Posts Tagged ‘alternative health care’
Peace is a Need, So is Work! Massage Combines Peace and Work.
Seth Godin writes a fantastic blog. Every day he comes up with brilliant tips on life and work. Here’s his from today – “When is it due? Here’s the schedule. Follow it. There’s your in box. Empty it. When something is imminent, speed up. When you’re off the deadline machine, take a breath and poke…
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…
Read MoreMassage Therapy with Two Eyes
Energy work and structural work are two sides of the same coin. The most effective therapy arises from an approach that respects the unity of structural and energetic aspects of both therapist and the client. The various arguments for and against energy work, for and against insistence on evidence-based therapy, are certainly passionate. The best…
Read MoreEnergy Work Defended (Against Devotees and Detractors)
Energy is too important a subject to be, on the one hand, defined only by its devotees – some of whose ideas or practices have been shown to be false or dangerous or with claims made for scientific validity where there is insufficient scientific evidence or disproof. On the other hand, energy work has been…
Read MoreEnergy and Integrative Massage in Recent History
When I began as a therapist in 1977, Swedish massage, Shiatsu, Rolfing, Aston Patterning, Reiki, Feldenkrais, Alexander work, Polarity, and Cranio-sacral therapy were what one mostly encountered. There was a broad umbrella under which they all easily co-existed. As the massage and bodywork field grew, its proliferation gave rise to new modalities, new educational standards,…
Read More3-D Massage – Disease, Disposition & Destiny
In my last blog piece, I outlined three realms of massage/bodywork – wellness, orthopedic, and holistic. We can also look at three purposes for massage and bodywork. These relate to the “3 D’s” – Disease, Disposition and Destiny. DISEASE People come to us with dis-ease. It may be a physical disease – an injury or…
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