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Read the
Q&A with John Gelb
about making holidays
more relaxing...
Avoid burn-out.
Keep Your Client Happy.
Discover one of the
Secrets to Turning a Good
Massage Career into
a Great One.
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John Gelb,
CEO, Co-founder, At Peace Media
What is At Peace® Media?
At Peace Media began as a company that produced and distributed massage therapy instructional video programming. Our first program, Esalen Massage, was created under a license from the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California and we released it in May of l997.
The mission of At Peace is to create products that help people. No matter what the product is, we want people who use our products to really derive tangible benefits from each and every product that they buy from us –we are a service, not a lifestyle company.
We know we’re helping people because we are constantly receiving letters and calls from people telling us that our videos, our music and our bodycare products are improving their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
Why did you chose Esalen massage for your first instructional video?
The main reason we made the Esalen massage video was that we had experienced the massage work done at Esalen, and we thought – This is the greatest massage in the world. And it’s not surprising, really. For over 35 years it likely that no other place in the entire USA has offered so much massage, so many massage therapists, 365 days a year. Since the mid- 60s, virtually every major pioneer in the field of massage and bodywork has led workshops and taught at the Esalen Institute. People like Ida Rolf, Milton Trager, Moshe Feldenkrais, John Upledger, and many more, have all led workshops at Esalen. And since so many of the bodyworkers at Esalen have been there for long periods of time, they have had the opportunity to experience many different forms of bodywork, and incorporate many different modalities into their personal interpretation of Esalen massage.
Another special attribute of Esalen is that for over 35 years up to 12 massage therapists at a time have worked together on the same deck overlooking the ocean. Because of their close proximity, they have always been able to see the work of their colleagues to their right and to their left, making for a collaborative working environment where everyone is learning from everyone else – truly a wonderful spirit of cooperation and mutual exchange.
Describe Esalen Massage
Esalen massage is not so much a technique as it is a philosophy of integrating oneself with all the massage modalities available to create just the right bodywork for each individual client. This practice is a nurturing combination of long strokes, gentle rocking and stretching, sculpting of deep musculature and the precision of Chinese point work.
So who is the Esalen Massage Video intended for?
It’s intended for anyone who wants to learn the real basics of how to give a full-body massage. Massage therapists and massage school owners come up to us all the time when we are at industry trade shows and conferences. They tell us how great the Esalen Massage Video is as a teaching tool and that they use it in their classes to show students many different modalities. Rather than a particular technique, the Esalen Video shows how you can tailor your own individual massage style, no matter where you might have studied or learned massage therapy.
How did you select the music soundtrack for the Esalen Video?
We always knew that we wanted the perfect music soundtrack to accompany the visual images in the program, but we didn’t know who should compose the music. We met Michael Benghiat and explained what we were looking for in this piece of music, but we also thought that Michael needed to actually experience Esalen massage. We sent him on an expedition to soak in the natural hot springs at the Esalen Institute and receive a number of massages from the members of the Esalen Massage crew. We felt that Michael would have a better sense for the philosophy of massage that is done at Esalen if he visited.
We also told Michael that the music had to have a slow tempo; it had to be almost ephemeral – there, but not there, never crowding into the consciousness, as we knew from our own experiences that music with too much beat, too much melody or distracting lyrics would interrupt the peacefulness of the massage. It must have worked! Michael wrote the compositions and we contributed what we could by selecting several of the woodwind instruments that we particularly liked, and then he went into the recording studio with the various players – and what came out was pure magic.
How did At Peace Media get into the music business?
Our first music album release, Music from Big Sur, was the music sound- track to the Esalen Massage Video. We created it because almost immediately after the release of the Esalen Massage Video, we began to receive feedback from massage therapists who loved the music and told us they wanted to be able to purchase it on a CD. So we contacted Michael and he arranged for some studio time to re-engineer the music onto a CD master. We released “Music from Big Sur” in January of 1998 – the first CD release on the At Peace record label.
As time went by, we realized how much our customers loved this music, so we talked to Michael about creating new albums specifically composed for our growing market of massage therapists, healthcare practitioners and other healers. We released three additional albums from Michael Benghiat in 1999, four albums in 2000 and three more albums in early 2002. We also introduced a new collection of music in 2002 called the At Peace Healing Music Collection. This group of CDs includes additional recordings by Michael Benghiat as well as five other musicians including Emmy-award winning musician composer Stephen Cohn, harpists Stephanie Bennett and Diana Stork, sound healer Ruth Cunningham and pianist James Mikhael.
