Medical Massage – Not the “Best” Kind?
Over the last few years, some practitioners of so-called medical massage have implied it represents the highest level of our profession. First problem, in the U.S. most state laws say massage is NOT the practice of medicine. Many therapists have gone on blithely ignoring that. Second problem, assuming the superiority of a medical approach ignores…
Read MoreA.C.T. NOW! – The Advanced Clinical/integrative Training
When I first came to Texas in 1984 I thought I’d just teach advanced trainings. I started teaching a class out of my apartment on San Gabriel and 29th. It was a group of about 10 students/therapists that included, among others, an interesting young man named, John Conway! Anyhow, shortly thereafter, I saw a big…
Read MoreSome Notes toward Rhythm’s Role – the Art of Massage #6
Just as joints and bones organize our space. so the lived events and moments spanning the pause in between organize our time. The ancients postulated celestial rhythms and frequencies in the harmonic relationship of planets and stars across the vast reaches of the universe – the so-called “music of the spheres”. “To everything, turn, turn,…
Read MoreEternity in the Palm of Your Hand – The Art of Massage #5
Dost thou love life? then do not squander time; for that is the stuff life is made of. Benjamin Franklin Time is what we are made of – in addition, of course to space. Ida Rolf noted “gravity is the therapist” – meaning we derive the sense of balance from our relationship to gravity in…
Read MoreFunny Story / True Confession
Sometimes we reinvent the wheel and think it was our idea…. I grew up in the 60’s. So it may not surprise you to know that many years ago I “inhaled”. (I have exhaled also many times since then.) So In what must have been 1966, after “inhaling”, I was thinking. (I’ve also done…
Read MoreAccuracy – The Art of Massage #4
Art and Science cannot exist but in minutely organized Particulars — William Blake One of the legs we stand on is the knowledge the biological sciences give us. If we can’t find a love and fascination for anatomy, we probably have no business being massage therapists. All the modalities bandied about to great…
Read MoreThe Art of Meeting and The Art of Massage #3
Today I took a walk at dawn. I took a walk just where the night meets the day. The philosopher and teacher, Martin Buber, said it is not the educational intention but it is the meeting which is educationally fruitful. In therapy we can say also it is not the therapeutic intention, but it is…
Read More“The Fact of the Matter is” – Don’t Make Me Puke
These days whenever I hear someone say, “The fact of the matter is” it makes me nauseous and suspicious. I read somewhere, “A fact is a social agreement to stop thinking.” Even if that’s not a completely true fact, I like it – because the part of it that is true, is really important. When…
Read MoreWhat is Better Than a Guitar? – The Art of Massage #2
For the first thirty years of my life, I was a musician and composer. Among my first loves was the guitar and its music made through the wonderful composition of metal strings, wood, and open space. I am still thrilled with the sight and sound of the guitar and all the variants that have been…
Read MoreDon’t Try So Hard!
“That we have to strive after goodness with an effort of our will is one of the lies invented by the mediocre part of ourselves in its fear of being destroyed. Such an effort does not threaten it in any way, it does not even disturb its comfort – not even when it entails…
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