Today's member spotlight is Mary Hardin, advanced craniosacral practitioner and board certified polarity therapist. Mary's business is Ultrasonic Core Body Therapy in Culver City, California.
Q: What inspired you to be a bodyworker?
A: There's a concept in polarity therapy about "holding space." It's creating a space for you and the client that's in alignment for the highest good of both. It's like that feeling you get when everything is right in the world and you feel like your true self. It's something I loved about receiving the work and so I thought by doing the work I'd have an opportunity to be in that space more often.
Q: How long have you been doing bodywork?
A: I started studying Polarity and Craniosacral work 17 years ago and worked part-time at first and then started to this work full-time in 2010.
A; What is your favorite thing about being a bodyworker?
Q: My favorite thing about my work is seeing how the lives of the people I work with change for the better. Sometimes that's not something I see right away but months or years later they'll tell me what a profound effect a session had on their life.
Q: What do you feel is the most challenging issue for bodyworkers?
A: The most challenging issues is getting people to put their health and well-being at the top of their to-do list and to understand that bodywork will help improve the quality of their lives.
Advice:
Try to imagine things from your client's perspective and offer what they're needing. I think it's important to make the whole experience as easy as possible for the client. Make it easy for them to find you, easy for them to schedule with you, easy for them to pay you.
Q: What inspired you to be a massage therapist?
A: I was inspired to become a massage therapist as a result of everyone at my CNA job loving their shoulder "rub and foot rubs" on our night shift as CNA, even the nurse would be at the head of the line. She would send someone upstairs to get my peppermint oil so I didn't have to smell sweaty feet.
A: I have been a massage therapist for 5 years, all of those working for myself right out of college.
A: I love meeting new clients and seeing all the results as they become regulars, watching improvements.
A: Finding the right software that can be the best thing for your business, that makes all these tasks easier to do for us, but ultimately making it easy to track stuff to reward clients, remember details of their sessions easier and allows them to schedule online so we don't play phone tag, best too is those awesome reminders!
practicing Ashiatsu DeepFeet Bar Therapy.
A: Get Bodywork Buddy now!!! The only other advice I would give is a program that no longer exists for helping with all the other business stuff. But really opening your heart to be there for the clients vs worrying about the financial part of business, worry about money and it becomes the focus, worry about the clients it builds them knowing you truly care about them... OR WAIT NO!!! GO take ASHIATSU and save your bodies now!!!! BEST THING EVER!!!