Our goal has always been to create music that has emotional resonance and spiritual depth or music that, as one of our customers described it, “helps people to relax and open to the benefits of our compassionate touch program”. The pace of our lives, the overstimulation and the stress that we all experience dulls our senses. After a while, we tend to shut down certain responses and reactions as a coping mechanism. Massage and bodywork helps to reawaken, refresh and reenergize our senses in a healthy way. We want our music to enhance this experience.
How would you summarize the mission and goals of At Peace Media?
The mission of At Peace Media is to make a positive contribution to the world through business enterprises that enable us to create healthy products for people to use in their daily lives and to assist professionals in their quest to provide compassionate, qualified care and nurture.
What do you see in the future for At Peace Media?
We have learned a lot from the massage and bodywork community and we will continue to provide massage therapists with new, useful and exciting products We’re working with a variety of musicians, all of whom really know how to elevate the “relaxation music” genre to a higher level of emotional and spiritual resonance. So we’ll continue to seek out, produce and market music that can be used for massage and bodywork, relaxation, stress-relief, meditation, yoga and to promote healing.
We also have two new instructional videos in our Massage Master Class Series™ -- Reflexology, Volume 2, Hands & Ears with Rhonda Funes and Head, Neck & Shoulder Massage with Sherry Galloway. Our award-winning Esalen® Massage Video is now available in DVD format in a choice of three languages – English, Spanish and German.
So At Peace Media will continue to work closely with the massage and bodywork community?
We believe the leaders and innovators in the massage and bodywork community are in the forefront of providing alternative therapies to the increasing array of experience blocking drugs available in the world. Massage helps to sustain health and wellness and encourages healing and emotional balance. Massage and bodywork increase our capacity to respond to and cope with our experiences with emotional freshness. Through massage, people learn to respond more fully and with greater sensitivity to their own bodies. I’m not trying to globalize or anything, but by increasing your sensitivity rather than dulling it, you become more aware of the impact your own actions have on others and on the world at large.
This is one reason why APM has become more proactive in the last year to team up with non-profit and charitable organizations that are pioneers or who are working hard to promote health, healing and peace – including Amnesty International, the American Massage Therapy Association Foundation, the New York University Child Study Center and Bastyr University, in addition to the Esalen Institute. These organizations are all involved in giving seed money, grants or support to people engaged in pioneering research, promoting human rights and advancing knowledge in the natural health sciences. We directly support them by giving them a portion of the proceeds of the sale of various music CDs or videos. You can’t just sit back and expect the world to change – you have to seek out ways to participate meaningfully to help increase knowledge, awareness and understanding.
What else is new at At Peace® Media?
One of our newest products is truly unique – the Power Nap Kit™. I read an article in my local newspaper about an English teacher, Anton Anderson, who had created a Power Nap Club (PNC) to provide overscheduled, sleep-deprived teenagers with a method for coping with chronic fatigue and stress. We donated some At Peace Music CDs to the Power Nap Club and thought that would be the end of it. Shortly thereafter, I received a call from Anderson, telling me how much his students enjoyed our music as background for his guided Power Nap sessions – and even more importantly, how it enhanced their ability to power nap.
Although Anderson never sought out public recognition for the PNC, his concern over his daily experience of facing weary, overscheduled teens, struggling to stay awake in class dovetailed with a growing public recognition that American teenagers are pressured and obsessed with an unattainable vision of perfection – the best schools and most competitive colleges, the hippest clothes, a perfect body, the coolest friends . . . National and international media picked up on the story of these kids napping at school and soon articles appeared on the AP newswire, on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition, CBS News, and lots of other consumer media. Anton also started hearing from teachers, parents and students who wanted to know how they could duplicate his Power Nap Club and experience.
So what’s included in the Power Nap Kit™?
Once Anton called me and asked if there was some way we could work together to record his voice narrations along with our music and make it available to all the people who were calling him – we realized that we had to get moving. My wife Janice assembled a great team of writers and creative people who worked closely with Anton for over 10 months to create the Power Nap Kit™ which includes two CDs, a 44 page booklet entitled Teen Stress: The Inside View, and a two-sided poster with the Power Nap Club logo and motto on one side and nature images for contemplation on the other. We even made the Power Nap CD available to a Scarsdale H.S. health care administrator who had 90 of her students listen to the CD and share their review comments on a questionnaire. They loved it and we’ve put their review comments up on our website www.powernapkit.com. We created this product for teens, but we’re also getting a lot of interest from stressed-out people in general who have heard about the power nap concept or who feel it’s just the kind of coping strategy they’d like to learn about.
