Massage and The Nervous System: Part Two

Part two of Massage and the Nervous System. (See part one.) As massage therapists we know how to get our hands on muscles and connective tissues. But now we see somehow we have to get our hands on the nervous system because otherwise it’s a bit like flipping light switches with no electricity – some action…

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Massage and the Nervous System: Part One

This is the first part of a three-part series on Massage and the Nervous System. When we first learn massage therapy, we naturally visualize that we are working on muscles. Memorizing muscles and seeing their kinesiological relations to each other is a task! Then we can add to that the wonderful insights drawn from Rolfing and…

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Anatomy Review: The Erector Spinae System

Origin: Sacrum and iliac crest of pelvis, Insertion: All ribs, transverse and spinous processes of all vertebrae up to C2; mastoid process of the temporal bone, Action: Bilateral: extension of the spine, (Excessive – lumbar and cervical lordosis; thoracic kyphosis), Unilateral: lateral flexion (Excessive – scoliosis), Antagonist: Rectus abdominis (or gravity) The erector spinae is more a…

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Beyond the Immune System: Making History with Massage Part 2

Let’s take a moment for reverie.  For a minute just imagine that you are receiving an incredible massage.  Not just a good massage – an incredible massage, anywhere in or out of this universe, from anyone or anything.  Enjoy imagining receiving your most ideal, incredible massage.  (Please breathe and pause). My guess, from having talked…

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My School’s Logo: The Secret of its Origin.

Tonight in his speech, President Barack Obama said, “For in our hands lies the ability to shape our world.” And it took me right back to the origin of our school’s logo. Years ago I visited a potter’s studio in Hillsborough, New Hampshire.  His work was brilliant and inspiring and I left with his brochure.…

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Homage to the Feet: Part One

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 out the infinite varieties of motion going on…

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Dimensions of Touch: Part Two

by David Lauterstein In a “virtual” age, a time greatly affected by the pace of computers and their powerful yet imaginary realities, each individual’s unmet hunger and the social need for the actual becomes more and more urgent. Touch is a medium of actual reality. Touch is a medium of living reality, just as light…

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Three reasons Chair Massage opens the Gateway to Massage

By Jennifer Shaw, Austin Massage Therapist and Guest Blogger If you’re new to massage, chair massage is the perfect gateway to your new career. There are many reasons chair massage is a great “entry point” for those new to massage therapy. Convenience is probably the most obvious reason – chair massage can be done any…

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Invest in the Art of Receiving Massage

Tim Sullivan is a yoga teacher and massage therapist in training. You can find him at www.timyasa.com and americainshort.com. I remember a conversation I had with the desk staff at a local spa. It was when I had first signed up for massage school, and they said I should book my appointments now because after…

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Healing as the Yoga of Acceptance

Tim Sullivan is a yoga teacher and massage therapist in training. You can find him at www.timyasa.com and americainshort.com. On a recent plane ride from Austin to my hometown of Chicago, after stowing my yoga mat in the overhead compartment and taking a seat, my excited neighbor exclaimed, “So… you do yoga?!” She flipped her…

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