Journal Tag: remedial massage

Seeking remedial & pregnancy massage therapist

massage therapist

Are you a massage therapist passionate about treating people trying to conceive, undergoing IVF, those who are pregnant and new parents? Do you want to work in one of Melbourne’s most highly regarded fertility practices whilst growing your massage career?

A rare opportunity is available now for an experienced Massage Therapist to join our team at Fertile Ground Health Group.

Fertile Ground Health Group practitioners have been leaders in their respective professions for IVF support, fertility, pregnancy-related treatments and general reproductive medicine care for over 23 years. Our practitioners are well respected amongst medical specialists and experts within this area of practice with strong referral relationships. We pride ourselves in providing exceptional standards of patient care and believe that collaboration and co-creation create the best learning environment where everyone involved benefits – practitioners, patients and the team supporting both.

We  feel really grateful to be in a position to be able to offer this opportunity to our professional community. We have a large influx of new patients every week, ready and waiting for the right new practitioner, as well as a long term, dedicated patient base looking to try someone new.

Massage Therapist Position Eligibility

To be eligible for this position, you already have passion, interest and experience as a Massage Therapist in fertility, pregnancy or postpartum massage and beyond.  Ideally, you love working with people trying to conceive, those who are pregnant and new parents, and you want to simplify your practice to focus on being a fantastic practitioner and dedicating your efforts to growing your patient reach and massage career with the support of Fertile Ground Health Group.

Great skills and a passion for massage is required and your desire to develop referrer relationships and achieve patient results is a must (we can help you develop these skills). Additional training in fertility or pregnancy massage will be highly regarded (but not essential), and mentoring is available in our signature treatments for fertility, pregnancy and postpartum (mother roasting) massage.

As a Massage Therapist on our Team You Receive:

You will not only receive dedicated business management and administrative support, but will also be immersed in a collaborative team of well-known professionals to grow, work and co-create with. We provide support and opportunities from all angles to guide, develop and expand your professional profile. You will have new patients waiting to see you and the established reputation of Fertile Ground Health Group to provide you with a consistent flow of patients to work with on an ongoing basis. You will develop a full practice with ease.

Further to this, one of our much loved massage therapists needs to go overseas for a couple of months for family reasons mid this year and we are looking for someone with the capacity to add extra time to fill this need.

You Are Ideal for this Position if You:

  • Are ready to hit the ground running as a busy practitioner, quickly.
  • Value collaboration and your ability to develop referrer relationships and patient results.
  • Want to establish yourself as a leader in the massage profession and you are willing and ready to raise your profile through opportunities that excite you.
  • Understand the value of cultivating a following within the community for your services in particular, with methods such as writing blogs, social media, relationship building, potential speaking opportunities (to health professionals or patient groups), running workshops, classes or support groups (in person, on zoom or on social media).

As a member of our team you receive full access to all the foundational goods that come as part of the extensive springboard that is Fertile Ground Health Group, providing you with endless opportunities to accelerate your practice.

The Massage Therapist We’re Looking For

We are looking for an experienced Massage Therapist who would like to simplify the work involved in running a business, who is ready to focus on being a fully supported, fantastic practitioner, dedicating efforts to growing patient reach, enhancing their profile and growing their career with Fertile Ground Health Group.

Massage Session Times

You will need to commit to a minimum of two massage sessions per week, with a minimum of 4 massages per session. There is immediate room for more sessions than this or growth if desired. You will be working in one of Australia’s most intentionally beautiful and vibrant clinic spaces with an extensive dispensary supplying the entire clinic’s prescription needs at The Melbourne Apothecary.

What is The Melbourne Apothecary?

The Melbourne Apothecary (MA) been created to provide Melbourne’s first prescription-only naturopathic dispensary, serving the Fertile Ground Health Group team and community, as well as filling prescriptions for Naturopaths and their patients all over Australia. The MA serves to protect the privacy of our fertility and IVF patients (for those who want it) along with opening up to the general health population as a street-frontage “shop” and general health practice. It is a truly beautiful space and strives to be an example of what is possible.

Apply for this Massage Therapist Position

To apply for this next step in your Massage career, please email a cover letter and resume to Charmaine Dennis and Carly Woods at management@fertileground.com.au

Applications will close Friday 29th March 2024. Apply asap as we will be interviewing and filling the position as soon as the right candidates land in our inbox.

