Massage and Yoga and “Medical Gymnastics”

By David Lauterstein Why is it that massage and yoga have become part of the lives of millions of people? This is certainly one of the best pieces of good news in our troubled time! Slow touch, slow movement, and care of the therapist for the client, care of the yoga student for themselves, are…

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Are You Considering a Career Change? Consider Massage.

Superb writing from Keith Eric Grant, reprinted here with the author’s permission, that discusses some of the many advantages and benefits of a career in massage therapy. Originally published in Massage Today, October, 2001, Vol. 01, Issue 10. -David Lauterstein The Life It Brings By Keith Eric Grant, PhD, NCTMB “Human beings live in bodies…

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THIS IS MY BOX – REFLECTIONS ON WONDROUS CONTAINERS

Today is Christmas and millions of people will be opening boxes. And they will be looking inside these boxes with excitement. In a figurative sense I’ve begun to be as interested in “boxes” as in their contents. The box “contains” the present. It holds these treasures that we invest with feelings. They are, at their…

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Homage to the Feet

Massage Education for the Feet, A Foundation By David Lauterstein There are 206 bones in the body, 52 of them are in the feet! It’s amazing that these two small yet marvelously engineered structures can support our entire weight without being crushed or giving way. It’s little short of miraculous that they also constantly balance…

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LEARNING ANATOMY – CURSE? THEN A BIGGER BLESSING!

Anatomy is a sacred genesis. We ought not consider the organs of the body as the lifeless forms of a mechanical mass, but as the living, active instruments of the soul.” – Pehr Henrik Ling When people first start massage school they are thrilled to give and receive massages, but sometimes students are not so…

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SELF-EVOLUTION AND MASSAGE THERAPY

Uniquely among animals, humans can consciously initiate enormous changes in our lives. Basically, we are the only species that can self-evolve, sometimes many times, within one lifetime. This incredible capacity is what our society should be organized around – each human’s ability to create a better life for her/himself and our community. We have the…

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VITAMIN T

Life cannot thrive without touch. This is so fundamental that too often it goes without being said or even recognized. The embrace of the baby in womb, the touch of the mother, father and other adults nurturing, feeding, welcoming the child, the later touch of peers, lovers, partners, the touch of our own children –…

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DON’T IGNORE THE INTERCOSTALS

Intercostal Muscles

by David Lauterstein “Anything with wings always comes down in the end”. ~ Simone Weil One of the most important groups of muscles often ignored by massage therapists is the intercostal muscles. These of course give rise to the deliciousness of “spare ribs”. But far more importantly they are core muscles involved more or less…

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I COME OUT OF THE ILIOPSOAS CLOSET!

By David Lauterstein I’ve just taught a one-day class on the iliopsoas. It was wonderful and we explored not only the anatomy and techniques for that fascinating muscle, but equally its important neighbors. The “psoas,” because hidden and elevated to pedestal status by Rolfers and others, has enjoyed a somewhat inflated reputation. On the other…

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The Iliopsoas: The Irresistible Center of Existence!

by David Lauterstein There are structural theories and therapies relating to our anatomy. And there are energy theories and therapies. So far the two have been evolving in parallel, without much conscious interconnection. Yet since people are both structure and energy, it is common sense to say you are addressing health incompletely if you only…

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