Being an educator/ massage therapist has many rewards, one of which is that you get to see the fruits of your labor in the bodies, hearts and lives of your students and clients. If the service you provide truly meets a fundamental need, it will often inspire a flow of gratitude and reciprocal needs met.   Depending on your orientation, one might call this the law of circulation, the golden rule or good business practice. In my experience, offering a service that truly meets the fundamental needs of another and getting that reflected back is an awesome job perk. I pass along a few reflections I received this week as an offering of what is possible in meeting the needs of another as a  Bodyworker.

Every Wednesday for the last 25 years, the Independent, Santa Barbara's favorite weekly paper, treats their staff after their paper goes to press with "BTI" and bagels.  Yesterday, Tanya Spears Guiliacci, the Indy Operations Manager gave me an emphatic declaration of how much that weekly fifteen minutes in the chair, after a week of sitting at the computer producing their paper, makes a difference. "The Independent EXISTS all these years because of the Body Therapy Institute. We FUNCTION because of you. You should see everybody, when we walk out that door after our session we are floating!"

Every so often a returning graduate comes back to the classroom. This week, Sean Reihl of Real Bodywork joined me in the classroom, 25 years now since his first class at BTI. Sean has gone on to produce over 40 Bodywork DVDs , dozens of phone apps for massage, Santa Barbara Massage Crème, and just for "fun" is returning to private bodywork practice and classroom Instruction. He is recognized as a definitive authority in our industry.  Ten years into his career Sean shared: "The training I received at BTI set the course for the rest of my life! It was the best thing I ever did."  Fifteen  years later,  Sean remains open, generous and self disclosing. He shared during check-in circle, "Its really nostalgic to be back in the classroom, I felt like crying in the first five minutes. I really love doing the QiGong exercises." Sean then pulled me aside and shared: "Geri and I are taking a leadership training and there is a lot of discussion of how important it is to be embodied. I have to say, this is so much better, here we don't just talk about, we are actually do it."

Reflecting on gratitude has the interesting effect of generating more gratitude. Just now, while sitting at my desk and reflecting on expressions of gratitude from our grads, I received a phone call from Isabel Darcy from Wales to register for the upcoming Medical Qi Gong program with Matthew Jones.  She plans to commute to Santa Barbara from her mom's home in Oregon.  She said,  "I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to take all the amazing courses and receive the experiences that you offer. Learning to love myself, trust myself, become more connected to myself in a safe environment- that kind of transformative experience is hard to come by."

If you are looking for an embodiment centered, career training, a jump start on your body's capacity to function,  or a deeply transformative experience, at the Body Therapy Institute we have something to offer that is designed to meet that need. We invite you to peruse our courses below, join us for a free intro, a course or an entire program.