5th February 2012: London is covered by deliciously creamy snow resembling marzipan icing on a cake.

If you walk through thick snow, the extra effort and the colder temperature helps you burn additional 3-7% more calories.

For a blow-by-blow account of how many calories you can burn snow walking, Walk About Magazine has all the facts and figures. The average person could burn up to 500 calories an hour walking in pressed snow but up to 700 for powdery, thick snow.

Massage appointments make take a bit of a back seat as transport is disrupted. Keeping muscles warm and supple is essential if you are unable to have a massage treatment so some dynamic yoga would help if you are stuck at home.

Sun salutations are the obvious choice as the rapid succession of poses raises the heart rate and body temperature.

If you can brave the elements and can commute to Marylebone, a trip to Indaba Yoga is worth every penny as the studio has a gorgeous hot yoga room at a toasty 30-35 degrees Celsius. If you happen to go there on a Tuesday, you can book an appointment with me for deep tissue, manual lymphatic drainage, pregnancy massage or natural facelift massage.

2011 has been a great year for massage. At least it has been for Energya Ltd.

The year started well during winter with highly motivated people wanting to stay healthy.

Back, neck and shoulders massage was extremely popular as clients were shrugging their shoulders in an attempt to keep warm.
Some lymphatic drainage was also requested to boost the immune system and clear sinus and throat infections.

Spring brought some hayfever symptoms in a few clients and again lymphatic drainage was useful in reduce the discomfort provoked by itchy, watery eyes and runny noses.

Come summer, it was time for some cellulite-busting deep tissue massage really targeting the hips and upper legs.

Mid-summer saw my promotion for manual lymphatic drainage through Living Social. The offer attracted a large number of highly motivated clients who wanted to improve their health. Seeing people who had recovered from cancer was humbling and inspiring at the same time.
Lymphoedema was also a concern with some clients. Measuring their limbs before and after showed some level of effectiveness in the manual reduction of water and lymph retention.

Pregnancy massage was also beneficial to some clients who were expecting in the summer. Not many venues offer pre-natal massage so it was nice to be of help to expecting mothers.

Autumn was mild and not many Energya clients suffered from colds and flu which was a good sign.

More manual lymphatic drainage was useful to prevent seasonal illnesses.

Deep tissue massage was extremely popular and new clients were delighted to become acquainted with yours truly’s elbows. Nothing beats deep tissue to release tension and improve muscle flexibility.

Winter 2011 was characterised by more deep tissue. Any type of remedial work is wonderful for the stiffness encountered in cold weather. Deep tissue massage can warm up the muscles and improve posture by raising the awareness of one’s body.

Personally I had a slice of summer heat in December during my recent visit to the Shadi Danin Spa in Hove where I enjoyed a Japanese hot stone bath treatment. It was basically like lying on a massive heat pack!

Whatever you choose to do in 2012, make sure you plan some time for relaxation. A good massage can take years off your body and erase worries from your mind.

As someone who enjoys plenty of massages myself, I was proud and glad to hear from a former schoolmate that I haven’t aged since high school. I credit that to the regular treatments I receive.

Here’s Paola Bassanese’s guest blog talking about massage for children and young people suffering with eczema.

Portman Magazine

I rub shoulders for a living

by Paola Bassanese

I rub shoulders for a living. I offer a shoulder to cry on. I give hugs.

It’s all in a day’s work of a masssage therapist.

As clients peel off layers of clothing, they take down their defences. I honour and respect their vulnerability and they put their trust in me revealing hidden thoughts and secrets that nobody else knows about.

The work of a massage therapist cannot be described as a job; it is a calling, a mission. It cannot be measured, analysed, evaluated and dissected using traditional business tools. Marketing, sales techniques, promotions are meaningless.

You cannot put a price on health, or calculate the return on investment on bringing a smile back to a client who was on the verge of suicide.

Clients who have a massage may be suffering from depression, or be experiencing a bereavement, or be going through a stressful time. They rely on a professional to listen to them without judgement.

Clients come and go. Once they have reached their health goals they may decide to leave and the job of the massage therapist is done. There should be no attachment and no emotional involvement from either party. It’s simply a natural process. Some clients leave feedback or a testimonial, others move on. Others stay and want to maintain the beneficial effects of the massage therapy they have been receiving.

Some clients like to talk, while others prefer to remain silent. Silent work is powerful. For the therapist the session is intense, solitary and meditative. For the client it is liberating, uplifting and calming.

