THE TEMPORO-MANDIBULAR JOINT – MOST USED IN THE BODY!

One of the most fascinating and important things that therapists must understand is the anatomy of the temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ), its function, and its dysfunction. The TMJ joint is the most used joint in the body. And it has – like the knee – an articular disc within it! So, If this disc gets displaced…

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The Iliopsoas: The Irresistible Center of Existence!

by David Lauterstein There are structural theories and therapies relating to our anatomy. And there are energy theories and therapies. So far the two have been evolving in parallel, without much conscious interconnection. Yet since people are both structure and energy, it is common sense to say you are addressing health incompletely if you only…

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THE TYRANNY OF THE BACK – A RANT

My wife and I got massages at a very nice spa last night. We each signed up for 1.5 hour deep tissue. What we got is about 60 minutes on the back, relatively little work on the rest of the body. Therapists, maybe some clients, want only back, shoulder and neck work. And maybe some…

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Meet Serratus Anterior Again

Last weekend I was teaching a Deep Massage Teacher training and we traded each day. On the second day, after receiving, I stood up, walked around, and was amazed at how free my shoulder girdle felt – primarily because my partner hadn’t worked on my shoulders! Neither of us could figure it out. Then the…

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THE NEED TO TOUCH

As therapists everyday we see our clients’ need for touch, and people’s in general. What we do not recognize nearly as often is “the need TO touch”. In Harry Harlow’s famous experiment with nursing primates, he found that they consistently choose a soft figure to touch over their food source. And, equally striking is he…

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SPACE IS THE PLACE

Suzuki Roshi: ‘Sometimes a flash will come through a dark sky…The sky is never surprised when all of a sudden a thunderbolt breaks through. And when lightning does flash, a wonderful sight may be seen. When we have emptiness, we are always prepared for watching the flashing.’” When I listen to my thoughts, in general…

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NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST

Your mind naturally wanders, but, as it says in the Lord of the Rings, “Not all who wander are lost.” When we do Deep Massage, we cultivate healthy “psycho-mechanics,” We attend as much to the movement of awareness as to the movement of our body. So to facilitate the client’s clear experience of our touch,…

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BREATHE – THE ART OF MASSAGE #6

Everything must touch!  Send feelers out And love is like a vine, it is connecting us. ~ David Lauterstein   What connects one touch with another?  What role does breath play in the art of massage? In yoga, if we do the postures and movement without full breathing, it is of limited structural and energetic…

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Eternity in the Palm of Your Hand – The Art of Massage #5

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 space. To say that “time is the therapist” is equally true. Of course we already say time is the great…

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Accuracy – 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…

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