 

“Touch was never meant to be a luxury, it’s a basic human need.” Irene Smith

Getting to know your practitioner – Nicole McCowan, FGHG massage therapist

What do you love about your work as a remedial and pregnancy massage therapist?

I love being able to give women relief from any aches, pains or discomfort they have. I also absolutely adore when women lie down on the table and 9 times out of 10 there is an instant “Ähhhhhhhh” moment as they allow themselves to relax, knowing that the next 60-90 minutes is all about them and nurturing their bodies. Being a remedial and pregnancy massage therapist it’s my job be as caring, kind, compassionate and knowledgeable about the body as I can possibly be. Considering these are my favourite things to be in life, I truly think I have one of the best jobs in the world!

As well as being an aromatherapist and reiki practitioner, you teach feminine embodiment yoga. Would you like to tell us a bit about that?

Love to, it’s a massive passion of mine. Feminine Embodiment Yoga (FEY) is a specialised yoga practice uniquely celebrating the female form and flow. The practice allows you to strengthen your body through a combination of hatha yoga poses and rhythmic movements. It also has a strong focus on breath, balancing active and restorative poses and meditation. I love being a woman and learning about how unique our minds, emotions and bodies are, so when I discovered a yoga style specifically developed for women I couldn’t get enough and I enjoy sharing this practice with all women.

As a Practitioner, layering treatments with several modalities brings incredible results. For example, in a birth preparation massage the physical massage will work on an anatomical level, with the essential oils in the massage oil penetrating to a physiological level, add some reiki to reach the energetic level and once the massage is complete we the discuss home care and simple yoga postures and stretches that can work wonders to continue the birth preparation process.

Do you think women could benefit from feminine embodiment yoga during their fertility journey? How?

Definitely, Feminine Embodiment Yoga (FEY) focuses on relaxing the nervous system by releasing physical and emotional tension from the body. When the nervous system is relaxed your body goes from being in the ‘fight or flight’ mode (sympathetic nervous system) to “rest and digest”mode (parasympathetic nervous system) allowing your body to heal and restore itself.  The practice also targets specific areas of women’s bodies for greater engagement and toning. For example, in today’s society we do a lot of sitting at desks, in front of the TV, in the car, on transport etc. So FEY focuses on building strength in your legs, bottom and core, as well as stretching out the hips and pelvis, as these areas can become tight and locked. This is especially beneficial for fertility as it creates space and increases blood flow and nutrients to the area.

You support many women with massage on their journey through pregnancy and also post birth. What are some of the biggest challenges you see women going through physically and emotionally during these times?

It is an amazing privilege to be able to support women through this time of great transition as their bodies adapt and change to accommodate the next generation they are growing inside them. Exhaustion and fatigue are common challenges I see women facing during pregnancy and post birth. We live in a fast pace society and being the matriarch of the family comes with a never ending to do list, which you have just added “grow human” and/or “raise child” to the list! It’s important to get enough rest so your body and the baby has the best chance to grow and thrive. Getting a massage is amazing for this and I’m delighted when women come in to see me, having placed importance on putting themselves and their babies on top of their priority list. A massage helps relieve tension, headaches, body aches and pains, and cramping, to name a few. Massage for birth preparation is crucial to be in the most relaxed, rested and healthy state for the labour.

Post birth massage is essential to relieve the stress your body has gone through in labour and accelerate the healing process by releasing tense muscles which aids in moving lymph, fresh blood and nutrients around the body. It can be a challenge to find the time with a newborn to make it into the clinic so we recommend timing it just after a feed and then your gorgeous baby can sleep peacefully in their pram in the room while you receive a much needed massage. If they wake and cry it wouldn’t be the first time the awesome team on reception coo them back to sleep (it’s literally a pleasure and cuteness overload). If leaving the house still seems too hard (which it totally can be trying to time feed and sleep cycles) we offer home visit massages, we recommend you have someone at home with you to watch over baby so you can fully relax in the massage and receive as much nurturing as you give your bundle of joy.

How else can men and women benefit from massage?

Massage can benefit men and women in so many ways by increasing circulation, assisting detoxification, relieving tension and pain, reducing stress and anxiety, improving sleep, and boosting your immune system, just to name a few.