In our busy, stressful, tense lives having one hour to be quiet, listening to our own breathing and following our thought patterns is a luxury. Sometimes the best creative ideas emerge to the surface while having a massage.

It is all in a day’s work of a massage therapist.

I rub shoulders for a living.

By: Jackie Clark

Alternative therapies such as reiki, massage and acupuncture are showing promise in the treatment of pain and anxiety in cancer patients. Treatments that were once on the far edge of medical science are now gaining acceptance as hard evidence supports their use and provide clues to the physiological mechanisms involved.

Reiki is a modern technique based on ancient ideas. Founded in 1922 by Mikao Usui, a devotee of Japanese Buddhism, Reiki is based on the belief in a life force called ki. In a Reiki treatment, the therapist causes this force to flow into the patient’s body by placing hands on their body or sometimes passing hands over them without touching.

Reiki has been used successfully in the treatment of headaches, nausea, asthma, muscular pains, menstrual symptoms and many other problems. While there is a spiritual aspect to Reiki teachings, its practitioners claim belief is not necessary and that even those who do not believe in concepts like “life force” can benefit from the treatment if they give it a chance.

Specifically, Reiki can be used in cancer cases to relieve both physical pain and emotional anxiety. Patients in chemotherapy have reported relief of post-treatment discomfort after having Reiki therapy.

Acupuncture involves the use of thin needles inserted in the patient’s skin at certain points of the body. Again the principal is based on freeing and directing life force through the body. Acupuncture is used to treat a wide variety of pains and conditions, including aggressive cancers like mesothelioma. There is abundant scientific evidence that it works, though the mechanism remains elusive.

Acupuncture is endorsed by the American Cancer Society for the treatment of vomiting following chemotherapy or surgical anesthesia. Studies of patients who received acupuncture found that they suffered less headache pain and used fewer pain drugs than patients who did not get acupuncture.

There is a great deal of evidence about the value of massage in cancer patients. Medical providers recognize its value for relieving stress, anxiety and pain during cancer treatment. Massage helps muscles relax, creating a feeling of relaxation and wellbeing. Many patients report needing fewer pain medications after massage therapy.

There are many types of massage, and while each has its specialists, most massage therapists freely mix techniques. Massage therapy is now offered by many hospitals and cancer centers as a means of relieving discomfort of both the mind and body.

The infographic below provides some of the emerging facts

Via: Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance

Gratitude is working its magic. My second yoga blog was published on kingsroad.co.uk http://kingsroad.co.uk/articles/2011/09/20/triyoga-yoga-499.

Next month I will start a new yoga blog on Ashtanga in a heated room, it will be hard work but I am relishing the challenge.

This week I’ll participate at a video shoot to advertise Indaba Yoga, the centre where I work once a week.

I just got confirmation from the Hale Clinic that a new client has just booked a massage with me.

Yesterday a couple booked my massage workshop.

Life is good and I am thankful for all these recent developments.

It’s horribly hot in Indonesia, the concrete reflects the heat like an oven in urban Jakarta. At best you will feel drained and sluggish all day, at worst you will faint (sadly, talking by experience). The locals take it graciously but the bule, the whites, need some pick-up.
So during my stay in Indonesia we often went to a minor, shabby, smelly shopping mall with a massage parlour hidden upstairs. Not a tourist trap – you can find those in the fancy hotels and they’re always really beautiful girls; this was a no-English-spoken, modest place for locals only, with only male massagers. How do you communicate with your local massage practitioner then? Well, you don’t (or you do by pulling faces and sometimes giving little OW!s).

The place is one big, long and narrow hall, with low lights, dark wood and high white curtains dividing the massage cubicles. Each person gets two young male massagers. You think this looks interesting and very like an old Emmanuelle movie, but you’ll stop grinning when the two devils start silently working on you, starting from each toe.
Eek! Gentle it is not. They pull, push, poke, snap (they won’t leave any single toe or finger alone until it pops with a sound they deem acceptable), then they prod into the flesh of your sole, then vigorously knead your legs, in lovely synchrony (the elegance of their movements distracts you from the discomfort they’re causing by prodding deep with their fingers). After the legs they make you sit up, lift your arms up and start the whole process again from each phalanx of your fingers, to the palm, to the arms (which they stretch behind you until you signal you’re a bit in pain), then they meticulously prod down the length of your spine, fingers digging in quite a bit. Last thing is the head, which they stretch on both sides, down and back, then you get a nice nasty scalp rub. The whole process takes one hour, which you spend in fear the first time (“where are they going to hurt me now?” “gosh, I’ll have bruises tomorrow”), and more and more relaxed the following times, when you know the procedure and your body doesn’t pull a resistance. Still, it isn’t delicate, pretty or feathery – although there were always locals loudly snoring throughout, I guess a lifetime of having fingers poking you makes it really relaxing.

