#MyDecaturAL

Day 28: How Much Longer?

Self-Care /

Well, today is 28 days since I had to (temporarily) close Harvest Moon Massage Therapy. It has certainly been an eye-opening ride. I started off the first week by bolting out of bed, showering, getting dressed, putting on makeup (gasp!), and filming a bunch of videos for Idle Sole Wellness. That lasted 5 or 6 days before my energy and enthusiasm began to flag. What I discovered is that I was running from all the feelings of grief, panic, uncertainty, etc. Then about day 21 something inside me broke open and I finally relaxed.

Once I began to deal with the feelings, I spent some time figuring out what to do. I’m not one to not be busy or productive. I find it difficult to just sit and watch tv. So, I thought I would give you a survey of what I’ve been doing with my time.

What I’ve Been Doing

  • Learning to edit and splice video footage together to create a not-so-professional video wellness series. Again, why not, I have the time and it can only help in case of future projects. Want to see it? Click here to sign-up!
  • Trying to figure out what to do with all the stuff that’s in our “to donate” pile, but can’t go anywhere yet.
  • Crocheting and trying to figure out how I have so much yarn and unfinished projects!
  • Sewing masks, it’s a fabric de-stash project that’s helping me feel like I’m still relevant. The word “non-essential” is just rude!
  • Zoom happy hour with a great friend from Birmingham. She’s single, I worry about her.
  • Spending time outside in the sun in between the rainstorms and dodging the rumbling bumblebees
  • Getting my garden ready for planting day!
  • Cooking a lot and rejoicing when I can do curbside!
  • Baking cookies and bread and then eating it. I have visions of my table groaning every time I take a bite!
  • Replacing a dryer vent (that was hard)
  • Applying for unemployment and the EIDL loans/grants. Both new adulthood experiences
  • Keeping up with the changes in sanitation recommendations for when we do get to open back up
  • Taking a correspondence course. Because, why not? I have the time and I’m just holding my breath hoping I get back to work soon and can use it!
  • Cleaning and cleaning and cleaning some more
  • Checking in with family to make sure they’re all safe
  • Designated grocery shopper and pharmacy runner
  • Watching gobs of movies and Netflix and TV and Amazon Prime
  • Learning to create and run a t-shirt fundraiser to help with business expenses while we’re shutdown (it’s over now, but I have a few extra shirts if you’re interested)
  • Zoom happy hour with my barefoot massage peeps. Tiki Style!
  • Drinking too many adult beverages and sodas. Our favorite Mexican place did margaritas by the gallon last Friday. I’m happy to report we still have some of it left!
  • Canceling my next Ashiatsu class and trying to figure out if that needs to extend into May’s Fijian class
  • Walking laps around the neighborhood when it’s not raining
  • Staying up too late and getting up at a time my grandmother would have considered scandalous!

If you’re also in quarantine, I’m sure your list looks similar-ish. If you’re not in quarantine, know that I’m rooting for you to stay healthy and strong.   

How Much Longer?

As to how much longer it’s going to be before I’ll be back in the office and accepting clients…I’m not sure. Right now, the Alabama Department of Health and the Governor’s order says no sooner than April 30th. I don’t think the state even knows what re-engaging “non-essential” businesses is going to look like.

I know it’s not the answer any of us want to hear. I’m ready to get back to work. The part of me that doubted I could be my own boss for long (inner voice: “because I’m too lazy”) is starting to rear its ugly head again. I’m ready, ready, ready to move and groove and get everyone back on the table. There’s so much stress and pain and pressure and uncertainty and EVERYONE needs a massage right now and probably a hug. I hope you have someone to hug.

Oh, and have you seen these quarantine bingo cards? No… scroll down to find one! I hope it brings a little bit of fun into your day! Once you ‘Bingo!’, treat yourself!

Self-Care Bingo Card!

If you’ve made it this far into this unfocused and randomness, I hope you’re having a wonderful day!
Peace,
Sharon

Sharon Bryant at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Therapist!

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Idle Sole Wellness is Open!

Massage /
Idle Sole Wellness Icon

The Idle Sole Wellness Series is finally live and you can sign up now!

How it Works:

  1. If you are able and willing, click here to sign up!
  2. Please consider a small donation. All proceeds go to helping pay the rent and other recurring expenses that don’t stop even during a pandemic.

Read more about Idle Sole Wellness and see the first video here!

Thank you for supporting all local small businesses!