Massage also counteracts all the sitting we do which is an awesome benefit considering how many of us have office jobs equating to prolonged periods of sitting. All this sitting leads postural stress which most times manifests in the shoulders and neck. More advanced postural stress can show up as pain or weakness in the lower back and gluteals. More often than not after a massage I will have patients comment how they didn’t realise how tense they were or how tight a specific area was until it was massaged. It’s highly beneficial to have a regular massage, even just once a month, to check in with your body before any aches or pains become acute or chronic.

What part of your work has ever brought you to tears?

As much as I try, I can’t help the rush of emotion when I hear about the birth, see pictures of, or meet a baby of a mother I have been massaging during her pregnancy. Its humbling and special to be able to share the joys of watching their belly grow and feeling the baby move when they receive a massage in Mum’s tum. Knowing that I have been able to support the mother through massage, which may have helped them have a more relaxed and enjoyable pregnancy is just wonderful.

Learn more about Nicole McCowan, remedial massage therapist at Fertile Ground Health Group or make an appointment to have one of her fabulous massage treatments. Online Booking

Connecting to nature: how Clary Sage essential oil supports the health of women and their wombs

clary sage

Mother Nature provides so many healing gifts to us, one of which is Clary Sage, botanical name Salvia Scarea. The gorgeous purple flowers that cascade down the stem of the plant hold the most special gift. It is in the flowers and foliage of the plant that contains its essential oil which is steam-distilled and extracted. This precious oil can then be used to assist women in so many ways. Here are some of the primary benefits.

Mind
  • Euphoric and uplifting in action it is beneficial for treating anxiety, stress, nervous tension and depression.
  • A balancing oil it is strengthening yet relaxing.
  • Assists with nervous fatigue
  • Effective for calming the mind and easing tension
Body
  • Antispasmodic and Analgesic – brings relief to menstrual cramps, assists during labour
  • Uterine Tonic – can cause contractions of the uterus, which can assist in toning and improving the effectiveness of contractions in labour
  • Emmenagogue and uterine stimulant – promotes menstruation when it is delayed, scanty or completely absent.
  • Lowers blood pressure
  • Oestrogenic action – meaning it mimics oestrogen which can be beneficial to balance hormones and during menopause. For menopause it can help reduce hot flushes, night sweats, palpitations, irritability, as well as headaches and dizziness.
Spirit

Stimulating and balancing the sacral and third eye chakras. The sacral chakra being connected to your sexual organs and third eye to your intuition.

How can I use Clary Sage?

You can use Clary Sage in applications such as:

  • Massage – add 12 drops of Clary Sage to 30mls of carrier oil. Carrier oils can include jojoba, rosehip, coconut, olive, almond, macadamia, any vegetable oils that are scrumptious and you adore to lather yourself in.
  • Hot/cold compress – add 4-6 drops to a bowl of hot/cold water and immerse your compress in the water. Repeat soaking of compress as desired.
  • Bath/foot bath – add 4 -6 drops
  • Skin care – add 2 drops to a 50 cent piece size of your daily body moisturiser. Avoid adding to facial moisturizer.
  • Inhalations – add 2-4 drops to a bowl of boiling water and use a towel to cover your head over the bowl and breath normally until steam dissipates.
  • Oil diffuser or vaporiser – add 4-6 drops

Massage is such a luscious way to absorb the benefits of Clary Sage. For that reason, and all the other benefits stated above, is why at Fertile Ground Health Group we use this essential oil in our birth preparation/induction massages.

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Contraindications

Although Clary Sage is a wonderful oil to use when preparing for and during childbirth, as well for menstruation and menopause. It is advised not to use during pregnancy before 37 weeks. Not to be consumed internally.

Nicole McCowan is an experienced remedial and pregnancy massage therapist. as well as a feminine embodiment yoga teacher. She finds both yoga and massage are wonderful ways to help women drop into their body (and out of the mind) and nourish their body, mind and spirit. Nicole has deep respect for where each woman is on her journey and will honour this as she helps facilitate healing and wellbeing through her divinely relaxing and therapeutic massage.

Emotional release during massage – an unexpected benefit

emotional release

While I was studying to become a Remedial Massage therapist I became fascinated by the change in another student’s reaction to touch. I had her lying on her back on the table and was practicing an abdominal sequence when she became quite giggly and I thought perhaps I was tickling her. She assured me that she wasn’t ticklish and as I proceeded to continue the massage her giggling was building up to a real belly laugh and then reducing to tears. It was surprising to say the least and I felt that I should try some calm breathing with her to bring her back to her equilibrium again, a technique that proved to be effective. I asked her afterwards if she had expected such a surge of emotion and she said no, that it just came out of nowhere.

