David Lauterstein
Letting Go of Random in Mind and Body
When we meditate, we may concentrate on an experience such as feeling breath at the tips of our nostrils, or the silent repetition of a mantra, or visualizing a symbol, etc. That then becomes a “home” for our awareness. Our mind will naturally wander; it’s restless. But we have a home to return to. The…
Read MoreENERGY DEFENDED AGAINST ITS DEVOTEES AND ITS DETRACTORS
I have no problem using the word “energy” when it refers to experience. Take bones, for example. When we look at the femur, it is describable with its varied shapes: trochanters, neck and head, shaft, condyles and epicondyles. This is structural anatomy and lives comfortably in science and objectivity. On the other hand, there is the…
Read MoreIncrease the Quality of Massage Education! (and the quantity will follow)
I realize there are some people pushing for requiring 1,000 hour programs. I respectfully disagree. We can in my experience deliver a superb entry-level education in 500 hours. If a school can’t do it in 500 hours – I assure you – most won’t in 1,000! At the same time, I do support recommending up…
Read MoreThe Only Mind You Can Read is Your Own!
I wake up early in the morning and one of reasons I do is I like the general calmness and silence of that time. A few years ago I started listening more deeply to the “voice” in my head. For many years before that, I felt that it was often talking too loudly and too…
Read MoreI am Proud of the Women (and Men) Who Constitute the Bulk of Practitioners of Massage Therapy!
In 1910 the Carnegie Foundation funded the “Flexnor Report” to enforce in the U.S. longer training and the curriculum common in European medical schools. It called upon American medical schools to enact higher admission and graduation standards, and to adhere strictly to the protocols of what mainstream science proposed in teaching and research. A repercussion…
Read MoreSENSORI-MOTOR AMNESIA!
Working on clients, we sometimes encounter “sensori-motor amnesia”, a lack of body awareness that is sometimes funny, sometimes sad. I was once massaging a man’s back and he asked me what I was working on. At the time I was trying to mobilize the soft tissues that had become chronically tense and were restricting the…
Read MoreOur hands speak volumes
How many times does bodywork give rise to spiritual or religious experiences? About this level of life, the philosopher Wittgenstein said, “Whereof one can not speak, thereupon we must be silent.” Well, in the silence of bodywork, something deeper sometimes “speaks”. Call it what you will – soul, energy, bliss, spirit, God, just the right…
Read MoreA New Wind for Your Sails
by David Lauterstein This outline shows how marketing can be seen as applying the same principles we practice in sophisticated bodywork, especially Zero Balancing and Deep Massage (which use the “fulcrum” model for how to optimize contact). I wrote it a few years ago when I entertained a bit more new-age language so have patience with that! Let…
Read MoreFor a Regular Massage to Turn into a Deep Massage
“If one works well in a potato field, potatoes will grow. That’s reality. The rest is smoke.” –Danilo Dolci Yesterday I received a very good massage. Afterwards, I felt smoothed out, muscles more relaxed and my nervous system was decidedly more parasympathetic dominant. Yet I still didn’t feel deeply affected. It was like she’d massaged…
Read MoreHow Are Deep Massage and Zero Balancing Related?
I began teaching what I call Deep Massage in 1982. This was after studying extensively with Rolfer, Daniel Blake, studying cranial work with early students of John Upledger, and teaching anatomy and deep tissue massage at the Chicago School of Massage Therapy. I realized that “deep” has more to do with quality of touch and…
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