Learn Chair Massage/Build a Chair Massage Business

History of Chair Massage

David Palmer was the first to popularize the concept of doing seated massage on fully clothed people in a public or office setting.  His article A Brief History of Chair Massage in Positive Health Magazine tells a story of how he was just wanting to help give the massage profession a boost in making massage accessible to all.
His idea for creating chair massage came out of his realization of how difficult it is to build a massage practice and the challenges of educating the public.  He says in his article

“I was mystified. Hadn’t massage changed my life? Hadn’t it had a significant impact on the life of every bodyworker that I new? Why was the interest in professional massage growing so slowly that practitioners seemed to be fighting over the same 5% of the population who appreciated the benefits of skilled touch? What was the point in training skilled touch professionals if there were no clients for them to massage?

Often it seemed that the bodywork community somehow felt that the problem was not with professional massage,

 but rather with the lack of sophistication on the part of the public. Most people, the notion went, were too “uptight” or “unconscious” to appreciate what our service had to offer. I realized, however, that we wouldn’t be able to solve this problem if we simply chose to blame the potential clients. Another perspective was called for and it occurred to me that the problem might be more in the packaging, not the product. That is to say, when looked at from a marketing perspective, the general public clearly did not perceive massage to be safe, convenient, or affordable.”

Chair massage or seated massage has been around for centuries and doing seated massage is often a part of many different types of massage such as structural integration and Feldenkrais

Chair massage has developed into a way of marking your table massage practice and also into corporate chair massage, airport massage and massage kiosks in public places such as convention centers, busy office building lobbies and hotels.

David Palmers’ early massage chairs are pictured in this article by Robert Calvert, founder of massage magazine, a noted author and massage historian. 

This article Seated Massage In History (PDF)
The modern massage chair revived this form of bodywork in the 1980s. By Patricia J. Benjamin has some great pictures of seated chair massage in it’s early history.

Ideas for Chair Massage Businesses

1. Airports
2. Convention Centers
3. Natural Grocery Stores such as Whole Foods
4. Hospitals for nurses, patients families, visitors
5. Public Schools
6. Colleges
7. Office Building Lobbies
8. Fairs
9. Community Centers
10. Beaches, Parks
11. Corporations – either paid for by the company or the individuals or partially subsidized by the employer.
12. Wellness Centers at Corporations
13. Special office events – retirements, end of project, mid-project rewards
14. Graduations
15. Wedding Showers
16. Baby Showers
17. Dentist offices
18. Sporting events
19. Massage Parties
20. Charity events
21. Nursing homes

Setting up a  Corporate Chair Massage Account

1. Provide research articles and information as to how workplace massage can assist the employee’s in areas of productivity, well being, health, mental abilities
2. Offer Free chair massage to the managers
3. Set up a trial basis to provide your services to employees
4. Provide handouts or a regular newsletter for employees to learn about massage.
5. Set up rules and regulations for no- shows, appointments, late comers
6. Set up your schedule to allow breaks, enough time for each clients

Chair Massage Business Tools, Supplies

1. Massage Chair
2. Luggage cart to transport chair if necessary
3. Face covers – disposable
4. Chair massage intake forms
5. Chair massage brochures
6. Hand sanitizer
7. Spray and paper towels for cleaning massage chair
8. Portable music system
9. Clock or timer

 Chair Massage Resources

Business Ideas

Massage O-gram Boosts Massage Therapy Business-  Massage Magazine

Learning Chair massage

www.Touchpro.com  – David Palmers Classes

Massage Nerd – Chair Massage some ideas for setting up a business, cleaning your massage chair, ideas for events

 Robert Calvert‘s Pages from History at Massage Magazine

Seated Massage In History by Patricia Benjamin   

Marketing Chair Massage Negotiating An Agreement
by David Palmer Massage Depot

 Massage and Bodywork magazine

Free Your Hands and The Rest Will Follow
Hands-Free Chair Massage By Lisa Santoro

Seated Massage A Time to Sit Up Straight and Relax By Mary Kathleen Rose

Massage for the Masses David Palmer, Chair Massage, and Zubio By Karrie Osborn

Working for a corporate or public massage chair outlet
Getting the Contracts

Setting up contracts with chair massage employees

Learning how do massage on a portable massage chair
Resources, articles, books, DVD’s, videos chairs

Chair Massage Client Intake Form (.doc)