Massage Therapy Journal
Research: Massage and Aromatherapy
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Self-Care as a Cornerstone to Career Longevity
What recent research is saying about how self-care impacts massage therapists' career longevity.
February 1, 2025
When you’re committed to taking care of your clients, your own self-care may be compromised. Whether it’s overloading your schedule, not prioritizing your physical care, or ignoring signs of injury or burnout, not being thoughtful about taking your own well-being seriously can shorten your career in the massage profession.
Self-care has been trending these last few years for a very good reason: It’s necessary.
Self-Care for Stress
Researchers wanted to assess the effectiveness of a 12-week online, guided, self-paced intervention of mindfulness and self-care practices on self-compassion, attentiveness and perceived stress for university health care students and faculty.
The Study
Participants in this 2024 study received seven different mindful and self-care activity options every week for 12 weeks. Outcome measures were assessed using a pre-survey, weekly surveys and a one-month post-survey, including the Perceived Stress Scale 4, Self-Compassion Scale-SF, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, health behaviors and feasibility.
The Results
A total of 232 participants indicated one or more outcome measures, and 68 participants completed all 14 measures. “Students and faculty demonstrated significantly increased mindful attention awareness, days of mindfulness practice, self-compassion and trended toward more physical activity,” researchers noted. “They reported significantly lower stress and that mindful practice altered the way they dealt with stress.”
Results indicated that most participants chose shorter meditation, yoga and self-care options during the study.
Transcendental Meditation + Self-Care
This 2024 qualitative study explored the influence of transcendental meditation (TM) on the well-being of clinical nurses to better understand the experiences of clinical nurses who practiced TM, specifically through assessments that include Watson’s holistic unitary caring science theory.
The Study
This qualitative study involved a thematic analysis of the written descriptions provided by clinical nurses following the completion of a TM program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Results
Nurses described their experience with the practice of TM as creating present-moment focus leading to enhanced self-care and development of true authentic presence with others. The overall theme uncovered in the analysis is that authentic presence is truth in knowing, being, doing and becoming.
“The findings were congruent with Watson’s unitary caring science theory and provided illumination of the holistic value of transcendental meditation as a self-care strategy for supporting nurses’s well-being with the goal of retaining nurses in practice,” researchers concluded. “When nurses care for themselves, they are more likely and able to care for others, thus helping them to enjoy their nursing careers.”
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References
1. Slota M, Healy H, Hagen B, Brasher P, Fay L, Crowell N. “Impact of mindfulness and self-care intervention on stress, self-compassion, and attentiveness in university healthcare students and faculty.” J Am Coll Health. 2024 Jun;7:1–10.
2. Aquino-Russell C, Bonaire J, Hartranft S, Gutach M, Johnson A. “Transcendental meditation enriches nurses’ authentic presence through caring for self and others.” J Holist Nurs. 2024 Dec;42(4):361–373.