Thursday evening through Sunday, the office will be closed and the portable table with be with me at the Easterns Dance Challenge in Northern Virginia.  As of Monday morning, I do have sessions in NoVa available at 10am on Friday and on Saturday.

Previewing the following week, the office will be closed during the day while I attend a training.  Sessions are available starting at 5:30 May 3-6th. 

April continues with discounted sessions for those in the financial industries; any CPAs left standing after tax day certainly could use some tending to!

The office in Charlottesville will be closed the latter half of next week, as I attend a dance competition in Northern Virginia.  I will have the table with me, and I do have sessions available for mobile service in the DC area during my non-dancing hours.  Also, anyone attending the Eastern Dance Challenge who knows in advance they'll be in need of bodywork is invited to contact me.

In other news, having worked another 16 days straight, I'm actively seeking someone to share the Barracks Road office.  Clearly, if I have access to the office 7 days a week, I will inevitably fail to give myself a day off every few months, and that has got to stop.  I'm offering 2 days per week and every other weekend.  For details on subletting the office, please contact me directly.

Since relocating to Charlottesville in 2004, the "wait list" for my working weekends in Maryland has shrunk, in large part because my regularly scheduled clients have been very loyal and very consistent and those available on short notice moved on to more available massage providers.

There's no way of knowing if this weekend indicates a sea-change or if it's just an abberition, but if you've considered in-home massage in general or Treat Yourself Right in particular, now is the time to check out my work.  Unless I'm in session, the phone is on, so please call if you'd like to take advantage of this unusual opportunity.  The number is 434-989-8364. 

Usually, I am fully booked when on my monthly weekends in Maryland.  This Friday is currently open due to my Friday afternoon shifting to Thursday and my Friday evening cancelling this weekend's appointment.  They were kind enough to inform me as soon as they knew of their schedule change.  That saved them the last minute cancellation fee since it was well over 24 hours in advance, and it means I have ample time to readjust and open their time up to someone else in Maryland who might want a mobile service session from TYRMassage.

If you would like to schedule a session in Maryland for Friday, March 12th, please call me on my cell phone at 434-989-8364.

While away, I will not be checking email, and will be checking voicemail very irregularly.

For those of  you attending MAD JAM in Northern Virginia from March 4th-7th, I will have my table with me.  I don't anticipate using it much beyond the already-requested sessions, but do feel free to try me for a 30 minute session if your back, legs, or feet are feeling the strain of too many workshops or a dip gone wrong on the social dance floor!

I suspect part of the reason people haven't opted for a set of massages rather than one at a time is because they're not aware of how my particular system works.  Since two people in as many days have asked about it, now is the perfect time to explain...

The setup is very straightforward.  If you pay for five sessions at once, I throw in a sixth at no additional charge.  There are no hidden conditions.

Prepaid sessions do not "expire."  You can take as long as you wish to use your sessions.   There is no "use or lose" here.  If my rates go up after you've bought your six-series, that becomes my loss.  (Admittedly, my rates don't increase often.)  If I were to relocate, well, okay, then we might have a problem.  Chances are though, you'd have plenty of notice should I ever lose my mind and decide to leave Charlottesville for more than a vacation or working weekend in Maryland.

Prepaid sessions are transferrable.  You can use all of the sessions yourself, give them all away as gift certificates, or any combination of the two.  The decision is entirely yours.

The only rules that apply are the same ones that apply to regular sessions.

My 24-hour cancellation policy still applies.  Historically, I've been fairly flexible with that.  This year, snow has required more late-notice cancellations than anyone would have preferred.  I am reasonable about short-notice cancellations, and do reserve the right to stand firm on my policy.

Massage and energy sessions stay within my scope of practice.  I do not offer physical therapy, though I will be happy to take instructions from your physical therapist, should they want to offer them.  I do not diagnose, nor do I claim to treat any injury or illness.

As for the cost breakdown, that depends on  how long you'd like your sessions to run.  One important point to make here is that at TYRMassage, an hour means a full 60 minutes, table time.  You will be here longer than an hour, because I'll ask what you want out of that day's session and will give you time to settle in on the table before we start, and to take your time in getting up afterward.  I plan time in my day so no one needs to rush their experience to make room for  the next person.

