To make massage therapy your career, attending a massage school and receiving state certification is necessary. Every sate varies on the number of hours necessary to be certified. Otherwise, if you just want to learn to practice on friends and family, there are many massage instruction videos available online. Massage training videos can also be excellent for helping you to decide if a career in massage therapy is for you. Explore the different styles and have fun discovering the ones that you most resonate with.

There\'s an abundance of different styles of massage therapy to chose from these days. Sports massage, Swedish, Shiatsu, Deep Tissue, Thai Massage are some of the more common ones. There\'s also an abundance of interesting forms of \"bodywork\" out there that you can incorporate into you massage style. For example, acupressure, Shiatsu, Reiki energy work and Polarity therapy to name a few. One of the pleasures of learning massage is the variety of styles and techniques you can learn. Feel free to be creative!

The style of massage that I personally find the most relaxing is a combination referred to as Swedish/Esalen. This style is a blend of the more specific kneading and stroking of the muscles typical of Swedish Massage, and the more deeply relaxing long strokes of Esalen Massage. By sensitively combining these two approaches, you can both address specific needs, muscle tension and pain, while at the same time, ease your friend on the table into a deep state of relaxation.

Whatever your incentive is for learning massage, whether professional or casual, I\'d recommend you start by getting a few massages yourself. Ask your massage therapist what style they are using, and get a feel for what you most enjoy receiving. Is it the more vigorous sports massage or a more relaxing style? Often, your therapist will be using techniques from numerous styles. Ask and get a personal feel for what you like and resonate with. Throughout my career as a massage therapist I continued to receive new ideas each time I received a massage.

Once you decide upon a form of massage that you would like to learn, I\'d recommend you search the internet for \"massage training videos\" or \"massage instruction videos\". When you find one, check to see what style they teach as well as how much experience the instructor has received. Are they a certified massage therapist? Best to be on the safe side and make sure your instructor, whether on-line or off, has had the training and experience to know what there doing. You and those you work on will be happy you did.