After tea and some relaxation time on chaise longues, you step out in the smelly, sticky heat of Jakarta and you’re BUZZING. You want to go to the swimming pool, run a marathon, learn boxing or flamenco, and you’re OK with walking home instead of taking the usual air-conditioned taxi because you don’t care about the heat (this is quite a big deal and you surprise yourself). The natural high lasts for a couple of hours. Best thing about Jakarta.

Paola Sorrentino is a freelance translator.

by Paola Bassanese

The term “craptastic” was coined on 26^th August 2011 by Allissa Haines, twitter: @bluestreakblog (she’s an expert on unicorns according to Klout, don’t you know?), whose day job is to be a “Shameless Agitator, Massage Therapist, Writer & Frequent Snacker”.

“Craptastic” describes a situation that is so bad it’s hilarious, a comedy of errors where anything that could possibly go wrong, inevitably goes wrong.

So here’s my fabulously craptastic day in diary form.

26^th August 2011.

4am: wake up 3 hours before the alarm in a panic because I don’t want to be late for my first appointment at 9am (new massage client, must make a good impression).

8.06am: just miss the train which would have got me to work early leaving me enough time to stop for a coffee. I’m caffeine deprived.

8.10am: epiphany! I left my mobile credit card terminal at home. I need my credit card machine because most clients don’t carry cash and pay by card. I go back home and miss the other good train which would have taken me to work on time.

8.24am: finally on the train, this one will only arrive to the destination 5 minutes before my first appointment which means I only have one minute to get ready before my first client arrives. Therefore no caffeine fix. My body and brain are in mourning.

9am: the planned start of my first appointment with brand new massage client, must make good impression. Client and I wait outside the clinic, which is still locked, no lights on. We decide to go for a coffee. I buy the coffee. I buy the bacon sandwich to go with my coffee because I’m starving, having had breakfast at 6am and without coffee.

9.45am: new start time of first massage appointment of the day after the clinic has been opened by a flustered receptionist whose train was stuck for ages somewhere nowhere near London.

10.45am: end of first massage appointment. Client pays by card. I have my credit card machine. Result. Maybe the craptastic cloud has lifted.

11am: time for my second massage appointment. New client, no show. Credit card machine is in mourning.

12pm: get to Pret a Manger to have lunch before starting the afternoon shift at another clinic. I have a long afternoon ahead with back to back massage appointments. There’s no seats available at the restaurant so I end up sharing a table with an elderly Norwegian man who buys me coffee. Possibly another non-craptastic event in the whole day, but there’s no such thing as a free coffee as I listen, traumatised, to his dramatic life story.

1pm: at my second clinic. Norwegian man from before walks in – awkward moment as I didn’t tell him where I worked and he didn’t follow me. He asks for some information (he’s looking for a barber – we are all women at reception) and leaves.

1.15pm: first massage appointment of the afternoon cancelled.

3.15pm: third massage appointment of the afternoon cancelled.

5.15pm: fifth massage appointment of the afternoon cancelled.

5.30pm: thunderstorm. I get soaked walking from the clinic to the tube station.

6.30pm: thunderstorm. I get soaked walking from my local train station home.

6.40pm: me, inside. Outside: sun is shining. THE END.

This is the last update on my experience as an independent massage therapist and small business owner using Living Social to promote my massage practice.  I started seeing new clients from Living Social a month ago and this is a summary of the experience so far.

Overall, the new clients I have met and treated are all motivated and committed to improving their wellbeing. Therefore I am very pleased with that.

The downside is cashflow: you must wait for weeks before you receive your payment and in the meantime your diary gets booked up with appointments from Living Social clients and you are not earning money. Regular clients can get upset as they no longer manage to book an appointment with you.

Personally I am doing my best to reserve appointments for my regular clients but they are few and far between so the weekly massages I used to be able  to offer them are now out of the question.

My advice to massage therapists is the following:
- if you are planning to advertise on Living Social or other discount website, group together a team of therapists and a person to handle all calls and share the workload. Don’t do all the work by yourself  (do as I say don’t do as I do!)
- negotiate a cap/limit to the total number of deals that can be bought (again, do as I say don’t do as I do!)
- always block out enough hours in your diary for regular clients and breaks.

I hope my experience will benefit other colleagues and small business owners.