Reassessing my career

by Channary
(Atlanta, GA)

I have been massaging for over 5 years, almost 6 years now. I love what I do but I did get burned out. I did not know it was burn out at first but you can never avoid it.

When you become burned out you lose focus. I lost focus and finally shut down my practice and moved it to my home. When I came home, I was able to reassess my situation.

I love to massage. I feel it is something that I was gifted with. I have been doing it since I was about 5, maybe even younger. However when I had my practice, I started working on people I did not want to so that my expenses could be paid, I did not see my family much and I did not have time to care for myself. I had clients take advantage of (I allowed it). Gave too many discounts and also allowed myself to get into deals that I really didn't want to do. That all led to the burnout.

Once I moved home, I was able to rid of all unwanted clients. I became pickier about who I wanted to see. I was able to say the magic word of "NO" to anything that I didn't want to do. Somehow I found my voice once again. My income from massage is about the same except for the stress level is no longer there. I no longer have an office and those expenses associated with it.

My muscles became weak from massage and stress. I was in pain all the time. Now I am no longer. I started to take care of myself and began an exercise routine. Life is so much better when you are not in pain.

I also began adding magnetic therapy to my practice. I began using it on my friends and family. It helps release tight muscles much faster than my hands can in less than an hour. It also gives the client tremendous relief and results. It has saved my body from the stress that massaging puts your body through.

Since I came home, I have had more time with my young son and also created my own website on magnetic therapy. http://www.magnetic-therapy-living.com became an outlet for me to do something different besides massage yet it flows very well with my practice.

My advice is if you start to feel burnout, reassess why you chose to become a massage therapist. It might not be as drastic as my situation but making changes will help you see things better.

Good Luck to any massage therapist experiencing burnout!