Today I’m being inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame. Thank you to Mike Hinkle, the World Massage Festival, and the world of massage therapy and bodywork for this recognition. So many people spend their whole lives teaching and/or working with clients with virtually no appreciation outside of their immediate circle. So thank you very much!
I’m immediately celebrating by spending the day that coincidentally has me NOT at the Festival. My son, wife and her mother are all born on July 16th! So I’m in Austin with my personal Hall of Fall family members.
The Hall of Fame induction somewhat influenced me to a new wave of productivity – this has been a great year. I am putting the finishing touches on my book on Deep Massage; a new article on energy and integration will be published this Fall in Massage and Bodywork magazine; our school is in its 23rd year of success; and I will soon begin writing a biography of Fritz Smith, MD, the founder of Zero Balancing. Plus a new year of teaching here and in England. It’s a good life.
I sense a turning point in our field – after years of striving for legitimacy and for scientific/medical competence – we are finally beginning to look at the art as well as the science, at energy as well as structure. Health means whole and for our field to continue being a leader in the healthcare field we need to keep on working with the whole person, not just their physical body or their energy. So many of us now are becoming “thought leaders” in the integrative vision of healthcare. It’s an exciting time and I’m happy to be part of it.
Thanks everyone for your support and I pledge to be worthy of it.
Sincerely,
David
p.s. to feel complete I’d like to just list names of people who have helped greatly along the way:
Faye, Aubrey and Lisa Lauterstein, Millie Barry, Keith Kartman, Michael Bloomfield, Herbert Brun, Paul Brown, Bob King, Nancy Dail, Daniel Blake, Julie Lauterstein, Jake Lauterstein, Katja Lauterstein, Cherry and Jerry Harper, Fritz Smith, Paul Cohen, Zanna Heighton, Clive Taylor, Pam Geggus, Jeff Lennard, Alan Hext, Giovanni Pescetto, Mary Zinman (and all the other ZB faculty), John Conway, the staff and faculty and each student at Lauterstein-Conway Massage School.