As I mentioned earlier, our mission and philosophy at At Peace Media has been the same since l997 when we released our first product -- to create products that help people. We want people who use our products to really derive tangible benefits from each and every product that they buy from us -- we are a service, not a lifestyle company.
CONTACT US :
For more information about At Peace® Media, please email, call or write:
John Gelb, CEO 800-575-7715 john@atpeacemedia.com
Jan Liverance, Communications 800-619-1409 jan@atpeacemedia.com
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Tips and techniques to reduce holiday stress and burnout
During the year, we daydream about holidays as a time of celebration, a time to give thanks and a time to gather with family and friends. As soon as November rolls around though, we begin to feel the pressure and responsibilities multiply. Most of us grit our teeth and resign ourselves to the inevitability of holiday stress, but isn’t there a better way to cope with it?
John Gelb, CEO of At Peace Media a leading producer of music and video products that enhance relaxation and rejuvenation offers his suggestions for reducing holiday stress and burnout:
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Make Your Holidays More Relaxing
Why does it seem that holidays arrive sooner and get more stressful every year?
Your perception is right, the holiday cycle does speed up every year. Candy canes and Christmas lights are put out on store shelves before Halloween in some places. But this doesn’t mean that you have to succumb to the pressure. Make your own list of what you find a meaningful expression of the holiday spirit. Don’t subscribe to the pressure to do what everyone else is doing. Decide what’s really important to you and your family and ignore the rest.
How do you juggle so many elevated expectations from family, friends, business associates and others?
Learn how to say no. Don’t make promises you can’t keep; if possible, keep things simple and casual rather than elaborate, intimidating and off-putting. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this isn’t the time of year to impress everyone with how great you are, how lavishly you can entertain or how elevated your taste is. Pick a less busy time of the year to socialize with friends and business associates when everybody isn’t feeling stretched so thin. I really enjoy giving and attending parties in late January and February. Most people feel some holiday letdown after the New Year arrives when all the decorations disappear and the dog days of winter set in – it’s a great time to entertain because you’re not competing with so many other activities.
Isn’t holiday relaxation an oxymoron? Isn’t relaxing during the holidays just a fantasy for most people?
It doesn’t have to be. Make lists, and be happy with what you do accomplish rather than berating yourself for everything you didn’t do. Take time for yourself. Set aside some time to listen to quiet, rejuvenating music, to meditate, to get a massage. Don’t abandon your exercise regimen or your yoga practice – the things you do to rejuvenate and relax all year will seem even more special and are even more important to your health and well-being at this time of the year. During the winter, when the days are short, I get up earlier so I can do my daily run in the morning. Running = relaxation for me and I know that sunset arrives too early for an evening run.
I have so much on my mind – so many mental checklists to juggle – it’s overwhelming.
Plan ahead – but don’t plan too much. Before you get to the panic stage, take a look at the big picture and see what you can eliminate or put off until after the holidays. Who says you have to send out holiday cards that arrive before Christmas? I have friends who are putting off their Christmas cards this year because their son is applying to college and they need to help out with all the last minute paperwork that is due right after Christmas. They’re planning to send New Year’s cards sometime in January instead. I have another friend who sends out a Valentine’s Day card to everyone instead of a holiday card – figure out what works for you.
Shopping is too time consuming; it’s especially tough to select gifts for out-of-town family members.
Stress is not site-specific. If you’re stressed out by holiday pressure, chances are good that far-flung family members are feeling the “same pain”. Gifts for relaxation are always appreciated. You can usually find a very well-edited selection of gifts for relaxation and rejuvenation at spa locations. Spas often have a great selection of retail products, many of which are used in-house by the estheticians and massage therapists who work there. These people are the experts on what it takes to relax and recharge.
But how can I minimize or reduce all the traditional obligations?
The key word here is tradition – if it’s not working or causing more stress than it’s worth, think of a better way.
Create new traditions that don’t fray your nerves with too many expectations and responsibilities. Plan family reunions and get-togethers during off seasons when you can really relax and enjoy one another.
Why not think global but stay local during the holidays? Instead of traveling great distances, treat yourself to a great massage or facial or a day of pampering at a day spa. Avoid the hassles of long-distance travel, stay put and keep your celebrations low key so you can enjoy what you’re doing rather than feel like you’re on someone else’s treadmill.
Do you have any other recommendations on how to avoid or cope with holiday stress?
