Caring Palms will be closed Saturday December 31^st for New Years Eve.

Whether you are traveling, or staying at home, we hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe holiday season.

Caring Palms has set the class dates for the first eight months of the year, as announced in the last newsletter. All classes dates have been solidified with the hotel, registered on CEBroker, and are available for sign up.

In the first eight months, we have three Reiki 1 classes, three Reiki 2 classes, two Reiki 3 classes, and a Reiki 4 class. We also have a firm date on an Advanced Body Mechanics and Techniques class. (Even though this class is needed by most everyone, it has not been well attended in the past even though the 35 people that have taken it loved it. Should this class not get any students, it will not be offered again. So if you are interested, sign up early, and get others to sign up as well.)

You can register for any classes from the full website (not mobile) either Classes, Reiki, Register for Classes, or Continuing Ed, either Reiki or Advanced Body Mechanics and Techniques (whichever you desire, then Register for Classes. Because these are being held at a hotel, a minimum of four (4) students is required for each class. We also need to know early so that the hotel can be notified in case we need to cancel. So don’t wait til the last moment to sign up.

You can see the list of class dates in the articles below.

It’s New Years! So what? It’s time to start making resolutions. Why? So we can throw them away by February? It’s time to look at the bright and shiny, and take that into your being. There’s been bright and shiny all year round. Why is now so special?

New Year’s day is just a date on a calendar. Because it is the start of the new year, we feel we need to redo ourselves. This puts energy into the date, but there’s energy in all days. Want to start a new hobby? Want to make changes in your life? January 2^nd works just as well as the first, or May 15^th, or how about April 27^th? There is nothing magical in a date, other than what you put into it. If you want to believe that a certain date is magical, then do so. Then take that magic and do something positive with it.

Making changes in yourself can be done at any time, and should be an ongoing process. You don’t just flip a switch and find yourself changed (though if you put the energy and belief into it, you can).

Positive change starts with an idea, a thought, a desire to do something different.  Next comes putting that change into action. This could be starting an exercise regimen, or deciding to react differently in certain situations. You choose a time to start, and then you work with it, modify what you do, how much you do.

If your goal is exercise, you don’t start with a five mile run. You start slow, and work up to it. Increase the distance as you go. Of course, you might miss a day, or not go as far. That may happen for several days. The key is to force yourself to get back to it, to work to get it where you want it. You don’t just give up and consider yourself a failure. You realize that you made the commitment to do something, so do it. You may need to modify the process, but that is still keeping with it.

The same is true with personal development. This could be going to classes, or just changing the way you react to things. Say if you were a person that has anger issues, your goal might be to wait a second before reacting to stimulation that would provoke you, to step back and ask yourself if you really need to get angry. This may work the first four or five times you get provoked, but maybe the next time, it doesn’t. Again, that is not failure, just a setback that needs to be considered and thrown into the process.

In a relationship, there is give and take. There is compromise. One changes their expectations and their viewpoint. Making personal development is being in a relationship with yourself. Not everything works. Compromise is definitely involved in getting to where you want to be, and sometimes that target changes. That is not to say you are lowering your expectations of what you want out of yourself. It is simply making a change as to where you want to be, and how you want to get there. No one is perfect, nor can they be 24/7.

So, commit to yourself. Set a goal. Start making positive change. Pick a date and begin. It doesn’t need to be one others set for you, just one of your choice. And don’t set an end date. Positive improvement is something that you will continue to do, always.

Each year, my wife and I write at least one holiday story to send out as cards and bring people a chuckle. We did a first story, but then something decided it needed to flow through. While spirit helps with all my writing, this one was pushed through. And although it is after the holiday, I thought I would post it anyway to let you see what spirit wanted to say.

(Over 28 years, we have written 42 stories, and you can see them HERE.)

Since people do not see the t-shirt designs too often, a new shirt will be featured each month.

The following is a list of currently scheduled classes. This class is a two-day class worth 12 CE hours for 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 schedule is as follows:

You may sign up for any of these through the website, or over the phone with a credit card.

All classes are scheduled to be held at the Caring Palms Studio. Should the location change, that change

will be on the website and students notified.

Maximize your results with less effort. Utilize the science of martial arts and apply it to massage. Advanced Body Mechanics and Techniques for Massage Therapists, is designed to reconnect the massage therapist with proper body mechanics and techniques while putting a new twist on things and showing how to get more pressure with little effort. While it does go over some basics, it takes body mechanics to a new level where every move involves the use of the therapist's entire body so they can work without hurting themselves. The class being part lecture, part hands-on practice takes positions, centering, and the proper use of body strength from Japanese martial arts and applies them to the art of massage therapy. It also shows how to focus one's energies to increase their strength with simple exercises meant to teach the student how to 'think' beyond where they are working so they can get deeper into the client and to channel their energies to the point of thought. The student will learn how to focus their energies and use their body to do deep work 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 does, but in a new light as well as moves many people may not have seen before. 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.

This class is for licensed massage therapists or anyone that regularly uses massage in their practice. For those looking to learn basic massage for relaxation for their partner or friends, see the website on the Massage For Couples classes.

To sign up for classes, go to the website and select Continuing Education, Advanced Body Mechanics and Techniques, and Class Schedule to see additions and changes or to sign up.