ASHLAND INSTITUTE OF MASSAGE
STUDENT EXPERIENCE
Life in Ashland, Oregon
Ashland Institute of Massage is located in Ashland, Oregon, a picturesque town of 20,000 nestled in the southern Rogue River Valley at the confluence of the Klamath, Siskiyou, and Cascade mountain ranges. Ashland has a sunny climate, moderate rainfall, and four beautiful seasons. Home to Southern Oregon University and the nationally renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland is known for its small-town ambiance, superb restaurants, abundant music and theatre venues, and access to incredible outdoor recreational opportunities. Hiking, skiing, kayaking, and mountain biking are all easily accessible from town. We are 90 minutes away from Mt. Shasta and Crater Lake National Park, two-and-a-half hours from the Pacific Ocean, and less than a six-hour drive to Portland or San Francisco.
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Ashland is a safe, health-conscious, and progressive community. As a mecca for cutting-edge alternative health care, Ashland draws highly skilled bodywork professionals, making a culture of exceptional bodywork the norm. It is from this field of professionals that we draw our staff, all of whom are active practitioners. Students are likely to find mentors in many fields of interest in this rich community.
AIM’s standard of educational excellence thrives
with this level of expertise and support.
Educational Experience
The educational experience at AIM expands well beyond the curriculum. You will join a cohort of diverse and extraordinarily committed individuals from all walks of life. Given the study requirements of such intimate and in-depth material, students rely on each other for encouragement, support, and feedback. This creates a family-like atmosphere in the group, fostering deep trust and friendships. The three-night Retreat field-trip excursion reinforces connections among class members at a crucial beginning point in the curriculum. Retreat serves as a break from the intensity of the program and allows students to relax into their growing familiarity with one another. This sets a stage of openness and sharing for the remainder of their time together.
Many people who enter AIM’s program undergo a personal transformation that leaves them with a greater sense of confidence in their core being and in the world at large. Our instructors and staff hold the personal success of each individual as our highest priority, and we are fully responsive to your needs as you develop.
Students often describe their time at AIM as
one of the most significant in their lives.
Diversity
AIM students undergo their educational journey with the same group of peers. These cohorts form a supportive, dynamic backdrop for the student experience. Individuals attending massage school range greatly in age, personal and work histories, cultures, learning styles, life transitions, and goals. These differences bring a richness to the classroom atmosphere, offering perspective, insight,
and greater awareness of the intricacies of the body/mind weave inherent in this work.
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Attending the program with a group of friends provides valuable personal reflection throughout the learning process. The friendships developed while in school become tight-knit, family-style associations, enduring far beyond graduation. Classmates have been known to continue gathering and trading work with one another for years into the future, and often students become business partners. This warmth and familiarity is reflected in the environment of the school itself, encouraging all who enter to feel welcome.
Chrysalis Massage Clinic
AIM also operates the Chrysalis Massage Clinic, a professional clinic staffed by licensed graduates of the program. Chrysalis Massage Clinic is used for Student Clinic Experience and has treatment rooms available for student practice sessions. The clinic rooms are equipped with massage tables, bolsters, pillows, blankets, and music stations.
Classroom
Our facility features a large classroom for hands-on learning; a reference library with access to books, periodicals, DVDs, and videos. Resource materials from the library may be used on site or checked out for off-site use. The classroom is equipped with anatomy charts and skeletal models, whiteboards, overhead and PowerPoint projectors, massage tables and chairs, cushions and bolsters, and academic tables and chairs.