Longtime massage therapist trains next generation

Michael Eayrs’ healing touch has been felt across the state.

The fourth-generation Flathead Valley native has been practicing massage therapy for over three decades and operates an innovative statewide massage training school.

“There’s no school here,” for massage training, he remembered thinking when he launched the Montana Institute of Massage Therapy in 1999. Since then, his school has morphed into the Massage Training Institute in Kalispell, where approximately 800 students from across the state have learned his massage therapy techniques.

In his 30-plus years as a massager therapist, Eayrs served as the first board chairman of the Montana Board of Massage Therapy and worked as part of the team that develops a national massage accreditation exam. But while he has always been a hands-on person, massage therapy came to Eayrs as a second calling.

Before embarking on a career in massage therapy, Eayrs spent time as a warehouse worker, mill worker, carpet cleaner, carpenter and glazier.

When his wife was involved in a car accident, Eayrs said he, “was very impressed at the results she was getting from Kenny Klundt, who is probably one of the longest-standing massage therapists in the Flathead Valley to this day.”

With the help of a career counselor, Eayrs realized he might be better off working with people in a medical field. He decided to pursue massage therapy, but added, “there were no schools in Montana.”

To realize his new career path, Eayrs had to attend night school at the Tri-Cities School of Massage in Kennewick, Washington. He continued working as a carpenter during the day to support his studies.

“I was very glad to put the tool belt away and move into this arena,” he said.

As a full-time massage therapist, Eayrs eventually started working 50 hours per week on massage clients. But he wanted to give Montanans the opportunity he never had, so he launched his massage training school and began divvying up his time between clients and students.

“MTI is unique to the northwest U.S. as the only school of its type for massage that I know of,” Eayrs said. He believes the instruction style and rigorous content set MTI apart.

“A lot of folks come to it as a second job,” Eayrs realized from his own experience, so MTI utilizes a “blended learning style.” This allows students to maintain their existing jobs while they train. He emphasized the training is intensive and hands-on, but at the same time, the 600-hour course is split between remote learning during the week and in-person weekend sessions a few times a month.

The classes are lengthy and can be exhaustive, with semesters lasting from October to May and March to October. As part of the blended learning experience, the course combines physical training, online and textbook coursework and lectures from massage therapy professionals. Typically, Eayrs instructs 12 to 15 students in a class.

He stressed the massage theory and application components of the class receive the heaviest focus, with about half of the 600 hours dedicated to these studies. But the comprehensive course also covers the practical knowledge necessary to operate a successful massage therapy practice. Portions of the training teach students business practices, insurance billing and self-care techniques.

With the motto “training massage therapists as medical professionals,” Eayrs also believes MTI is distinctive for its medical and scholastic focus.

“Offering a training that is oriented strongly in the direction of working with pathologies makes the graduates more effective at applying soft tissues rehabilitation, rather than just relaxation,” he explained.

With his focus on providing more than “just relaxation,” Eayrs trains students in advanced practices such as Neuromuscular Therapy, a “specific and scientific approach to muscular pain relief” that “uses trigger point work to accomplish its goals.” Eayrs emphasized “training like this is primarily “guided by a sound understanding of anatomy and physiology.”

He believes in the importance of medically sound training for massage therapists because from his observations, “there has never been a greater need for massage therapists. The market is crying.”

“If you want to help people reduce and eliminate musculoskeletal pain, massage may be a career option for you,” he advised.

But he warned, “training to be a great massage therapist is somewhat like training to be an athlete. It requires excellent body mechanics, muscular control, alignment of hands, arms, legs, feet…Without these attributes, the massage therapist will simply wear him or herself out.”

But, as his decades of training, practice and industry experience attest, Eayrs believes “it is possible to work your whole life as a massage therapist if you apply it properly.”

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.