Deep Massage and “Low Back Pain”
by Keith Vencill Many of the people I see for the first time complain of “low back pain”. Massage is rarely the first thing that they try. Over-the-counter pain relievers are cheap, easy to come by, and may be effective. However, clients become frustrated as symptoms return when the drugs wear off. They think there must…
Read MoreUp for a Challenge?
by Christopher Allan What I love about the field of massage therapy is the vast options of clientele we can choose to work with. Not everyone has what it takes to work with kids and adults with special needs like Cerebral Palsy, Autism or Head Wound Injuries, and that’s okay. So what does it take?…
Read MoreA New Year’s Encouragement
“All Sickness is Home Sickness” is the title of book by acupuncturist, Dianne Connelly. It may be a watchword for this pivotal year we are entering. How many of us are fully at home in our bodies? It is often quite a challenge to take the best care of ourselves while we juggle work, child-raising, time…
Read MoreMASSAGING YOUR BRAIN
Pain science is telling us that pain is an output of the brain, not an input from the body. Similarly we can note that relaxation and pleasure are outputs of the brain, though we may “feel” them in the effected organs, muscles, and other tissues. Ironically then it turns out that soft tissue manipulation, which…
Read MoreLymphatic Drainage
by Liz Hoffmaster I have been doing lymphatic drainage for a number of years on people with different needs: Orthopedic surgeries, postoperatively, on hips, knees and any joint that can be operated on. Cancer patients who have had chemo, radiation and tumor removal. Elective surgeries, postoperatively. It is this last category that I’m going to talk about.…
Read MoreGrad Chronicle: Alexis Brown
My Experience working as a MT abroad by Alexis Brown I had the pleasure of attending The Lauterstein-Conway School of Massage February 2013-August 2013. Massage School was a lot of fun for me. I learned so much form the instructors, and enjoyed giving, and receiving massages daily. When I graduated I applied and accepted a…
Read MoreThe End of the Modern World?
I just re-read The End of the Modern World (1956) by Romano Guardini, a Catholic priest and professor of religion and philosophy. I don’t share his beliefs precisely (being more or less a Jew-dist), but he makes a compelling and frightening case for what we have lost by not having a religious perspective play a…
Read MoreHumble is Helpful
by Lauren Muser Cates “How do you get set up working in a hospital as a massage therapist?”. I could fund a hospital program if I had a dollar for every time a massage therapist asked me this question. The truth is that if you want to talk seriously about how massage therapy becomes part…
Read MoreMassage Therapy: The First Resort
(taken from a 1989 issue of the Austin Chronicle – slightly updated) by David Lauterstein People ask me how I got into massage – “What’s a nice Jewish man doing in a profession like this?” Well, I read a lot. And in 1973, while studying music in Munich, Germany, and falling into a funk which…
Read MoreShouldn’t All Ribs Float?
Each rib has toward its “head”” a triangle of synovial joints – with attachments to the bodies of the vertebrae above, below and to the transverse process of the one below. The triangle is one of the most stable as well as most flexible structures in nature. It is no accident that nature chose the…
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