Five months ago, Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-12, which closed all “non-medical massage services” to limit the spread of the Coronavirus. Unless prescribed by a doctor for medical purposes, massage therapy was prohibited across the state. Most massage facilities closed at that time, including our own on-campus Portland massage clinic. Three months ago, the Governor outlined reopening procedures, specifying requirements for each phase of restarting the economy. If their county was approved for Phase One, non-medical massage providers could reopen. As of late August, every county in the state has been approved for Phase One reopening. Assuming massage […]

Portland massage therapy practitioners may now set client appointments as part of stage one Coronavirus reopening. At the same time, state guidelines set strict reopening criteria for the safety of clients and LMTs. In such amorphous times, how can therapists decide if the time is right to go back to the tableCovid-19 LMT Questions?

This question isn’t covered in massage therapist schooling, as modern times have never featured this sort of extended lockdown. To help LMTs assess their own readiness to reopen, we are providing the following relevant questions. These standards are set by the Oregon Health Authority’s Phase […]

In early days of intelligence research, IQ was the all-important number. Later, researchers such as Daniel Goleman added social and emotional components to human development. Today, interoception is gaining recognition as a new form of intelligence that may help individuals offset the intensity of modern life. What is interoception? How does it work in the body? And how can improving interoception fight burnout? Answering these questions can help us appreciate the importance of receiving regular massage.

What is Interoception?
Interoception is awareness of the body’s internal state. Interoception receptors relay internal body information to the […]