Top Ten Reasons To Take Our Integrated Massage Certification Program Online

1. Comprehensive program offering both detailed online theory & thorough on-site hands on training.
2. Great training from experienced faculty in every area
3. Learn from internationally renowned Chinese medical massage doctors
4. Master advanced & varied massage techniques & modalities not offered by other schools
5. Study through new cutting edge technology & information technology systems
6. Review recorded classes anytime – day or night.
7. Enjoy the convenience of completing your training from the comfort of your own home
8. Save between $600-$1,000 a year on gas (costs varies depending on your location)
9. Save up to 100 hours a year in travel time  (costs varies depending on your location)
10. No more being stuck in traffic or driving in bad weather such as snow and rain.

Enroll now & become a masssage therapist!

Come to our online open house & learn more about our program!

Become A Student

Are you ready to apply to East-West Healing Arts Institute? Just follow these steps:

Download and print this application form.

Complete it and mail it to us with the following.

1. A brief biographical sketch that includes:
   • Why you want to be a massage therapist
   • History of any education or experience in massage or the health field
   • How you currently care for yourself in body, mind, and spirit
   • How you will finance your training
   • Potential impact of attending this school on your personal obligations
2. A letter from a guidance counselor (or teacher) or work supervisor stating you have self-discipline and a positive attitude*
3. A letter from a health professional stating that you are mentally and physically capable of giving and receiving professional massage*
4. A copy of your high school diploma, GED, or college transcript(s)*
5. $100 nonrefundable application fee made out to East-West Healing Arts Institute, Inc.

Mail it to the following address:
East-West Healing Arts Institute, Inc.
6425 Normandy Lane
Madison, WI 53719

*These can be sent directly to us from the individuals or institutions that will provide them for you. They may arrive after you send us your application.

Questions? Send e-mail or call 608-240-1600.

Massage Techniques

Swedish

A slightly vigorous and very relaxing therapeutic massage using various strokes, usually with lubrication.

Acupressure

The use of finger pressure on acupuncture or acupressure points to release energy blockages and promote balance.

TuiNa

Also known as Traditional Chinese Medical Massage, TuiNa applies different massage techniques to work on specific ailments and promote balance and circulation of Qi (vital energy).

Shiatsu

Japanese form of massage where pressure is applied to certain areas of the body or acupressure points to improve circulation.

Trigger Point Therapy

Sustained pressure, ice massage and muscle stretching on trigger point areas.

Deep Tissue

Deep compression and lengthening strokes with knuckles, elbows, fist and palms for relief of myofascial adhesions.

Reflexology

Specific hand and finger techniques to work reflexes in the feet which correspond to other parts of the body.

Craniosacral

Craniosacral therapy uses a light touch to help eliminate the negative effects of stress, strengthen the body’s resistance to disease, improve the functioning of the central nervous system and enhance health overall. It has been used successfully on many health problems such as headaches, neck and back pain and chronic fatigue.

Polarity

The art and science of affecting the electromagnetic system in specific patterns of flow.

What is TuiNa?

Eastern massage techniques have been successfully used to counter disharmony and restore balance to the body for thousands of years. Chinese medical massage, or TuiNa, is one of several such therapies you will learn at the East-West Healing Arts Institute and serves as the cornerstone of our Eastern Massage program.

Originally a Chinese folk medicine, TuiNa is one of the first documented massage techniques in the world, referenced in the seminal work of Chinese healing philosophy, The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, more than 2500 years ago.

Throughout several millennia, TuiNa has co-evolved with other Asian techniques and Chinese medical philosophy itself. Many of its current techniques involve specific energy points and meridians, and the manipulations necessary to their efficacious treatment. In the sixth century B.C., a Japanese technique called AnMo came to China by way of the Korean peninsula and was incorporated into TuiNa. Many texts in China and the United States still refer to TuiNa as AnMo.