Don’t deprive yourself of the tools you need to relax and rejuvenate. Simple repetitive rituals can make you feel more in control. Make time for massage, yoga and exercise. Even small “daily doses” of these rejuvenating practices can make a huge difference in the quality of your life, your moods and your outlook.
Set up a space in your home where you can just relax and refresh yourself, an unofficial meditation spot or a comfortable pillow and favorite picture or statue for yoga.
We all spend so much time indoors and in cars, trains and buses but being outside and just noticing the weather, the sky, the vegetation, the wind and just taking it all in will help you feel more grounded. Staying in touch with nature and the seasons can help make our own stress and problems seem less serious or daunting. Try it – it works!
When you travel, take along items that will help you enjoy a few precious moments of relaxation away from home. I always take bottled water, a book of inspirational writing and my CD player or iPod stocked with our At Peace Music. This way, I can set up my own “relaxation station” wherever I happen to be.
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The Secret to Turning a Good Massage Career into a GREAT Career
by John Gelb
Why do you suppose the best massage therapists are always looking for new moves and techniques?
The answer is simple. Long-term clients want something new. Clients who seek out a particular modality don’t want each massage to be exactly the same as the last one. How come? Because sameness can become boring. Even though they may not admit it, clients don’t want the same old, same old.
What exactly are most clients looking for?
To be taken care of.
To have your full attention.
To have time away from the world.
To not feel rushed
To have problem areas worked on.
Where do the new moves and techniques come from?
They come from attending workshops and continuing education classes. They come from sharing expertise at spas and massage seminars. But going off to a special event off-site can be expensive and time-consuming. Also, with so many classes back to back, there’s a certain amount of stress due to information overload.
Good massage therapists and bodywork professionals are incredibly busy. The best therapists have little time outside their practice. Their schedules stay booked with regular clients, plus they are always building their clientele through special promotions and events. And, massage therapists often ‘trade’ massages with other therapist friends.
One of the most fruitful and RELAXING way to learn new techniques to avoid feeling burn-out is to watch DVD or video instructional programs in the comfort of your own home or studio, possibly even with a professional peer.
Here are just a few of the advantages:
1. You can avoid distractions.
2. You can watch a program when you’re feeling rested and receptive.
3. DVDs make it easy to navigate around to different chapters to recap or review instructional materials or simply to hone in on what you’re most interested in.
4. You can take a break from watching a DVD and you can try out a new technique on a partner while you’re viewing.
5. You’re learning at your own pace.
So it sounds like you’re saying that one of the things good massage therapists realize is that learning never ends.
That’s right. Indeed, “life is a journey” and when you’re deeply committed to what you’re doing, you always want to learn more about it. No matter what modality a therapist learns in massage school, there are always other ways of working that can fit in with almost anyone’s practice. And just because you’re trained in one method does not mean that you cannot augment that modality with new moves that you learn and feel will make you a better massage therapist.
How can you learn new techniques, improve your practice and stay fresh when you don’t have much time off from work?
First, we should emphatically state that even good massage therapy DVDs are not a substitute for professional massage courses, CEU workshops and other hands-on forms of learning. But one answer, for many massage therapists, is instructional DVDs. There are dozens of massage therapy DVD programs available today. Some are better than others. Some are not worth your time and money. Production values and content also vary widely. But the fact is that DVD instructional programs can help massage therapists who yearn to improve or want to explore an area of interest not covered in massage school. And unlike a book with photos, a DVD program shows massage work in motion. You can view the body mechanics of the presenter. You can see exactly how they move from one technique to another.
So who benefits most from massage DVD programs?
As a producer and distributor of massage therapy DVDs and videos, including the award-winning Esalen Massage program, At Peace Media talks frequently with customers about instructional massage DVDs. Since most of our customers are massage therapists, we have gained some insights about who buys massage therapy DVDs and why. The reasons might surprise you.
We naturally believed that most of our customers would turn out to be recent massage school graduates or students currently enrolled in massage school. And many of our customers fit into that category. Why did we believe this? Because we felt that newly-licensed therapists would be the most open to learning new techniques as they were beginning their careers.
However, to our surprise, we have discovered that most of our customers are massage therapists with years of experience. That led us to start asking our customers questions about their massage practices and why they buy instructional massage DVDs.
So, what are the advantages of massage DVDs?
Viewing well-regarded massage DVDs is an easy and inexpensive way to learn new techniques and moves. As one therapist stated: “If I can just learn one or two new moves from a DVD, then I’ve gotten my money’s worth from that video. And that’s good for me and my practice”.
