Rubbing students the right way

Keli Ackroyd wanted to earn her Florida license after practicing massage in California for years.

Joe Colyott was looking for a second career, one less stressful than his first as a professional stagehand.

All are students at Bonita Springs School, Inc. where they are learning the art of massage and are on their way to becoming licensed massage therapists.

The school, located in the Pine Haven Plaza on Bonita Beach Road, trains regular people to use their hands, arms and the strength of their entire bodies to work magic in just 500 hours.

"I teach them to dance," said Terry Lowder, an instructor at the three-year-old school that was reborn from the former Venice School of Massage.

And massage is much like a dance.

It's the dance of the licensed massage therapist's hands over the client's body as he or she seeks to relieve stress, aches and pains and simply soothe. It's a dance that helps the client relax, rejuvenate and regroup.

The course costs $3,700 and takes anywhere from six months to a year depending on the student, said Buddy Wiser, student relations manager of the school.

But once the students has completed the course -- and passed a state licensing exam -- the student is free to practice massage either in a clinic, spa or even open his or her own practice.

It's something the school fully prepares students to do.

It's not just bookwork.

The school, which also offers courses in skin care, nails, personal fitness training and starting next month hair, brings in outside clients for each student to practice on.

Each Monday through Thursday at 1:15, 2:15 and 8:30 p.m. the school schedules appointments for $25 full Swedish massages. And although they are done by students in a group setting because an instructor must be present, the school strives to give each client a very professional and classy massage.

It's a time for each student to put the training to use, from the correct way to rub each muscle, to proper draping techniques with the sheets that cover each client, to the amount of lotion to use when massaging.

And each student is required to give 30 massages before graduation.

"It's important for all the students to work on different people because you learn from all the different people you touch," said Lowder, who owns his own practice that focuses on patients with multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia. "Like men with body hair, you have to apply more lotion or you'll pull the hair or with women, most need a gentler touch. Not all, but most."

Colyott knows the hands-on experience is preparing him for his own practice, which he plans to open once he holds his license. Those afternoons each week when clients from the public come in and give their complete trust to a student is an honor to him, more so than working on fellow classmates who tend to be active and healthy, atypical of the general massage public.

"That's not the type you see in your practice, so it really helps to see that diversity and it really helps to see the diversity in body shapes and the different skins," said Colyott, 52, of Estero. "You learn differently with the different textures."

A retired school teacher of 30 years, Alva McMullen doesn't mind students getting in a little practice on her 66-year-old body.

A client for the past three years, she's found these massages rank up there with some of the best.

"I find they all try very hard to their best ability and each time I seem to be very pleased and satisfied," said McMullen, of North Naples, who often schedules more than one massage a week. "I've had massages all my life. I thought these are just as good. I feel like I've had enough experience that I can compare."

Jim Thornton is another client who won't go back to a professional. He refuses to pay the extra when he can get just as good half price.

"I've had some professionals that are not as good. They're in it for the money and not the people," said Thornton, 69. "Here they're very personable and fussy and they want people to do a good job and they do. I will never go back."

Clients aren't even bothered by the group setting. Most fall asleep or get lost in the massage just as they would in a private room.

They all know that beyond getting an inexpensive massage, they are helping shape the education of a student.

Gallagher, 20, of Bonita Springs, hasn't practiced on members of the outside public yet as he hasn't taken enough of his required anatomy and physiology classes, nor has he practiced on enough of his classmates to be eligible. But he's looking forward to it.

And although Ackroyd has practiced massage therapy in California, she needed to return to school to be licensed in Florida. She doesn't mind as it allows her to brush up on her skills and the more feedback one gets from clients, the better one becomes at the art.

And to Ackroyd, 40, of Fort Myers, it is an art, a healing art.

"I think the most important thing for people to learn about massage is it's not just something for people to do to feel good," she said. "Massage is very healing. I believe the body is smart enough to heal itself and we just need to help it. We store so much tension in our bodies and just by releasing that tension it allows that healing to kick in."

For more information on the Bonita Springs School, Inc. call 495-0714.

(Contact Features Editor Kristen Smith at 213-6043 or kmsmith@naplesnews.com )