Today, specialized degrees in TuiNa are awarded to doctorate students of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Such a degree can take ten years to complete. These TuiNa doctors work in TCM hospitals with others who specialize in acupuncture and herbs to provide a unique form of holistic health care.

Although gaining popularity and esteem, TuiNa still remains largely undiscovered and unutilized in the West. Those who are familiar with its techniques and benefits will find themselves better able to provide massage therapy to a variety of clients for a variety of therapeutic reasons. Students of TuiNa and other Asian therapies are able to combine what they know about Western science and massage to synthesize a new understanding of massage therapy. The demand for TuiNa and other Asian therapies is continuing to increase rapidly in America.

History of Massage

The history of therapeutic massage in Western civilization goes back to the roots of Western medicine in ancient Greece. Today we usually think of Western medicine as not being holistic in its philosophy and approach, but it was not always that way.

In the 5th century B.C.E. in Greece, Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, said, “A physician must be experienced in many things but assuredly also in rubbing.” He said that massage — along with fresh air, good food, baths, music, rest, and visits to friends — is key to treating disease.

Aesculapius also promoted massage, in conjunction with herbs, diet, relaxation, and hydrotherapy. Aesculapius was another 5th century B.C.E. healer in Greece who was pivotal in the development of Western medicine.

You might not recognize his name, but you’re bound to be familiar with the symbol of Aesculapius: two serpents coiled around a staff, the symbol of modern Western medicine. This image is related to the ancient yogic conception of kundalini, the energy coiled at the base of the spine that rises upward through the body with meditation and yogic practic, visualized as a serpent. If you’ve seen a picture of the body’s seven chakras connected by a spiral or a double spiral, you’ve seen the diagram that prefigured the staff of modern Western medicine.

Sweden’s Henrik Ling (1776-1839) is considered the father of modern Western massage. Ling said, “We ought not to consider the organs of the body as the lifeless forms of a mechanical mass, but as the living, active instruments of the soul.” He was speaking during the heyday of the Industrial Revolution, however, so he was going directly against the mainstream by saying so. At this time, humans were discovering the incredible power and versatility of engine-driven machines, like the locomotive train and manudacturing equipment.

Seeing the human body as a marvelously complex machine, fueled by food instead of coal, seemed like a great advance at the time. But such thinking only widened the gap perceived between mind and body, not to mention spirit, that had begun to develop in Western thinking shortly after the days of Hippocrates and Aesculapius.

Still, many were attracted to Ling’s regimen of massage and gymnastics, which was rooted in his understanding of Western physiology, His system, known as Swedish Massage, spread from Sweden over the course of the 19th century into the European continent and America.

Ling based his regimen on what he learned about the ancient healing modalities of China, Rome, Greece, and Egypt.

In China, the history of massage is as old as the written history of China itself. The earliest writing found in China, which dates from 1400 B.C.E., discusses massage, acupuncture, and moxa (the burning of herbs for therapeutic purposes).

Traditional Chinese Medicine, a holistic system of healing modalities including dietary therapy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and exercise, has always included massage, which since 800 C.E. has been known as “TuiNa” (literally, “push and grasp”).

Today TuiNa is increasingly popular in the West, as people turn to massage for serious therapeutic work, as well as for pleasure. Through much of the 20th century, massage in the West was mainly seen as a luxury — for feeling pampered and relaxed (Of course, relaxation is itself deeply therapeutic, but this was the mainstream view.), a diversion for the wealthy. As natural healing and holistic approaches caught on over the latter half of the twentieth century, more and more people realized how much could be accomplished with the healing touch.

Today, it is widely recognized that therapeutic massage has something to offer just about everyone, from infants to the elderly, from athletes maximizing their performance or nursing hurt muscles back to health to those in hospice care who benefit from pain relief and increased range of movement that bodywork can bring. Children, pregnant women, manual laborers, office workers — indeed everyone regardless of age or physical condition — can benefit from massage. As this realization has reached critical mass, the career potential for massage therapists has exploded, and opportunities to practice massage continue to grow.