It’s no secret that the past few weeks have thrown everyone for a loop. Most people are not only faced with a renewed responsibility of staying healthy, but also with a new unknown financial burden of not knowing where our next paycheck will come from. During this time, we need to find new, creative ways of making money, while also respecting social distancing.

In one respect, we’re incredibly lucky to have this happen during a time when we can stay so connected without needing to be in close proximity to one another. This opens many innovative and creative doors that we can try to take advantage of.

Many of us that work hands on with people are feeling this financial hit the hardest. Massage therapists, physical therapists, gym owners, yoga instructors, bartenders and many others are at a loss for what to do next. These are the people that can actually utilize the internet to try to make a living while also trying to invoke a sense of community and connectivity.

For example, instead of holding an in person yoga class, you can have a live stream video of your classes that you send out to your clients. Not only does this keep people moving while many of us are at home, but it also creates a sense of community for those participating in the virtual class together.

Massage and physical therapists can create videos and documentation explaining and showing how to implement self massage and self care to their clients while they’re unable to be seen. They can even show these treatments through live video calls. For me, as a part-time massage therapist, part of my income is derived from working on the elderly who are the most at risk group. They are also some of the people that need hands on touch the most. This has completely halted my ability to work on them, but I can still help by sending videos and texts about how to continue to derive benefits of massage without me needing to be there physically.

While this situation leaves us in an unknown financial environment, we can still find ways to thrive and safely maintain a sense of community. Thankfully technology hasn’t advanced to the point of being able to pass pathogens through the internet, but it is advanced enough to be able to stay connected and keep money flowing while we’re all enjoying some time at home.

👋 To those of you who don’t know me, my name is Chelsea and I’m part of the awesome MemberSpace support team. I’m also a part time massage therapist in Colorado, whose main client base is 70 and over. While I’m super lucky to have my job with MemberSpace, I’ve been financially hit by recent events and have seen so many people come together in the past couple of weeks in amazing ways. I hope that everyone can glean a little clarity and positivity from one another and continue moving forward. Stay safe and healthy out there, and get those creative juices flowing!