MASSAGE THERAPY IS NOT A SEXUAL WORKER

A few days ago, my group received a post of an interview from Inside Edition stating a Massuer had his license revoked. I have a few words to say about this report, I am furious on a multitude of levels but calling a therapist a masseuse or masseur is now considered a dirty word and calls this profession sex trafficking and prostitution or some nefarious goings-on behind closed doors. I call a big-fat, and ladies and gents, forgive my boldness here, call it fat bullshit. For one, they must not know enough about this profession to make that judgment. Massage has been around for over 5000 years. It has always been a noble profession. Those of us that have gone to school and learned the craft and finished with our certifications and then went on to become licensed Therapists, are medical professionals and are staunch defenders of this sister/brotherhood. We are not and it bears repeating NOT SEX WORKERS. PERIOD!!!! Get it - got it- Good. These reporters and the general public have no idea the work we put into and have to learn about the body. Well, let me enlighten you. 650 hours from a school. At least 100 hours of Anatomy and Physiology with a breakdown of hours in : Myology: 35 hours Osteology: 15 hours Circulatory system: 10 hours Nervous system: 10 hours Pathology at least 40 hours. The massage therapy study is to comprise 250 hours. Included in this content area is a minimum of 50 hours of supervised practice. Contradistinctions, contraindications, and related touch modalities are to receive coverage. An additional 50 hours should cover miscellaneous Board requirements. Among them are a business, professional ethics, CPR, first aid, and hydrotherapy. Electives can account for 210 of the required hours. And after passing, you take about a 3-hour Board test. Note: Some states require more than 650 hours of schooling. Listen up- there is a reason you do an intake form before you get a massage. All those questions about your health and the medicines you take. It's my/our job to know as some medications are contra-indicated and with a massage. If you have taken pain meds, and heart meds, have you had recent surgeries, or any rashes/skin irritations, are you being treated now or in the recent past for cancer. All of these are not sexual questions, these are needs to know for your health. Relaxing massage such as the Swedish technique can lower your blood pressure. All the techniques we learn and perform on the body have a purpose, depending on the person's needs. If there is a lot of build-up of lactic acid in the muscles, deep tissue is usually needed. (For those of you that do not know- that is called a knot). We work hard and it breaks us (physically) down more than you know. Our profession is about 10 to 15 years, if we are lucky. So, to suggest that anyone you see wants to lock you behind a door and grope you and try you on for sex, it is ridiculous for one and for another those that do - either do not have a license from that state to be a real therapist or they come in with a license under a name that should be looked into. it is the public's responsibility to know who you are going to. If the therapist does not ask and tell you what is going to happen if this is your first visit. then you need to start questioning. However, if you feel comfortable, I will step out of the room for a moment, you undress and underNEATH the covers, please. You can leave undies on or off, again however you feel comfortable. Tell them how you start a massage and this is how you do it and if there is anything you need to ask or have me stop as in -We stop and ask the pressure level- if it is too hard or we need to go deeper. We ask certain questions of working on legs, stip buttocks if we feel it can help ease lower back pain(this is another subject to tackle) We always ask the clients/ patient for their comfort level and keep them draped within the boundaries of the rules and regulations or our state. This is not any level of sexual impropriety folks. And for those in the peanut gallery that wants to make a big deal and report a therapist, for a specific touch or your feelings, take notice. There is also a taboo subject called arousal during a session. YEP, I said it, so sit down and learn something. IT IS HUMAN NATURE for some to experience arousal., men and women. We are trained to ignore it. It happens. Again, it's nothing sexual. This profession has been attacked, demeaned, and put under scrutiny for far too long. It is time it ended. There is a need for a Massage Therapist, as we are medical professionals whether it's just relaxation from a stressful day/week or to move out the lactic acid causing our muscles to tighten and causing more issues. I am tired of hearing WE are the cause of this and that and the public needs protection against us- BULLPUCKEY. Where is our protection? We are subject to the whims of anyone behind those closed doors.

Bobbie's Takes: Happy Birthday

Bobbie's Takes: Happy Birthday: Yesterday was my 56th birthday. No fireworks nor party, just a quiet Sunday. My husband gets up and says Happy Birthday and asked how do I...

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was my 56th birthday. No fireworks nor party, just a quiet Sunday. My husband gets up and says Happy Birthday and asked how do I feel and I replied that I woke up to a whole new number and it feels good. 

There was a time when I felt guilty about turning older. Why? My mother passed away when I was 35 and she died at the age of 54. I felt guilty of celebrating when my poor mother didn't have the chance to have another birthday. It was awful for me and I just wanted to hide from the world. 

One day, not soo long ago, right before my big day, it hit me that I should not hide but celebrate being born and that each day I a here on this earth is a testament of my life and my mother's. She is the reason I am here. I am half of her and as long as I am here, I should celebrate not so much of my birth but living. As long as I and my siblings are here, she lives on in each of us. 

Life is getting too short and for a majority, it is getting shorter by the minute and instead of, as I did, put my head down and try and muster through the day, enjoy being alive and that each day is a celebration of life and all it has to offer. Life is just what it is, life. We are the ones that choose how to get through life. It's a choice that I now do not take for granted. 

In closing, a shout out to me and others born on this day in the same year or any different year. Happy Birthday and I hope you are celebrating your day in your life. 