Sharon Bryant at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Therapist!

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Project Idle Sole Wellness is Underway!

Massage /

If you’ve been following along over on my Facebook page, you’ll have seen the video that I did talking about this new project I’m developing to help everyone experiencing stress, anxiety, and pain right now. I decided to call it Idle Sole Wellness because, well, my soles aren’t working right now and I need something to keep myself busy!

I wanted to go ahead and get this information out into the universe even though not everything is in place yet. This is just a sample of the kinds of bite-sized, actionable wellness tips that I’ll be pushing out regularly for you to use to manage and hopefully improve your life!

Sharon Bryant at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Therapist!

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COVID-19 Screening Procedures at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy & Reflexology

Massage PSAs /
book, bezel, read, educate yourself

Don’t Let FEAR Allow You to Treat Others POORLY!

Since a lot of things are going to be changing rapidly, I just wanted you to know what to expect when you come in for your massage in the next while. I also wanted to put together a resource that you can use to find information on this latest iteration of the coronavirus. Keep yourself and your family safe and if you need help, ask for it. If you see someone in need, help them or arrange to get them help. We are going to get through this together!

What to expect at your next appointment!

Starting Monday, March 16th, 2020, we will be implementing a few new screening procedures upon your arrival at the office. Be prepared to answer the following questions and perform the following activities.

  • Have you or anyone in your family been diagnosed with COVID-19?
  • Do you have or has anyone in your family or workplace had a fever in the last 72 hours?
  • Do you have or have you had a sore throat in the last 72 hours?
  • Do you suffer from seasonal allergies?
  • Have you traveled in the last two weeks? Where to and by what mode?
  • Have you been in a large crowd within the last two weeks?
  • Please wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before our session begins.

COVID-19 Resources

I’m also pumping out more information through my Facebook page. Please follow along over there for not just COVID-19 specific information, but all kinds of uplifting, fun things to do while we’re all getting through this. And if you need someone to talk to, call me! Don’t be scared and lonely. There are lots of people out here in the world who are more than willing to be a listening ear and friend.

Sharon Bryant at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Therapist!

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Regarding COVID-19

Massage PSAs /
An art drawing of a Coronavirus

No Need to Panic…

In case you missed the Facebook post and the email I sent out regarding COVID-19 and how I plan to deal with it, here is the info along with some helpful links for additional info. Also, I’m as tired of reading/hearing/thinking about this mess already as you are, but being a business owner who touches folks for a living I’m sort of on the front line having to keep an eye on this. So… 

Now that Alabama has their first confirmed cases of COVID-19, I just wanted to let you all know that nothing has changed here at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy & Reflexology. I’m still seeing clients, still taking appointments, and still doing all the laundry.

That being said, we are stepping up our cleaning and hygiene game and wiping down everything several times a day in addition to the normal and customary between client hygiene routine. The landfill will be choked with bleach wipes if we have anything to do with it. This makes me a little sad, but I don’t know any other way to kill this stuff and keep us all safe from the COVID cooties.

I trust that you are also doing your part to keep us all safe and healthy by taking all the common sense precautions we’ve all been reading and hearing about. However, if you are sick, think you are getting sick, or think you might have been exposed in some way to something, or are just not willing to take that chance for whatever reason, please reschedule your appointment. I will totally understand and respect whatever decision you need to make that is best for you.

I will in turn keep my office as clean as possible and I swear if I feel even a sniffle coming on I’ll be rescheduling you. Part of doing that will entail turning visibly sick clients away at the door. Don’t make me do that. Please. I know the Bradford Pears are blooming and everyone’s allergies are going berserk already. Please reschedule. There’s no way for me to protect everyone coming in after you if it’s not just allergies. And I don’t want to get sick or inadvertently become Decatur’s Typhoid (COVID) Mary.

Considering that testing effectively began Thursday in Alabama, I believe we are going to see a steep climb in the number of cases over the next week of people who are already sick. I am closely monitoring CDC and state and local health department advisories. Schools will be closing next week and I expect more closures will be forthcoming. If the situation degrades to the point where it’s unsafe and/or unethical for me to remain open, I will let you all know.

Be well, my friends and know that I’m rooting for us all! Now, go wash your hands again…

Peace,
Sharon

Sharon Bryant at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Therapist!

