Massage School Notes, Study Tips and Ideas from Massage Students
Take your career seriously. Be proud of yourself and your work! Massage therapists have been working for decades to earn rights, respect, and a good reputation for the field of massage therapy. You are a medical professional with knowledge and skills and people trust you! Be professional. Be ethical. Be proud of yourself and your career! Live up to the title of massage therapist and continue to earn respect for it. See other massage school tips…
I am a visual, as well as a hands-on learner, so one of my favorite strategic moves was purchasing laminated posters of the anatomical systems of the body–skeletal, muscular, lymphatic and fascial. I tacked them to my apartment wall. While I practice my drums I can also study the vocabulary and location of different parts of human anatomy. Continue…
During my first clinic, my first client came in and I immediately felt her stress radiating in the room. Soon, I was able to practice maintaining energetic boundaries with the help of my teachers. I believe it is important for massage therapists to not only pay attention to their client’s issues but their own issues as well. I have realized that being aware of my own emotions and troubles helps me recognize which emotions are mine, and which ones are the client’s emotions. Being in tune with my own body first allowed me then to be in tune with the client. Read more…
My advice to anyone considering studying massage therapy is to begin studying the muscles now! Studying the muscles and working on family and friends before starting school will confer a massive advantage to the process of internalizing the routines and the information learned in class. The Trail Guide to the Body is a great text for learning about muscles, as is The Concise Book of Muscles. Other than that, practice practice practice! It’s like learning a language before traveling to the country where the language is spoken: you don’t need to, but it will accelerate your ability to engage meaningfully with your surroundings. Where before I was concerned about the “standardizing” of my touch, I now see how the knowledge and practice I am gaining through a studied curriculum is enhancing my intuitive capacities. This greatly encourages me to continue deepening my study of massage, so that I may serve myself and humanity in ever more radical and compassionate ways! Read the essay…
I believe that learning how to learn is a key skill that can help people grow and succeed throughout their lives. It can not only help them better understand a topic they’re studying, but it can also enable them to retain that knowledge for a longer period of time. For that reason, I made sure to use that skill in my own life, especially in my classes as a massage therapy student. First, I always make sure to space out the days when I study in order to avoid cramming the night before a quiz or a test. Instead of attempting to learn everything at one time, I only study certain parts of a general topic and then later try to connect them all together as a whole. Doing so allows me to develop a deeper and more systematic understanding of specific concepts that I’m learning and how they’re all related to one another. It also makes studying less stressful. Additionally, if I end up getting confused about something, then I would have time to ask my professor or classmates for extra help on that topic. Continue reading…
When I first started learning kinesiology in massage school, getting the muscle origins, insertions, and actions to stay in my memory was difficult. It was a different kind of information than I was used to. I found that writing the information about each muscle on flashcards helped, but I needed to really solidify it. Even though I had written each muscle and kinesiology term out at least twice, and drawn pictures and labeled them, I was still having trouble remembering them. I found that the best way to learn for me, was by teaching. I would take whatever information I could remember, no notes, no flashcards, all from memory and try to teach the information to everyone who would listen. Even if I had trouble at first explaining the concepts and details, just getting it out of my memory and putting the content into words was what really helped. Keep reading…
Test anxiety is a particularly ironic curse for students, especially for students of massage therapy, who specifically want to help others relax! While breathing, positive thinking, and coffee are certainly going to help us get through our next massage exam, there is nothing that can compare to simply being prepared. Now, “being prepared” does not mean hitting the books the night before the exam! We should try to stay on top of reading our notes and textbooks. There is nothing more helpful for test taking than actually knowing the material on the test. However, the pages upon pages of material required for a comprehensive exam can be overwhelming, but there are some effective study tips and tricks that can come in handy! Firstly, most comprehensive exams have their own “language,” and it is necessary to (1) learn the language of tests. This is where practice tests, such as the ones that can be found on MBLExGuide, are particularly important. We begin to recognize patterns in the wording of questions, and we can say, “what they’re really asking here is…” You cannot do too many practice tests! Keep reading…
