• June 8 (Saturday) 10am - 5pm  Confirmed
• June 19 (Wednesday) 10am - 5pm  Confirmed
• July 13 (Saturday) 10am - 5pm
• August 10 (Saturday) 10am - 5pm
• August 14 (Wednesday) 10am - 5pm
• September 14 (Saturday) 10am - 5pm
• September 18 (Wednesday) 10am - 5pm
• October 12 (Saturday) 10am - 5pm
• October 16 (Wednesday) 10am - 5pm
• November 9 (Saturday) 10am - 5pm  

The following is a list of currently scheduled classes.  This class is a two-day class worth 12 CE hours for Florida massage therapists.  Each class (unless otherwise marked) currently has a status of 'Scheduled'.  This means that a date has been set, but no one has signed up for it yet.  Once a deposit has been received for a class, the status will be 'Confirmed'.  The current schedule is as follows:

• June 22 - June 23  (Saturday 9:00am - 5:00pm and Sunday 10:00am - 4:00pm)  Confirmed
• August 3 - August 4  (Saturday 9:00am - 5:00pm and Sunday 10:00am - 4:00pm)
• August 20 - August 21  (Tuesday 9:00am - 5:00pm and Wednesday 10:00am - 4:00pm) 

All classes are scheduled to be held at the Hampton Inn at Jacksonville Beach, FL.  Should the location change, that change will be on the website and students notified. 

Note: Check with the hotel for special room rates.  

Maximize your results with less effort. Utilize the science of martial arts and apply it to massage. Body Mechanics and Advanced Techniques for Massage Therapists is designed to reconnect the massage therapist with proper body mechanics and techniques showing how to work without hurting oneself and how to apply deep pressure with little effort.  The class being part lecture, part hands-on practice uses theory, stances, centering, and the proper use of body strength from martial arts and applies them to the art of massage therapy.  Students will learn how to focus their energies and use their body to do deep work with less effort and not get hurt.  This class will help anyone to work deeply with less effort no matter if one is 90 pounds or 250 pounds.  This class is for both the seasoned therapist and the new therapist.  It will show moves everyone is familiar with, but in a new light as well as moves many people may not have seen before (which have been taken from Lomi Lomi, Esalen, and other styles).  The idea is not to dictate how to practice, but to show better body mechanics which the therapist can adapt to what they do.  This is true whether they adapt all of it or just part of it.

When it says something something something on the label label label... was an advertising theme many years ago for a product line that came in a can. I guess they felt that repeating something three times would make it stick in people's minds. But what about the labels we let others put on us... for whatever reason?

A friend of mine was heading home for a visit, and although she was looking forward to it, she was starting to make herself ill. And when she comes back from her visits, she is sick. Well, I looked at her and started running some numbers through my head until one jumped out at me. I asked, "What traumatic thing happened when you were seven years old?" She initially said that nothing happened, but realized that something had. She had gotten held back a year in school because whatever officials felt that she was not reading well enough. Now, my friend is a medical professional. She is not stupid, but that was the label that got hung on her.

When she goes home (and it is a small community), they don't see her as she is today. They still see the stupid child. As she is not there all the time, the people there don't see what she has become. They only remember what they knew. And in truth, it might have taken her moving away to rid herself of the label, at least to herself. Because as we all know that if everyone is calling you stupid, sooner or later, you will start to take that on as part of you. You let their label stick to you. And although she no longer feels that way about herself, it comes back when she returns back to that environment.

How about the rest of us? What labels are we still carrying around with us from our childhood or young adult life? Are you still the jerk you were in high school? Are you the person that dreams big and always fails? Are you still bully bait? Are you the whiner? Are you stupid? (As Forrest Gump says, "Stupid is as stupid does.")

If we are no longer that way, why do we accept the labels? What can we do about them? Now that is the real question. First off, I have to believe that most people outgrow their attitudes and actions of when they were younger. Yet these people may still allow the labels. But since we have outgrown these, we have to make ourselves realize that we have done just that, and that they no longer apply.

We have to look at ourselves and take stock of what we are now, and discard anything that no longer fits as we would shoes we have outgrown. When we do this, we need to release old labels as they are no longer true. Meditation is good for this. There are many meditation methods that work along similar paths. One takes you in and allows you to look at all the "shoe boxes" that define your life. You simply discard what you no longer need. You can modify this to apply only to labels you have been given. I am no longer a jerk so I don't need that label.

The next step is to keep new labels from appearing and attaching themselves to you. This is good for all times, but also when you go back home and have to deal with all the people that can only remember you by labels that you no longer have. They try to pin new ones on you. The key to this is Teflon. Yes, you heard that right.

Think about surrounding yourself with Teflon. Be secure in that coating you. Why Teflon? Because nothing sticks to Teflon. If someone wants to stick a label on you, it will simply slide off. If someone wants to apply anything to you, it will not stick. That way you are free to define yourself as you feel you should be defined, because in truth, you are the only one that matters in your definition. Once you have defined yourself, you put that out there for everyone to see and they will no longer see what you were, but what you are.

by Brian Dean

Years ago in school, I was taught about supply and demand. If there is high demand and low supply, the price is high. If we have low demand and high supply, the price drops. The idea is to have a balance (there's that word that keeps popping up) so things even out and are steady. What companies do is find a way to increase demand so they can sell more product. TV commercials advertise to the public and make them want the products advertised. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it does not. But sometimes it works to the point that an industry can set itself up for failure. And there are other times when an industry can ignore the need or demand and let things get critical (more on that one later).

A good example of the first circumstance is the cattle industry. For years now, we have seen advertisements for beef telling us that "it's what's for dinner". But according to something I read, this advertising campaign has created such a demand for beef that the supply does not meet the demand. Therefore, cattle are being injected with growth hormones so they mature quicker so they can be slaughtered at an earlier age. I believe it said previously a cow would be slaughtered at 36 months (check me on that). Now because of the hormones, they are slaughtered at 16 months. So they industry has created the demand and now is struggling to fill it. (And I'm not going to go into what happens to people that eat beef that has been given these hormones.)

In the second circumstance, we keep hearing that there is a huge demand for healthcare professionals in Florida, specifically nurses. There simply are not enough of them. But there are plenty of nurses around. So why is the demand so high? Because the companies doing the hiring are setting very high requirements.

I have a friend that was an LPN (Licensed Practicing Nurse). She went back to school to get her RN (Registered Nurse) at a two year school giving her an Associates degree. Companies looking for RNs currently will not hire someone unless they have a four year or bachelors degree. In fact, nursing homes used to be the first place a lot of RNs went to get the experience to move into a hospital environment. But now, those places are only accepting RNs with a four year degree. So, although there are plenty of nurses around, nurses who spent thousands of dollars to get a higher degree, can not get jobs. So here is an industry that has the need, but would rather work in a shortage situation because their demands are too high. (I can remember years ago applying for a job at the company my wife worked for. And although I had about 10 years experience doing that type of work and could work circles around the person they hired, I lost the job to someone who had a higher degree because they valued paper more than ability.)

So, what is the moral of this story? I really am not sure. If anything, it is a need for balance. Balance so we don't over sell the market and force ourselves into "unique" methods of keeping up, and balance to release some standards so that there is no shortage. I think it's time for everyone to take a breathe and look at what they are doing and see how it can be improved for the betterment of everyone. Okay, everyone now, inhale...

At Caring Palms, we pledge to do the best work we can at every session.  We not only do this to continue to earn your business, but because we believe that you deserve the best care possible every time you are here.  This is true whether it is massage, or energy work, or classes. This is our promise.  This is what we will continue to do.