One more year

As we are speeding down that highway toward the end of yet another year, how did we fare this one?
It came in like a lion on steroids and is leaving like a racing cheetah, all we have seen are the stripes from one day to the end of the month. Gone too fast.

Raise your hands if you feel as if you closed your eyes to give a smack to your sweetheart on New Year's Eve and open to finding it's almost here, once again? Where did the rest of the year go? I do recall there was a bit of Springtime because that's when the green started and I vaguely remember the summer and before you know it school started and seems like we just had Halloween. Shoot, time is getting faster and faster as the days go by.  Does anyone know if someone has put Viagra in Father Time's drink? We need to talk to that old man, Mother Nature can't seem to keep up.  I don't know about you, but my birthdays are getting closer and closer these past few years. I should have listened to my mother all those years ago when I told her that I could not wait to turn 21, I remember those words spoken as if it were yesterday (heck it could have been too), she said, "Don't wish your life away, before you know it 21 has come and gone and you are my age." No truer words. I blinked and I am now the age she was when she died.  Mothers are smart people, we need to listen more.

Days seem to get shorter and shorter and if this keeps up we will meet ourselves either coming or going. It's exhausting. I can't seem to get everything done that is needed, during the day, as I used to.  NO, IT'S NOT MY AGE.  Time seems to be slipping away like that elusive Bigfoot, you can almost reach out to grab hold but then it's gone like a flash.

We have seen yet another year of division and hate. Another year of fake propaganda filtered throughout our society. We have seen another year of police being killed, a great number than last year. Sad. Another year of disrespect, disillusions, and demagoguery. Another year of just existing for some. It's getting too much, way too much.

My wish for all in this coming decade, we find ourselves again, find what makes us Human again, find our compassion for our two-legged and four-legged creatures, we find our Faith again, we find our communities again, we find there is something bigger than we out there. Treat everyone with how we want to be treated. God made this planet and set us to thrive, we forget he can take it away as quickly as he gave. Be kind to one another. 

Thank you for this time and 2020 is upon us. God Bless.

ALL ABOARD

ALL ABOARD FOR FLIGHT 2020

Preparing to take off for the New Year - a whole new decade. 

Please make sure your attitudes and goodwill are secured and locked in, in the upright position. 

All self-destructive devices should be turned off at this time

All pain and negative thoughts, as well as any discouragement, should be put away. 

As you see the nearest exits, please leave 2019 and this decade behind. 

And as we come through the isles, we will be serving best wishes and a side of prosperity throughout the New Year. 

Should at any time, we lose altitude under pressure during our flight, reach above and pull down the Positive Thinking mask. 

Positive thoughts will then be activated. 

Once, activated, you can assist the other passengers during our flight. 

This is your Captain speaking; all doors closed and ready for take-off. 

Destination- It's yours for the taking.

🎉🎊✈📆

Thank you and signing off, have a safe flight and destination. May God Bless this New Year. 

Bobbie

Is Anything Hands On Anymore?

After seeing one of my old colleagues, this weekend, she told me she is retiring after a long and successful career. Congratulations that a great milestone, but she says it's time. Things are done differently these days and it's not the same. Everything is done online now, I stated. Nothing is hands-on anymore. 

Where is the time where you sent in a resume, got a phone call to come in and sit down with the person? Most of the time, you got a phone call whether you got the position or not--- NOT today, send online and they could give a hoot whether they get back to you or not.  To me, that is rude and very unprofessional. Yeah, one can say they have too many responses online, but in my opinion, if you put it online that gives way for someone, anyone to wade through and respond. It's just a kind gesture for those waiting. 

Going to the doctor now is online, you have to sit while they, nurses or doctors, peck on the keyboard to enter your information. Where is the write it down and pay attention to who is in front of you? I mean, come on! I know that times have evolved and are ever-changing, but when the heck does it say, leave the personal touch behind? 

I miss those times when one could sit down, look the other person or persons in the eye and have a conversation and have them listen to you and write down what needs to be and then put it digitally.  I am NOT Digital, hear my heartbeat, watch my mouth, she blinks, winks and speaks, listen to me. Those that use the pecking, which we all do these days, can put the wrong information down which can cause not to get a loan, or have the wrong diagnosis, the wrong medication, even if they pull up the wrong date of birth or name, can cause a murid of problems. 

The ones coming up in this day and time, have no idea what it's like to just sit and keep off the pecking and talk and learn and help someone other than themselves. They are growing up in a world where it is all digitally in front of us, work, play, home. It's great to be out there working and being able to be in front of someone, not in front of a screen. 

At one point, this all may end and where are these growing up going to land? They will not know how to hands-on anything.  Will, they even know how to turn on a tv without a remote or turn on the lights without a voice-activated instrument? Just things, I think about from time to time when I hear yet another industry going digitally rather than person-to-person.  

I know it's only going to progress but something to think about when a computer breaks down or a copier breaks down- would you know how to type of a typewriter? If the whole system went down in a store would you know how to use the old slide for credit cards? If the graphics went out would you know how to draw it freehand? Many things to think about in this ever-progressing digital world. 

Thanks, 

Bobbie

Bobbie's Takes: The World today, they say

Bobbie's Takes: The World today, they say: The World today, they say.  Those among us keep stating how topsy-turvy and a bizarro world we have today. Everyone at each other's t...