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Listen When Your Body Whispers

Massage /
Woman cupping her ear and leaning in to hear

I recently ran across a meme that said, “If you listen to your body when it whispers, you won’t have to hear it scream.” I shared it in a Facebook post because so many of my clients come to me the first time with their body screaming or complaining loudly. Regardless, waiting until you’re in pain before seeking help is not the greatest of ideas. Convincing your body it can heal itself is much easier and results occur much more quickly if you learn to listen when your body is whispering.

The idea of the body whispering intrigued me because you don’t often see hints and tips on how to identify the pre-emptive rumblings of physical malfunction. So, I spent some time talking to my regular clients and asking them what they considered whispers that prompted them to schedule a massage. Then I spent some more time with a couple of my massage communities asking the bodywork experts what they considered the early, early warnings. The following list is what I learned from exploring this idea.

How to tell when your body is whispering…

Hello, Listen!

First you have to tune in and actually start listening to your body. So many of us ignore the small aches, pains, rumblings, and grumblings that our body has. Start tuning in to those things. Here are a couple of articles that talk more about this subject.

Unexpected Emotions

If you’re normally a pretty even keeled person, but find yourself weepy for no good reason or losing patience with people or situations that normally would be no big deal, that’s a pretty loud whisper. Maybe you’re suddenly angry at situations that normally wouldn’t bother you or you feel the green-eyed monster creeping in when your friend gets some good news. Unexpected emotions are sure signs of stress whether it be work-related, family issues, or not getting enough rest. In cases like this, a good massage can help take the edge off and down regulate the nervous system allowing you to get back to your normal self.

Poor Quality Rest

There are a lot of reasons people have trouble sleeping or getting good rest. If you find yourself feeling tired or just generally lethargic then it’s time to take action. Check out your sleeping area. Make sure it’s quiet, dark, and free from attack kitties. Consider an herbal sleeping draught before bedtime. If these things don’t seem to be working it might be time to get some bodywork to see if it’s low-grade pain or stress keeping you awake. Click here to read more about creating bedtime rituals.

Discomfort

You know when your hip sort of catches when you get up from a sitting position and you have to stand there and let it unwind before you can take off, that’s the kind of discomfort I’m talking about. Or if you catch yourself absentmindedly rubbing that troublesome spot on your neck. I’m talking about those little aches and pains we ignore so we can get a little further through our day. Then there’s the restlessness that won’t let you sit still. A lot of times that is caused by discomfort that we’re not even aware of. These types of discomforts are the harbingers of real and sometimes very painful soft tissue and even structural issues. What most of us consider small, inconvenient pains can be eliminated by receiving regular bodywork and may head off looming issues that can keep us from working and enjoying life.

Reduced Function

Maybe nothing is hurting, but one day you notice you’re just having more trouble bending over to tie your shoes. Or there’s an activity you have been doing forever that suddenly is much more difficult than it used to be. Or maybe one day you just can’t do something that you did just fine yesterday. This is where your massage therapist can really shine by getting you back into fighting shape.

Apathy

When you stop caring about people, pets, your home, or activities that used to bring you joy, it’s time to sit up and really pay attention. This can also manifest as a lack of motivation, feeling overwhelmed, lack of joy, feeling fried, done, or burned out. All of these feelings are serious clues to something being wrong in our world. Perhaps we just need some downtime away from the usual stressors where we can take care of ourselves and our mental health. But sometimes it can be more serious than that and we need to see a doctor or mental health professional to guide us through it.

Where do we go from here?

So what do you do if you’re reading this and realize that your body is whispering to you? I believe there’s no magic bullet when it comes to fixing tissue issues; it takes a multi-disciplinary approach. Massage therapy is going to be one of the first things I recommend for almost everyone who has a whispering (or screaming) body. It’s minimally invasive and helps to relieve all sorts of physical, emotional, and mental issues. I usually recommend massage therapy first before seeing other bodywork and medical personnel unless someone is clearly injured, sick, or showing tendencies of self-harm.

For learning to listen to your body I recommend some form of meditation. There are an avalanche of studies being published almost every day about the benefits and value of meditation. For other more active relaxation techniques, movement, flow, and binaural beats music are invaluable tools. And finally, plant medicine, don’t forget the beautiful herbal tonics and remedies that are available to us for relaxation and healing. If you don’t know where to start with herbs, let me know and I’ll give you a referral to an herbalist.

Happy Listening!

Sharon Bryant at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Therapist!

