Walking the Walk, Not Just Talking the Talk

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

–Mahatma Gandhi

This day and age, the benefits of massage have been proven more and more to help people reduce stress, recover from injury, and overall just feel better. These simple facts help to promote myself as well as other massage therapists out there as “health-care providers.”

Many people will come into our offices or spas to seek relief, achieve better overall well-being, and even ask for our advice on health-care topics and other related subjects. Now, it’s not in our Scope of Practice to diagnose problems, write prescriptions, design fitness routines, and so forth; we leave that to the other health-care professionals. We are here to treat the discomfort in muscles, reduce stress, and improve overall wellness, and we do that by treatments, education, and leading by example.

As therapists, it is important for us to educate ourselves on the latest health-care topics and how they can impact us all. This education will assist us, the therapists, in providing the best treatments for you, as well as give us knowledgeable information that you can utilize as advice in creating the best health-care plan for yourself.

It is in my opinion, as well as that of many others, that the best way to promote health and wellness it to exude health and wellness. How do we exude it, you may ask? Following the old adage of “practice what you preach”! I don’t know about you, but it’s always been difficult for me to listen to a health-care professional talk to me about being healthy when they are overweight, have poor eating habits, drink often, smoke, and the list could go on. This is like getting pulled over by a police officer for speeding, then being issued a ticket right before he speeds off for not particular reason. There are so many other metaphors out there that we could use, but for the sake of brevity, we will limit it.  Feel free to leave your best examples in the comment spaces below. Sorry, I digress, but to me these situations just don’t make sense and almost seem hypocritical.

I love to write about health and wellness, as well as suggest simple tips to achieve these goals and promote my profession and skills. You can rest assured that all of these things I have at least tried and experienced or still practice on a regular basis. Back in 2005, I decided to lead a straight-edge lifestyle, which simply means that I don’t drink, smoke, or use any unnecessary drugs. This decision was based upon the fact that if I was going to talk about and urge others live a healthier lifestyle, I needed to follow it myself. I stretch daily, use dynamic warm-ups before activities, get a massage at least once a month, and work out at least three times a week. These activities help me stay at the top of my game so that I can provide the best treatment for my clients. I have been vegetarian and vegan, and tried many different workouts, including P90X, practiced yoga, meditation, and so much more all in the desire to see what works best for me and to understand them more to see what may work best for YOU!

Call it leading by example, inspiration, or whatever you will; I feel that in order to help others, you have to be the best you can be first. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comment section, and I will get back to you as soon as possible.