Where is the pyramid in your body? – Deep Massage Newsletter #1
In the last months I've been intrigued by a little known muscle, the pyramidalis. This muscle lies anterior to rectus abdominis, and is contained within its sheath. Its action is to tense the the fascia of the 'linea alba", meaning "white line," between the two sides...
What Happens When Your Massage Client Disappears?
I have received student sessions for years - it's a requirement at our school (I know - tough life for us teachers!) I commonly have the experience that, in the best sessions, one forgets the therapist is there. The touch feels so trustworthy and clear that the focus...
“It Looks Like It’s Dancing to the Rolling Stones”
This morning I took me and my dog, Phoebe, for a walk. I guess the opening of presents brought me back to the biggest present, my own body. I'd been having a little back pain and hoped to relieve it by visualizing the sacrum and its ligaments. I could feel,...
Massage for the Soul – Zero Balancing
If you wanted to massage your soul, how would you do it? We all want to feel healthy - not just in our bodies. We want to enjoy clear thinking, emotional vibrancy, spiritual inspiration - things more commonly more associated with soul than with body. Recently someone...
Marketing with Your Body! Massage Promotion with one’s Whole Self
The more you learn about massage and bodywork, the more you learn about life as a whole. I have been a therapist now for 35 years and a teacher for 25. I have run my school, The Lauterstein-Conway Massage School in Austin, Texas, for 23 years. I’ve learned that the...
The Deep Massage Book – update!
About a year and half ago I wrote about the process of writing The Deep Massage Book, which I've been doing, off and on, for a number of years. So here's an update. I'm done with the writing and the commissioned illustrations from a fantastic local medical artist,...
Where are You Going? – Massage and the Nervous System, Part 3
by David Lauterstein I once got a greeting card, “On the Family Trip to Nirvana,” with parents sitting in the car’s front seat and two kids in the back, asking their parents, “Are we there yet?” With this next deeper level of the nervous system, we are not at Nirvana...
The Secret of Success in Massage – Exceptional Service!
I hear stories of therapists out there. Some are doing great. Some are just making it. Some are frustrated. The times they are a’ changin’. The advent of the Massage Envy’s, etc. has provided many more job opportunities, but at a lower paying rate. Some employers...
When First We REALLY Meet – Massage and the Nervous System, Part 2
It is not the therapeutic intention that is fruitful, but it is how we really meet that is therapeutically fruitful. (paraphrase of Martin Buber) The nerve cells which sense pressure and vibration were discovered in 1831 by the Italian anatomist, Giovanni Pacini, who...
Helen Keller was Right about Massage (and life)
Helen Keller was right - "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." In some ways every day is an adventure; every day a hero's journey. We don't know what will happen. We can see the obstacles and opportunities that arise as part of the incredible journeys, short...