The Power of Positivity - From a Student Perspective

As a student, I have quickly come to appreciate the power of positivity. I’ve long been a believer that living life in a positive way, taking a positive and opportunistic approach to every day has a powerful impact on our mind and bodies. This outlook is one that I believe will make a good therapist a great one. For some, this outlook is intrinsic; it’s just the way some people are made. For some, it requires a retraining of the mind. It requires rethinking negative thoughts. Regardless of how you come to take on this way of thinking, I am positive that this approach is vital to one’s success in the massage therapy business; the sooner the better.

When this approach is lacking in a student, it has the ability to negatively affect the outcome of the entire class. It only takes one negative person to affect the energy of the other students. We have all been in a group setting and sensed a “shift” in the atmosphere when a new person enters the environment. Now, imagine that shifted feeling for 4 – 8 hours a day, depending on the length of your class day. It’s easy to see how the energy of each and every student can be disturbed and dragged down.

Changing one’s mindset is not an easy task. It’s an undertaking that one has to set out to do and work daily at it. It involves changing the way one thinks, as well as the way one speaks. It takes countering a negative thought: “I’m really stressed about this test today” with a more positive one: “I studied for this test, so I am confident that I will pass it”. It requires monitoring the words that are spoken” “Do we have to practice draping again? I’m tired of doing it over and over” and giving them a more upbeat tone: “We’re practicing draping again so I can be sure my client feels secure and trusts me as their therapist”. It’s a constant work in progress, but it is worthwhile not only in our future practice, but in our everyday lives.

As I journey through my experience as a massage therapy student, I am pleasantly astounded by the numerous ways that massage benefits our body’s beyond the pure relaxation aspect. I am appreciative of the day to day opportunity to become a therapist that will provide a holistic way to help clients’ bodies heal themselves. Healing the body requires a wondrous mix of delivering a physical and emotional release. In order to master this, it is of the utmost importance that we as students learn how to apply the art of technique and the art of positivity.