As the concept of holism gains acceptance in Western culture, it becomes increasingly commonplace to find ourselves impressed by the ways in which everything is connected to everything else. We embrace holism in our approaches to health. We pray for our leaders to embrace holistic understanding of our geographical and political environments. We find significance in the synchronous thoughts and events of our personal lives. “There are no accidents,” we say.
The gymnasium is filled with more than one hundred earnest students, yoga mats spread in a roughly circular pattern around a striking blonde woman with an ear mic and a dancer’s carriage. She is Shiva Rea, a California-born woman who’s drawn on yoga and dance traditions from around the world to create Yoga Trance Dance, a popular free-floating movement form that’s unleashing energetic possibilities and creative expression in students internationally.
When it comes to the role of gender in the massage and bodywork profession, the spectrum of issues is great. And despite all that we might do to evade the topic, gender and, subsequently, sexuality always come back to somehow factor into the equation.
Ayurveda takes massage seriously. During its five-thousand-year history, this ancient science has experimented with just about every natural healing technique known to humans and concluded that massage has a pivotal role to play in keeping people healthy and getting them back to health when they’re ill.
"Don Juan" used to be a good friend of mine. He was great to discuss religion and politics with over scotch in a dark bar at 2 a.m. We both collected comics (which in retrospect was a transparent metaphor for arrested development). We laughed a lot, but you wouldn’t trust him with your sister, your daughter, your girlfriend … maybe your mom. Women were his oxygen. In many ways, he was a great guy, but he would have made a lousy massage therapist: dangerous to clients, the profession, and himself. Good thing he was in sales.
The complexity of influences on our well-being, from environmental toxins to fast-paced lifestyles and media overload, is mind-boggling. The multitude of traumas that inundate our daily lives is relentless, particularly in urban settings divorced from the soothing rhythms of nature. Given this, when we seek remedies for our suffering, whether mental, emotional, or physical, where do we start? Who do we turn to? How do we find the source of our problems and our healing?
Originally published in Body Sense magazine, Autumn/Winter 2008. Copyright 2008. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.
Somewhere between the time the therapist enters the room and the door closes behind her, you cross into a euphoric state--an altered universe, worlds away from relentless to-do lists, unruly children, and workaholic spouses. If only you could preserve that feeling. The good news is you can. Maybe not forever, but certainly for more than one hour. Following are some ideas from leading experts for prolonging the pleasure of your next massage.
Farmers—who plant, nurture, and harvest crops, then allow the ground to lie fallow for a period of rest—know well the significance of the seasons. Practitioners of the principles of Chinese medicine also honor the seasons, understanding that a healthy life is one that follows the seasonal cycle of nature. As we learn about the ebb and flow of the seasons and their intent for us, we learn to tune into our own natural rhythms and adjust our lifestyles in accordance with them.
Chronic migraine headaches were giving me so much pain I was willing to try anything that might offer relief. A physician suggested I begin keeping a journal and writing in it on a regular basis. He wouldn’t see me again until I’d been writing at least two weeks.
This was something I’d never considered. Keeping a diary seemed like something only for famous people. Writing about myself was about the last thing I wanted to do. I felt another migraine brewing as I considered the ultimatum I’d been given.
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