Someone shared his fear that it maybe a lonely existence working from home, as opposed to working in a Spa with support systems.

That is such a valid and important point. I have been working from home for the past 3 years and the biggest thing I am missing is the interaction with colleagues.

But there are ways to nurture that interaction through professional support groups. I set up some and found that 4-6 people are best. That is intimate and varied.

The Passionate Training also emphasizes that. Here is a brief outline of how we structure of our meetings.

So if you are willing to find your own support, do not be held back by that fear. However, it is also wise to know your own limitations and opt for working in a team with the full administrative and marketing support.

Meeting Overview

Choose one person to lead the circle today (this will rotate every week). Your responsibility is to keep the time and introduce the exercises.

Building Commitment

Read aloud and wait for each person to answer.
“The purpose of this circle is for us to support each other in the growth towards success. As we review the following questions, ask yourself whether they are true for you today and whether you are willing to commit to them. Answer with yes if that is the case.

1. Are you willing to keep everything confidential?
2. Are you willing to listen to others and support them?
3. Are you willing to share your own stories and be supported?
4. Are you willing to take responsibility for yourself and your own outcomes?
5. Are you willing to have fun?”

Exercise One

There are different topics for each week. You can choose your own. Maybe one person prepares something.

Listening to the Challenges

Share with each other what your challenges in your practice are (2-3 minutes each). The purpose is to reach awareness of where you are stuck. Sometimes some other things might come up that influence your practice’s success. It is great to share them, too. You can be certain that you are not the only one facing these challenges.

In this process, listening is most important.

If you are listening and have a brilliant solution to someone else’s challenge, you can of course share that. But make sure this does not turn into an advice session. While you listen, see how this might apply to your own challenges and what actions you could take to overcome them.

Thank each person that shares themselves.

Celebrating Wins and Successes

Go around the circle again and share your wins and successes (2-3 minutes each). As you have learnt, positive energy has a great impact on attracting the things you want. By sharing your successes and wins, you are putting focus and attention on them, not just your own, but the whole group’s.

Really celebrate the person sharing for their success. It is a reflection of what is possible for you, too. So give your full attention to the success and enjoy the celebrations.

Exercise Two

There is another specific exercise or topic. (The Passionate Training outlines these in detail.)

Share Your Awareness

15 minutes before you close, come together as a group again and go through the circle one last time. In 2-3 minutes, each person shares:

1. What have you become aware of today?
2. What actions do you need to take?
3. What are you excited about?

Capturing the Learning

Before you go, take a few moments to write down what you have learnt today.

Another great post on burnout

Julie Onofrio has written a post on her blog about massage therapist burnout. She brings it back to how well you are actually looking after yourself, which is based on your beliefs about yourself.

According to her most therapists know that they should get a massage themselves, eat well and exercise, but that very few do that.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 10:07 am and is filed under Certainty, Support. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.