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Outside, In

Injury prevention is also helped by taking care of your personal and professional environment. Take a look at your table, computer, phone and appointment book, for example, and assess whether they are ergonomically friendly.

"[Good] body mechanics in and of itself does not prevent injury, which is often a complex subject with complex causes," says Greene. "It’s very rare that there is one single cause. The types of injuries that massage therapists encounter are usually cumulative, with a number of different risk factors and risk factor exposures contributing."

Along with your physical office space, you need to pay attention to your emotional well-being. For example, says Greene, your beliefs and attitudes can affect your health, including difficulty setting limits with clients and having unrealistic expectations of yourself. In her book Positive Energy: Ten Extraordinary Prescriptions for Transforming Fatigue, Judith Orloff, MD, talks of "empaths," or people who pick up on the energy, feelings and even symptoms of others. "A lot of massage therapists have this," she says. "They are like energetic sponges, and they get exhausted by it."

Orloff learned this lesson as a practicing psychiatrist. "Even though I was teaching this to others," she says, "I wasn’t honoring my own energy. I went through an energy crash." She had to get back to basics, which for her was meditating, getting into nature and taking time for play. "It’s much easier to help other people than it is to help yourself."

TessaGrace Ahuna, a certified trauma therapist in Colorado Springs, Colorado, agrees. "It’s important for me to be centered and grounded, so I can hold the space," she says. "But I don’t take on what the client is releasing."

In addition to her daily rituals of prayer and meditation, Ahuna also performs a centering ritual outside her therapy room before each client, as well as an invocation with each client, where she asks for guidance for whatever needs to be addressed.

By protecting your own space, you allow yourself to hear what your body is telling you, and listening to your body, says Greene, is essential for a long, healthy career. "Self awareness is a big part of preventing injury," she explains. "It’s knowing your body and being aware of signals your body is sending you."

So start taking note: Do you have a twinge every time you do a particular technique? Do you know the difference between simple muscle soreness and a more serious pain? "Just getting involved in this process is extremely preventive," says Greene.

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