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Cheap CEs Will Kill Your Career

Massage /
Cartoon person holding a "Will Massage for Food" sign

Maybe you read the post I wrote a while ago about how you get what you pay for when you search for massage therapy services. If so, you probably already know what my opinion is going to be concerning cheap continuing education. *This post may be more directed at massage therapists, but massage therapy consumers can benefit by knowing a bit more about how to find a better massage therapist.

Recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter on social media about how expensive massage therapy CEs are and how massage therapists really want to stop, “Paying an arm and a leg,” for continuing ed. I’ve seen comments concerning giving up their first born, pints of blood, and other ridiculous exaggerations on the costs of classes.

Continuing education classes cost money, some more than others. Online classes are a lowest common denominator situation with canned curricula that leaves a lot to be desired when learning hands-on techniques. They are however good for ethics, business classes, and refreshers for book work. Live, in-person classes cost more than online classes with good reason. Having an instructor prepare, teach, demonstrate, observe, troubleshoot, and correct deserve money and respect. Specialty classes, those that involve certifications in specific methods that not all other massage therapists offer, cost even more.

If you want to learn a new technique or improve your current skills, your computer is best used to find an instructor and their teaching schedule. Evidence is mounting that learning is best done when we are engaging with the world and without screens.

There’s Nothing Wrong With a Bargain

Don’t get me wrong, I like bargains and there’s nothing wrong with them. Unfortunately, as professionals, the continual seeking of bargains when it comes to continuing education leads to stagnation and sometimes degradation of our skills. Imagine graduating from massage school and never taking another hands-on class again. How do we expect to progress and mature in our profession if all our continuing ed is done online for the cheapest cost possible? And without being professional and discriminating in how we spend our CE dollars, how can we expect to be taken seriously by the community, medical or otherwise, and also be valued and paid for our experience?

And what about our clients?

Now imagine what our clients think. Maybe they don’t care? Maybe they care a lot that the person they pay to be an ally in their healthcare cares enough to spend the money to be the very best.

I simply can’t afford it…

Check out your local AMTA chapter. Members get a discounted rate on CEs and even non-members get a pretty good rate. Most chapters host nationally certified instructors once or twice a year. Check out your local massage schools. They also bring in nationally certified instructors occasionally and while the cost is usually more, you can save by not having travel expenses.

You Can’t Afford Not To

I know it’s not what we want to hear, but it’s important and it’s what sets the good massage therapists ahead of the bargain hunters. You simply cannot afford not to budget for and spend your CE dollars on quality, continuing education.

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Have a Grateful Thanksgiving!

Community /

This year has been so filled with blessings, personal and professional. For me to list them all would take days. One of the things that I am most grateful for is also something that has been the greatest challenge this year. If you guessed that it’s the travel, you would be right. I am so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to travel to all the different places I’ve been this year. I’m grateful for all the education I’ve received. I’m thankful for all the instructors who have so graciously shared their lives and expertise with me this year. And I can’t even begin to express how full my heart is at the reality of this new venture of becoming an instructor for the Center for Barefoot Massage.

I’m also extremely grateful that my clients have stuck with me throughout this year that has been so full of leaving the office to travel all over on these educational forays. I would promise it’s not going to happen again, but until I actually have Alabama Barefoot Massage Training Center up and running I will be traveling to finish that training.

I hope each and every one of you are having a beautiful Thanksgiving!

I hope this holiday is everything you need whether that be time with your loved one’s or time alone. And that you get to enjoy your favorite Thanksgiving dish regardless.

The office will be closed today and tomorrow so I can celebrate with my family. If you’re interested in doing a little Black Friday or Small Business Saturday shopping, gift certificates can be purchased over here.

The office will be back open next week before (you guessed it) I leave once again for Cincinnati and another CBM training. It’s almost over, it’s almost over, it’s almost over…if I keep saying it, it has to be true!

♥

Sharon Bryant Harvest Moon Massage Therapy is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Specialist!

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Sights From San Antonio

Ashiatsu /

Many of you already know I recently went to San Antonio, TX for a big training. I took what is formally called FasciAshi Fundamentals which is a big fancy phrase for more Ashiatsu barefoot massage training. What that means to you, I have new techniques to help you get out of pain!

It was a lot of very hard work, but I am so energized and proud to be bringing these new skills to my clients.

Enjoy the photo show!

♥

Sharon Bryant Harvest Moon Massage Therapy is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Specialist!

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