Massage School Trends: Signs

Lauterstein-Conway Massage School got a new sign recently with a orange, sunburst arch and a big purple arrow. Does anyone remember when this little sign went up? This sign is now hanging on the side of the building itself. There is a newer, glossier graveyard sign to replace it – with an arrow. Does anyone…

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What are Energy and Structure? Clarity will Help our Massages!

As you may notice, over the last few weeks in this blog I’ve been focusing mostly on structure/energy, art/science and their integration in bodywork.  Bit-by-bit I want to assemble a position paper that helps brings clarity to these things and helps our field take a closer look at integrative healthcare.  Thanks for listening and your…

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Massage Therapy with Two Eyes

Energy work and structural work are two sides of the same coin. The most effective therapy arises from an approach that respects the unity of structural and energetic aspects of both therapist and the client. The various arguments for and against energy work, for and against insistence on evidence-based therapy, are certainly passionate. The best…

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Energy Work Defended (Against Devotees and Detractors)

Energy is too important a subject to be, on the one hand, defined only by its devotees – some of whose ideas or practices have been shown to be false or dangerous or with claims made for scientific validity where there is insufficient scientific evidence or disproof. On the other hand, energy work has been…

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Medical Massage is Not the Best Kind of Massage

Over the last few years, some practitioners of so-called medical massage have implied it represents the highest level of our profession. First problem, most state laws say massage is NOT the practice of medicine.  Many therapists persist in blithely ignoring that. Second problem, assuming the superiority of a medical approach ignores the client.  The best…

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