Following that I also witnessed emotional changes in more people once I was practicing in a clinical setting, which prompted me to explore the reasons why these sometimes extreme and vulnerable changes were occurring. Most people reported a great sense of relief and peace afterwards and others became embarrassed and apologetic, to which I would remind them that they were in a safe place and it was a completely normal and natural thing to happen.

After some reading on the subject it was apparent that emotional release could be unlocked when accessing the soft tissue of the body through massage/touch. And to understand how this happens you need learn that in fact, soft tissue has memory which can trigger the mind to bring up remembered events from the past like involuntary flashes. And these past memories can resurface prompted by stimuli from the peripheral nervous system. It’s like remembering being in the kitchen with your mum or nanna baking yummy biscuits, or my personal favourite is when I drive close to where I was raised on a dairy farm, I open the car window to smell methane gas in the air (moo poo) and I know I’m home. Or the strange comfort I get when I smell a mixture of cigarette smoke and perfume together, that’s my mum!

It’s well known that smell is strongly associated with your long term memory, and so it begs the question of how other sensory experiences can also evoke strong memories. Whether you experience grief, euphoria, anger, fear or sadness, it can all be bundled into the phenomenon of emotional release. And if it’s happened to you, you are not alone.

Our spatial awareness to weight and gravity is a sensation that can be categorised into body senses that are linked to body memory. These are proprioception, touch, and nociception, all sensations of our body that occur whilst the brain taps into our orientation in space and gravity. We use our proprioception when we close our eyes and touch the tip of our nose. The brain sends information through special nerve fibers in your muscles and joints that are constantly making adjustments in accordance with where you are in space, supporting stretching and shortening muscles and controlling how much pressure there needs to be to find balance. The messages from your brain relay where your hand is in relation to your nose. The sense of touch with the right amount of pressure and finer nuances like texture are registered. Nociception is the pain that is registered due to some kind of body damage, whether that is from a burn, chemicals, or even how our environment affects us.

For example you might recall being in the middle of a cyclone when a fan is blowing on you, or with water being sprayed hard against your skin or when hard objects are hitting you from all directions like involuntary missiles, which might not even be as intense as the real past experience, but can still be enough to trigger that memory.  Also, memories of sexual or violent abuse, or war can have a huge physical impact on your body and can be very easily triggered.

When you strain your body to get through something that feels painful or even pleasurable, the body holds that sensation as a recording that gets locked away in the mind and so too does the physical location of where it actually touched you.  It requires a great deal of trust and good communication to help someone who has experienced an extreme event in their lives. During a massage treatment a good therapist will go very carefully and slowly, always checking in with the person so that they feel comfortable and can communicate if there are any no go zones. It’s also very important to be reassured that you they are in a safe space and in safe hands. Experienced practitioners understand that even if the person says nothing about how they are feeling, they may notice that the person is fighting to hold back tears for instance, and will gently give them permission to let go and fully experience that emotion.

As more often than not, these situations can sneak up on us without warning during a massage! The person often has no idea what brings it on until they are in the moment. Some can only feel emotion as a vague charge rippling through their body, whilst others go into a trance like state where they really zone out and then the mind wanders. And in that lucid conscious state a memory just pops in and the person has no idea what prompted it.

There are some therapists who specifically do body work to intentionally tap into deep held emotions within their client. It’s called somato-emotional release. And those therapists who are not trained in this technique can also recognise when there is emotional tension and hold space for that person to express that vulnerability for a moment and then help them to return to the present moment. It’s good to talk about it if you want to and it is definitely a healthy way to process an event that may not have been fully dealt with. And no, it doesn’t mean you are crazy. It’s just your amazing mind and body working in unison to allow a buried emotion to bubble up to the surface, which will quite possibly help to give you some closure on an event from your past.

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Written by Ros Gilfillan, Remedial Massage Therapist

Rosalyn is an experienced remedial massage therapist who enjoys working with a myriad of people from all backgrounds and ages. Her skills have been developed through treating conditions ranging from muscular, skeletal and postural issues, pre and post sports treatment for athletes and management of pain linked to injury, degenerative conditions and mental health.

Ros has also developed a special interest in working with women through their pregnancy journey and beyond. She considers the incredible changes in a woman’s body that accommodate and nourish the life of baby, to be both magical and a time that should be enjoyed given the right support system.