January 16-25, 2013

Intercultural Professional Massage Training

Learn together, grow together, heal together. Be trained in the art of professional healing massage alongside local Nicaraguans and get a chance to practice your Spanish!

To support the creation of new economic opportunities for local Nicaraguans, we offer the professional massage training free for Ometepe residents. Graduates of the course will be given skills that will allow them to take the first step to offer massages at InanItah and local area hotels.

During this course you will learn how to give a fabulous full body Swedish massage. You will be using oils and learning on tables, but these techniques can be easily transferred to working on a mat or on the floor.

You will also get a taste of more advanced bodywork techniques that Valerie uses in her regular practice, including deep tissue and trigger point work, Thai yoga massage, and myofacial release work. We will train you in self-care as a massage practitioner, and in deep listening skills in order to attune to your client’s needs.

At the end of this course, you will be confident in offering a relaxing therapeutic massage. It is our intention that you will also emerge from this course with basic tools to treat common soft tissue ailments, such as neck, shoulder, and back pain, as well as sciatica.

This course is an opportunity to:

  • Support career training in the local Nicaraguan community
  • Practice your Spanish
  • Experience an intercultural exchange

You will develop skills in:

  • Full-body Swedish massage
  • Treating basic soft-tissue ailments
  • Deep listening
  • Self-care

The course is taught in English and translated into Spanish.

About the Facilitator

Valerie Cherrin has been a practicing massage therapist since 1997 and a massage instructor since 2003. Valerie draws from a variety of healing modalities, including Thai yoga massage, trigger point therapy, myofacial release, zero balancing, reiki, and cranial sacral therapy. Through her work and experience, she has developed a style of bodywork that addresses the needs of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual body. To learn more about Valerie, visit her website: bodywisdommassage.org.

Register for the Workshop

Contribute $450-$700 to the workshop. Any additional financial contributions will go to support the Intercultural Massage Program by helping to purchase new massage tables and provide scholarships for local Nicaraguan participants.
Contribution for the workshop tuition only. For information about staying here during the workshop, please refer to the Living section of the website.
Reserve your spot now with a non-refundable deposit of $75.

Register for the Workshop