Tired eyes from poor sleep, a fluttering stomach, and an uncomfortably pounding heart, can be familiar feelings to any student on test day. Test anxiety is stressful, and it was my least favorite thing about school. But there is good news; it doesn’t need to be like that. Imagine this scenario instead: you show up on test day feeling well rested, confident, and even excited because you just know you are going to ace the massage test! The key to calming those nerves is to use a solid test prep strategy for studying and taking the exam, so you feel confident and well-prepared. These strategies and tips will help you on tests in massage school, as well as when you take the MBLEx to get your massage license. The following five strategies are what took me from being afraid of tests, to looking forward to them. Strategy number one is to believe in yourself. This may be the most important advice of all. You can do this! Positive self-talk is so vital for increasing confidence. Even if it feels impossible, fake it until you make it. Tell yourself that you can and will ace that massage exam. Keep reading…
Unless you know Latin or Greek, learning anatomy and muscles is like to learning another language. The secret is to simply translate the Latin or Greek names to your own language that you are already familiar with, and create anatomy mnemonics to help remember groups and associations between terms. For example, the “deep six” buttock muscles are piriformis, quadratus femoris, gemellus superior, gemellus inferior, obturator internus, and obturator externus. Clear as mud! However if we translate all that heavy Latin to English you get the PEAR, the SQUARE, the TWINS, and the COVERS. The Latin names refer to their shapes and positioning! Read more…
It has taken me years to let go of the poor study habits that I relied upon to get me through my high school and college careers. As a student of massage therapy, my heart and soul are invested in my education. The material I am learning now affects how closely I will understand my future clients’ bodies and my own body as an instrument. This realization, along with some dedicated and inspiring teachers, have encouraged me to find new ways of learning that will allow me to hold onto this information for life. Kinesiology has been one of the most engaging and eye-opening areas of study I have encountered. The muscles of the human body have truly captivated my imagination. As a creative and visual learner, I can apply my love for sketching while I study. I have a dedicated notebook where I draw a portrait of and give reverence to each muscle and its boney friends. During that process, I familiarize myself with the curves, boundaries, and lines of the muscle. I do this before we discuss these muscles in class, so that while my instructor lectures, I have a familiar image to reference. Read more…
My first exams and midterms were coming up fast and I didn’t feel like I knew anything at all. I made flashcards and studied my books and notes, but nothing seemed to really stick until I decided to study with another classmate. We would quiz each other from our books. For instance, with anatomy, we would point to a spot on our friend Walter (the skeleton) and ask each other what that bone, process, or joint was called. Another helpful study tip was that we made up our own little stories of what the name of the bone, process, or joint sounded like. Even though studying by myself helped me a little, studying with another classmate was way more helpful. I’m a visual person, so I’ve discovered that with people who have a hard time understanding things like me, I’ve learned that building pictures of what and where things are helps a lot. The instructor really helped me learn through activities. Keep reading…
Hi! My name is Eleanor and I wanted to share some of my best study strategies for massage therapy school. I’ve shared these study strategies with my fellow massage students, and the ones who have implemented them have seen an improvement in not only their test scores but also their overall comprehension and information retention. I wasn’t always studious nor did I care to memorize facts or score well on tests. In high school I did the bare minimum to get by. What changed here is that I am super passionate about the material we are learning in massage school because I know every ounce of information I am able to retain will shape me into that much better of a massage therapist when I graduate. The first few tips for self-care may not seem important or relevant to studying but trust me, they’re possibly the most important. I tried to get by without self-care. I wanted to prove I was serious and studious. Nothing else was important besides school and work. Well, I burnt out quickly and my brain couldn’t handle any more information. I started finding myself procrastinating and going back to old habits simply because I was so unhappy. Keep reading…
Studying the test material in multiple ways over multiple sessions for a span of time, like a few months, conditions the brain to facilitate information recall when cued. Study in a fun manner using all the different areas of the brain. This is called multimodal learning because it uses multiple modes of learning. For example, illustrations, written notes, colors, music, etc. Ask yourself how can I make studying more stimulating and fun with visual, auditory and kinesthetic (physical) techniques? Visually looking over the material while highlighting allows the brain to remember the important stuff. If you are artsy try to incorporate your favorite colors, brightly colored flashcards or illustrations. Read more…