHAPTER FOUR

Sexual Harrassment and Massage Parlors

CHAPTER FIVE

The Benefits of Massage Therapy

CHAPTER SIX

The Do’s and Don’ts… Proper Spa Ethics

CHAPTER SEVEN

Our Path Into Wellness

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Good and Ugly

CHAPTER NINE

Finding a Top Notch Massage Therapist and Venue

About the Author

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Light of Seasons

I stand alone in time and space

With no land, no color, no race

The rock that you have stumbled on

The shell that whispers wind and song

I watch the eagle as it flies

And gaze upon eternal skies

I am the bridge that you have crossed on

Or a wave that meets the ocean

My mind has leaped to higher places

Stopping every fear it faces

I witnessed every raging storm

Taking heavy shape and form

I walked the road where no one goes

And found the spring where bounty flows

I chose the path away from reason

And let my light guide through all seasons

I came to rest one autumn’s dawn

And found you dancing by the lawn

And little did I know in time

The light I saw was yours not mine

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all the healers and body workers on the planet that have touched the hearts and souls of so many with their hands and spirit. Unlike any other profession massage therapists have the ability to touch a person on many levels not just their bodies. The one that are in touch with their inner beings and can see the bigger picture have a profound effect on the person they are treating and the Universe as a whole. We never seem to stop learning this mystical planet and the human species as quantum physics helps us also understand more and more each day the manifested and the manifested the miracle of life that we all are. My search for answers to being whole and not perfect but able to have the power to heal ourselves through massage and holistic living is an ongoing process, one that takes me around the world exploring and storytelling in hopes to inspire others to ask the same questions for themselves.

I dedicate this book to all the people who have paste away from cancer in the last few years, friends, teachers, family members. This book is for you and for Wellness. Special thanks to Juno Cristi for her poems and her powerful presence with words and to Florent Courty for allowing the Source to work so magically through is photography.

Namaste.

INTRODUCTION

All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.

~Ellen Glasgow

Over the last twenty years, massage therapy has been increasingly in demand and rising in popularity amongst people from all walks of life here in Canada and internationally. The word Spa and Massage is seen everywhere from magazines, books, the internet, television, and in the media across the world. Never before have we seen so many spas, resorts, wellness centers, and clinics being established offering massage therapy to the masses as well as different kinds of body treatments such as Chocolate Wraps, Wine Therapy, Mud Treatments just to name a few. In Israel, one can get a Snake Massage by having snakes crawl on your back. In New York, people are lining up for pigeon poop facials and in Austria you can order a leech treatment as well. These are bizarre spa treatments from around the world and even the airports and malls as well as convention centers are taking part in this new trend which has only been rising in popularity year after year. The question is, What does it all mean? How do we decipher amongst the Massage Lingo" and know what exactly what works and what doesn’t? What would you sign up for?

We are now offering massage therapy in destination spas, resorts, wellness retreats. Everyone can take part in the experience from teenagers, children, men and women of all ages. This new trend of enjoying a vacation and relaxing at the same time by booking a spa appointment is on the rise and is now mainstream. If you are looking for a retreat getaway you can Google the word retreat and a long list of treatments will come up.

You can get away and have anything from your numerology read, sip green drinks all weekend and visit a Shaman or hike in the woods, to going for yoga and a massage weekend in search for your inner child or practice a Vision Quest. There are literally thousands of different packages being offered here in our own backyard. Aside from these packages that one can choose from and use to rejuvenate and feel like they are more connected with themselves, I would like to focus on how massage therapy is used for leisure as well as medical purposes, making it a profession of choice amongst a wide range of people in our society.

With the increase of offices, jobs and computer work, so has the demand for massage therapy. Contrary to popular belief, the increase of technology has not made the work hours decrease or easier for most families. In fact it