Diploma - day four

sunday is always an early start to get to Livingston for 10am...  I'm not a morning person generally & hate having to get up with my alarm but it's nice & quiet on sunday mornings so I made it on time.


the morning was started with a bit of theory - we learned a few more muscles, some of the facial muscles & what they do...  the muscles which control movement of the lips, those around the eyes, the muscles across the skull which control movement of the eyebrows, and those which control the chewing action of the jaw...  now I just have to learn all the proper names! 


we talked a little about the reflective aspect of our homework...  as part of the course we have to write up massages we have given and also massages we have received, and then reflect upon our experiences - what we did, or had done, how that made us feel, and what we can learn from this...  I have to admit I have found this the hardest aspect of the write ups so far.  but we chatted over a few examples with our tutor Ros and I think now all us girlies have a better idea of what to write next time. :)


we did a wee exercise in communication - where we had to split into 2 groups, read over some of the history of massage and then had to decide on the best approach about how to communicate what we had learnt to a specific audience.  my group had to present to an audience of 9 year olds (I'm not sure how easily the other girls found it pretending to be 9 again!)...  I think we did quite well in our approach, keeping it simple and to the point, with a practical demonstration which got the audience involved.  the other group had to pretend they were presenting to a group of over 50's, which they did very well.


the afternoon was taken up with a practical session covering the legs and face/neck.  getting & giving massage is a lovely, relaxing way to spend an afternoon :)  it's also been quite nice to practice the techniques which some of us had already covered in the 2 day foundation course...  the first 2 weekends are a review of the 2 day introduction and a good taster of what massage is all about for anyone who hasn't already had any experience.  from the next weekend onwards everything we will cover will be new which is very exciting! :)


more homework has been set for our next weekend session...  I have some busy weekends between now and then so I better get on with it!