Posts Tagged ‘alternative healing’
Working with the Sacro-Iliac Joint.
What a fascinating world that of the sacro-iliac is! The ligaments that run from the sacrum to the ilium – like the guywires of a suspension bridge – need appropriate span and tautness to be healthy. Sitting down all day compresses the SI joint and results in overly lax ligaments. Then any stray force –…
Read MoreSTEP FULLY INTO YOUR NEW LIFE AND NEW YEAR
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Lao-Tzu How many steps, how many thousands of miles did you travel last year? How many thousands of steps and miles we will take in the next year? How can you make this journey more full of life, goodness, beauty, and excitement? The…
Read MoreHolding Headaches at Bay
Bodywork Eases Migraines and Tension Headaches By Cathy Ulrich “Do you get headaches?” I asked Cindy. She had come to see me for massage to address her neck and shoulder pain but hadn’t mentioned headaches.“Well, yes,” she said. “I’ve always had headaches and, now that you mention it, they seem to be worse when my…
Read MoreLoving Time #2 – in Massage and in Life
“The element most grossly omitted from treatises on harmony up to the present is the element of time. The question of the time-interval that must elapse between one sound and another if the two sounds are to produce a pleasing consonance or an interesting relation, has been avoided. And yet the simplest consideration of the…
Read More“Wisdom of the Body” – Stanley Kunitz on poetry (and massage)
These words are excerpted from the essay “The Wisdom of the Body” from Stanley Kunitz’ book Next-to-Last Things. I’ve found them inspiring my massage therapy again and again over the years. For ages before (human writing), “immense quantities of human experience,” in Alfred North Whitehead’s phrase,”had been accumulating in men’s bodies.” The body, in its…
Read MoreThe Evolution of Slowness – Massage Helps Thoughtfulness
Deliberation is born of joy. — Rumi Andrew Taylor Still, Osteopath’s founder, said the body contains all the healing substances it needs. And indeed humans have within their nervous systems equally the antidote to the social epidemic of excess stress. The autonomic system embodies the advantage of a speedy, whole body response to changing circumstance. …
Read MoreWhat are Energy and Structure? Clarity will Help our Massages!
As you may notice, over the last few weeks in this blog I’ve been focusing mostly on structure/energy, art/science and their integration in bodywork. Bit-by-bit I want to assemble a position paper that helps brings clarity to these things and helps our field take a closer look at integrative healthcare. Thanks for listening and your…
Read MoreEnergy in Bodywork & Massage Therapy
The broadest use of the term energy in bodywork has been applied to bodywork that consciously aims at more than just soft tissues. The scientific method is empirical. It looks at and works with what is there. In the case of a human, what is there is a body, and certainly mind and emotions as…
Read MoreStand By Me! – a song for massage therapy?
In 1962 Ben E. King recorded the song, “Stand By Me.” In this appeal – to whom? – his lover, God, his massage therapist? – he calls up the courage it really does take to stand up and live our lives each day. It is sad, terrifying, joyous, maddening, inspiring, and mundane to live our…
Read MoreMuddy Waters on Energy
“She moves me, man. Honey, now I don’t see how it’s done.” – Muddy Waters The concept of energy in bodywork has historically had, and I think wisely, a wide definition. It retains the mystery Muddy Waters evoked. Yet maybe we can see with a little less muddiness “how it’s done”. In physics, it is…
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