Another key benefit that comes from learning new techniques is the way in which the new elements, when added to a therapist’s work, contribute to an entirely new massage experience for the client.
Ease of use is also important to our customers. Workshops are great but if you’re taking more than one workshop per day or weekend, it can be tough to remember all the details and once the workshop is over, you can’t review the material as easily. With a DVD, pick your area of interest and recap and review it as many times as you want.
Finally, if your work never changes, clients get used to your approach. When you introduce a new move into your practice, the client notices. Weaving new techniques in with ‘old favorites’ contributes to the client’s feeling relaxed by the familiarity and refreshed by the feeling that the work is not “rote”.
So reinvention is important?
With a few new moves worked into your practice, the client will constantly feel as if your massage is being re-invented and it will naturally be a more renewing experience for them. If the client doesn’t remember – or even better – can’t know your exact sequence, because you’re updating and refreshing your technique, then the client can stop evaluating the work and just experience the moment.
If your client feels like he or she has just had a great massage, isn’t that a powerful way to get the next massage booked before they even leave the room?
No one likes to feel bored. And the bad part is this: a bored client is probably too polite to ever tell you that she’s bored. Instead, she’ll just stop booking massages, and then, after several months you’ll be left wondering, ‘Whatever happened to Marsha?’ Likewise, if you, the massage therapist become bored with what you’re doing, your client will pick up on it too.
How do you find the best DVDs and videos?
It’s not easy, because it is often a subjective decision.
But here are some useful guidelines:
Talk with colleagues and inquire about their preferences
Ask retail store owners
Check with local massage schools
Read reviews
Look for award-winning titles
As a first step, talk with your colleagues. Ask them whether they’ve seen some good DVD instructional programs. Ask them what they liked about the “good” ones. And listen to what your colleagues say about the titles mentioned. If you hear about the same title from more than one therapist -- assuming it’s good feedback, then perhaps you’ll want to buy that DVD for yourself.
Similarly, stay away from DVD programs that everyone dislikes – but always make sure you understand why they are disliked. It’s possible, for example, that your colleagues who are very anatomy-oriented, may not favor DVDs not chock full of anatomically specific moves -- even though certain programs may be quite good and may greatly appeal to a different group of massage therapists. So take the time to query your colleague or friend on the specifics related to what they like or dislike.
What do your customers say is distinctive about At Peace DVD programs?
Here’s a sample review we received just recently, via email:
I want to take just a minute to tell you how much I have enjoyed your Massage Master Class Series dvds. In particular, I like the Chair Massage and the Head, Neck and Shoulders.
Massage therapists in Oregon are held to a high standard of training, and unlike some videos I've seen, these don't sacrifice therapeutic content for the sake of making the video artistically creative or entertaining. They contain content very much like that of a continuing education class.
Kristin S., LMT
Can you give us any final tips on choosing massage DVD programs?
The more titles you hear about, read about and view, the better you can compare. Find colleagues whose opinions are the most in synch with your own, and solicit their feedback on what works best for them. Some of your colleagues will want very technical information. Others will be seeking knowledge about pacing or specific techniques. Make sure you understand the underlying needs of your colleagues so you can more quickly focus in on whether their interests are in sync with your needs.
Ask your local massage supply retailer which DVDs are the best sellers. She’ll be happy to tell you – and there’s probably a good reason to consider the best sellers. Or at least, take a look at them, see what the subject matter is, and then decide. Retailers you speak with should be pleased to answer your questions – and good retailers will also query you on what works best for you too. It should be a two-way street. Also, most retailers would rather answer your questions up front and help you make an informed purchase decision, than hear you complain about a poorly informed purchase.
Notice DVD reviews in your favorite massage magazines. Contact massage schools to find out if they are using any particular titles with new students. But be careful – some schools will only use titles that have been produced in support of the school’s massage curriculum – that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily good or right for you.
There is no exact science or surefire formula for success in the selection of massage DVD programs. In the end, what works best for you is the most important thing. But with some care, you can definitely improve your odds of purchasing worthwhile programs. In the process, add elements to your massage work from all the good DVD programs you watch. As your work becomes more dynamic, you’ll be amazed at your clients’ reactions to the ever-changing work that you do. They will love it!
© 2006 At Peace Media LLC Adapted and updated from an article written by John Gelb published in the Florida State Massage Therapy Association publication, “Massage Message” in 2000. For permission to publish, please contact info@atpeacemedia.com.
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