So here are the numbers:  At an hourly rate of $70, we're looking at $350 which translates back to just over $58 per hour, less than $1.00 per minute.  The rate for 30 minute sessions, at $175 per series, just over $29 per half hour, is also about 97 cents per minute.  90 minute sessions run $95, or $475 per series.  That's down to just over $79 per hour and a half session, or about 88 cents per minute.  Not a bad investment in yourself.

I'm not sure exactly what the change is, though I suspect it's the increase of massage bars across the country.  For those who prefer a quick, spur-of-the-moment massage, the massage bar seems ideal.  If that's what you're after, by all means, have at it!  There is enough variety in the bodywork industry for everyone to be accommodated.

However, not every person can be accommodated by every type of practitioner.  There are a few purely logistical reasons for independent practitioners not to offer walk-in sessions.  While Treat Yourself Right has dedicated office space in a mixed use building, many sole proprietors work out of their homes.  While business is usually welcome, having a stranger, or even an established client, suddenly show up on your doorstep when you're in the middle of cleaning the kitchen is not.

When I had a home office, I once made the mistake of allowing a prescedent to be set with a client by seeing her as soon as I could set up on what I had reserved as my day off.  Why?  Because I was a sap.  She was waiting outside the door to my office when I got home and I was foolish enough to feel obligated to give her what she wanted.  While most people won't deliberately take advantage of bodyworkers' service-oriented tendencies, the few who do can really go overboard.  I ended up firing her as a client later, when she interrupted another person's session by pounding on the door to my office.  I have no doubt whatsoever that had her massage been interrupted, she would have demanded I comp her the session.

I don't have a receptionist or other staff because I would have to pay them, which means I would have to raise my rates to have something to pay them with.  Self-employment, microbusiness, whatever you want to call it does not operate the same way larger businesses do.

When I am managing my paperwork or on break between clients, I can interrupt what I'm doing for a walk-in inquiry.  When I am with a client, that person has my attention.  I can't be present for and with them if I am checking my messages or tending to whomever walks through the door, whether they want to see me, my office mate, or anyone who happens to be there for a sales call.  With an independent provider, what is lost in the "instant gratification" category is gained back tenfold in personalized service. 

I am, admittedly, an independent practitioner snob.  I offer personalized sessions rather than formulaic routines.  I endeavor to treat each person who walks into my waiting room as an individual, and I have grown to a point where I expect the same in return.  If I'm availiable, I'll be happy to talk with you and work with you at a time that works with both of our schedules.  If I am with another client, that's their time and I'm going to respect them and their schedule.  If a message is left, I'll return the call or note as soon as I can.  If you can't (or won't) wait, then by all means, go to the next person on your list.  There are tons of bodyworkers and someone, somewhere is sure to be able to accommodate you.  In the future though, you might save a lot of time by calling ahead to make sure your first, second, or third choice is actually available.  Those of us who survive professionally in this business are usually booked in advance for a reason.

All of the energy techniques offered are available remote; more information is available on my Heart Thread, Circuitry Alignment, and Remote pages.   Gift certificate sales can be managed over the phone, and are still available at the holiday rate of 5 for the price of 4, or single sales if you prefer.  I can be reached at 434-989-8364.

Be safe, enjoy the layers and layers of white blanket over everything, and be sure to stretch and take breaks when digging out from underneath the snow so you don't feel the need to come in after the fact, just the desire to do so!

The timing of this was interesting.  I'd decided not to attend an out-of-town event because that would require closing the office for a third weekend out of four.  So what happened?  The office closed itself for me, in the form of half an inch of water everywhere.  Aside from a damp smell I expect the six dehumidifiers the building's landlord arranged  for will take care of, nothing appears to be damaged.

I often encourage people to take time off when they can, especially if there's something they really want to do with that time.  I did not take my own advice in this case, and found myself not working anyway.  That certainly is not to say that I didn't enjoy my days here in Charlottesville, for I did.  It's just a thought, an interesting coincidence.

As for the schedule over Thanksgiving week, (barring further unforseen incidents of course) the office will be open at 2pm on Monday, and the usual hours on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.