SPACE IS THE PLACE

Suzuki Roshi: ‘Sometimes a flash will come through a dark sky…The sky is never surprised when all of a sudden a thunderbolt breaks through. And when lightning does flash, a wonderful sight may be seen. When we have emptiness, we are always prepared for watching the flashing.’” When I listen to my thoughts, in general…

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NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST

Your mind naturally wanders, but, as it says in the Lord of the Rings, “Not all who wander are lost.” When we do Deep Massage, we cultivate healthy “psycho-mechanics,” We attend as much to the movement of awareness as to the movement of our body. So to facilitate the client’s clear experience of our touch,…

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Neuromuscular Therapy: The Nemerov Method

by Howard Nemerov “Jane” reported pain in her left shoulder area. Initial assessment revealed tension along the superior medial border of her left scapula, as well as a zone of spinalis tension along her left lower thoracic spine. The Nemerov Method explains the “why” that correlates with the “what”. Persistent tension usually is a sign…

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Ornament, Crime and Massage – The Art of Massage #7

Ornament and Crime? Got your attention? Well I’m not really going to write about that. However, that was the title of a famous essay written by the architect, Adolf Loos, in 1908. He was a founding member of the “Bauhaus,” a modern movement that approached design with a heightened sense of the beauty and efficiency…

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BREATHE – THE ART OF MASSAGE #6

Everything must touch!  Send feelers out And love is like a vine, it is connecting us. ~ David Lauterstein   What connects one touch with another?  What role does breath play in the art of massage? In yoga, if we do the postures and movement without full breathing, it is of limited structural and energetic…

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Eternity in the Palm of Your Hand – The Art of Massage #5

Time is what we are made of – in addition, of course to space. Ida Rolf noted “gravity is the therapist” – meaning we derive the sense of balance from our relationship to gravity in space. To say that “time is the therapist” is equally true. Of course we already say time is the great…

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Accuracy – The Art of Massage #4

Art and Science cannot exist but in minutely organized Particulars                                                                                             — William Blake   One of the legs we stand on is the knowledge the biological sciences give us.  If we can’t find a love and fascination for anatomy, we probably have no business being massage therapists. All the modalities bandied about to great…

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The Art of Meeting and The Art of Massage #3

Today I took a walk at dawn. I took a walk just where the night meets the day. Each sense has a place of meeting – the place where the sound can first be heard, the place where we first see something illuminated by light – and every time we’re met, whether by sound, smell,…

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What is Better Than a Guitar? – The Art of Massage #2

For the first thirty years of my life, I was a musician and composer.  Among my first loves was the guitar and its music made through the wonderful composition of metal strings, wood, and open space.  I am still thrilled with the sight and sound of the guitar and all the variants that have been…

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WHAT THE HANDS TELL ME – The Art of Massage #1

 “A Symphony must be like the world – it must contain everything”. – Gustav Mahler Mahler, the great composer, in his Symphony #3 gave titles to the various movements: ·  “What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me” ·  “What the Animals in the Forest Tell Me” ·  “What Man Tells Me” ·  “What the…

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