Many therapists know first-hand the therapeutic value of yoga and neuromuscular therapy. Consider what might happen if the fundamental laws behind the two disciplines were combined to incorporate their very best principles. The wonderful results of this combination are what many therapists are stumbling upon, a process we’ve called Balancing the Asymmetric Body.
A monk asked Master Haryo, “What is the way?” Haryo said, “An open-eyed man falling into the well.” The Zen koan was as much of a riddle as my pain and failing health. I was young, healthy and had been an athlete much of my life. I never thought my childhood was all that “alternative,” but my father was a chiropractor and treated us as we needed it. We also did not receive immunizations.
When I first contemplated entering a year-long massage training program in 1994, I hesitated for two reasons. The first had to do with finances. Would I have enough money to pay for training at a private center? Would there be a financial pay-off upon completion? The second reason for my initial hesitance, and the topic of this article, had to do with the reactions I was getting from people when I mentioned massage.
After our marathon transpacific trek to the “Island of the Gods,” the welcome committee deities couldn’t have orchestrated a more sublime reception: a full moon illuminating mist rising from the river gorge, flashes of distant lightening silhouetting the jungle, all accompanied by a raucous chorus of frogs.
A parent’s touch holds great power. The soothing massage of a mother’s hand can calm a fussy infant. A child’s fevered brow may be cooled by the gentle stroke of her father’s palm. And in too many unfortunate cases, a child may be physically hurt and abused by a striking blow from his parent. A natural conduit for emotions, touch or the lack thereof transmits important information about the parent/child bond, whether one of acceptance or rejection.
The last installments of “Redesigning Movement” focused on gaining flexibility in specific regions of the body. We drew attention to the postural and biomechanical issues that most massage therapists and bodyworkers face. A full head-to-toe routine of active-isolated stretching was explained as a means to prevent repetitive stress injuries that are brought on by the nature of our work and through dysfunctional biomechanics.
The present time opens exciting perspectives for American massage and bodywork practitioners. Thanks to a new philosophy, the medical values of massage are getting more and more recognition from clients/patients, as well as from other health and medical practitioners. I am sure that this inevitable process will finally restore massage therapy within the arsenal of modern American medicine. Massage practitioners are playing a major role in this process. It is their job to help the clients and convince other health practitioners of the benefits of massage therapy.
When you sit at a desk, hunched over papers or a computer, your body tends to form a C shape. This slumped posture creates pressure on your back, neck and shoulders and can cause pinched muscles, fatigue and, if you’ve been reading a lot, eye strain. The following pick-me-ups will help break this tension cycle. They don’t need to be performed in any particular order. However, if you do only one technique, be sure to repeat it to get the best results. In some cases, you do not need to actually massage the muscle, because the movement itself creates the massage effect.
Ride the Rockies is an annual bicycle tour that takes 2,000 cyclists on a seven-day ride through Colorado’s Rocky Mountains each June. It is not to be confused with a leisurely ride around the block or a trip to the local grocery store. This year’s ride covers 458 miles, spanning from Trinidad to Idaho Springs. Unlike other similar events around the country, the elevation at the Colorado event is never lower than 9,000 feet and tops off at 11,318 feet. The steep daily climbs have been known to reduce grown men to tears upon completion.
When Fred Couples walked off the course after the third round of The 1996 Players Championship (TPC), he hardly wore the look of a winner. Heading into the next day’s final round, he trailed leader Tommy Tolles by four strokes. More of a concern to Couples that afternoon in 1996 was his ailing back, which had bothered him for years. Chances for a comeback victory looked bleak.
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