As we all know, our world has been turned upside down due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and so much of our world is in Limbo! Though we had to close our School facility on the 17th of March due to the Governor’s Executive Order, we did our due diligence and figured out how to keep our sixteen currently enrolled students engaged, learning and working hard towards their graduation from our New Jersey Massage Therapy Program. We will continue working with them long after that, as well – until they become Licensed Massage Therapists with the State of New Jersey and beyond.
It has not been an easy five weeks for anyone on the planet, to be sure. We are continuing to teach using current distance-learning resources: Zoom and Google Classroom. So far, we have focused on the didactic learning, with lessons on massage therapy practices, physiology, pathology, kinesiology and client treatment planning. Our efforts are working to help our massage therapy students continue their learning. They are progressing very well and it makes me proud to say we are really quite on target with the learning time-line. Take a look at our photos of our ZOOM classroom time together here – we have a day class and a night class still going strong!
We have hopes that the lecture and didactic-learning portion of our program will have been completed by the time we are able to return to the facility and regroup in our actual classroom, which the Governor is tentatively targeting as potentially May 15th. When we return to the classroom in our beautiful facility, the hope is that our students can complete their hands-on training as well as their Student Clinic hours within a month or six weeks. We are aiming to make up hours needed, if necessary, as much as possible in that first month back, in order to keep as close to our original graduation date as possible. We are staying positive and remain hope-filled. Just like our Alumni and network of Licensed Massage Therapists who look forward to returning to work providing massage treatments, our students will certainly be ready to provide therapeutic massage, which will be much needed by everyone when we are once again allowed to return to “normal” – albeit a “new normal.”
Our July Massage Therapy Certification Program will likely be starting a little later than we normally start in July (usually the second week, giving time after Independence Day festivities.) And we will start that next program just as soon as possible after graduating our current cohort of students. We typically need a few weeks in between Graduation of one cohort and Orientation of the new cohort. We will certainly be looking to set a new date just as soon as possible, once we know that we will be returning to the School facility and the Covid-19 quarantine has been lifted. Stay tuned.
Just as our massage training program continues with distance-learning, so do several of our Continuing Education Classes – at least the ones facilitated by Jim Earley, LMT. On Thursday, April 30th, Jim will be teaching CUPPING II (Facial and Abdominal) so register as soon as possible in order to receive your cupping sets in the mail in time for the class. Click on the link to register and pay. You will also need to have someone in your home to work on as Jim instructs the hands-on class. To accommodate all our current stay-at-home orders in a more reasonable way, be prepared to have the class spread over two days for four hours each day instead of the one day from 9a-6p, which is unrealistic for most people. We are doing what we can to accommodate those LMT’s who still want to take CE classes, even during Covid-19 Quarantine time.
I would also like to take a moment to CONGRATULATE Alumnus, Adam Swanger, who graduated in December and just became a LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST!
And also extend hearty CONGRATULATIONS to Alumnus, Lauren Schweizer, who graduated a few years ago and who just got married! Yes, even during this Pandemic!
Keep safe, calm and healthy during this uncertain and unprecedented time! For some inspiration, please watch our students Inspirational Videos! They sure are amazing!
https://www.youtube.com/user/BodyInMindInstitute/videos
Namaste’
Mary H. Adams, LMT, CYT, Director
Phoenix Wellness Institute, LLC
Dba Body in Mind Massage Institute