Massage and Movement

Swan Spine

• *Stand on some real earth (vs Sidewalk) for a few minutes, barefoot is ideal, but it still works with shoes on. This is part of why you see folks practicing Tai Chi etcetera outside in the parks--these practices connect with the elements, and help facilitate our balance, harmony, and connection with our bodies, the earth, and the world around us.
• *Make a conscious connection with that Earth, by, on each Exhale, visualizing/feeling a cords going from your head, down your spine, to your sacrum, down each leg, thru your feet, and down into the earth. Try increments of 10 feet at a time until you are 80 feet down. On each Inhalation, 'drink' in the nourishing energy of the earth.
• *Eat Rice and/or root vegetables (yam, potatoes, carrots, daikon.....)
• *Do activities that put you in your body more: walking, stretches, yoga. If your energy is low, gentle yoga or simply being aware of your body can help alot (ie: as you inhale and exhale, feel the breath going down the airways, and notice the movement at your belly and lungs).
• *Splash some cool water on the back of your neck, forehead, and hands

April 1, 2012

Stone Ridge, NY @MaMA, Marbletown Multi-Arts

"We start with the body, your Body, tuning into its connection with the earth the sky, and the space around you. Feel your feet on the floor, sensing through your crown the space above you. Feel your heart beating--coming more inside, strengthening your ability to embody, to be in this body. To sense through it, perceive/propreocept via it...to smell, see, hear, sound, and touch. These senses that we are blessed to have alive and functioning...the information that we glean through them is helping us to use different parts of our brains, and shifting how we experience the world.

Remember to Breathe! Here's a great tip I learned from Thich Nhat Hahn, Zen Monk and teacher extraordinaire: next time your phone rings, instead of answering it right away, take a breath in and out. Then answer your call on your next exhalation. Use your phone ringing as an Awareness reminder. Be Present. Take that moment to breathe, and you may find that you have a little more space to bring to that phone conversation.

Twice in the last week I have had clients comment with excited discovery, how beneficial regular massage is.

Both women, in their 40's and 50's,  came in to see me originally for injuries. The first is a corporate woman turned dog walker with a shoulder injury, the second had a bad back. Both came in to see me last week for the third or fourth time, and remarked at how, now that their injuries are healing, they are experiencing other benefits. 

Coming in regularly, once a week or every other week, has helped them become aware of other body issues before they became difficult to treat. Plus they just feel better overall.

I've been doing energywork for over twenty years ( I just thought back to my first class, and realized its been that long, wow.)  It's a part of every session I do and every class that I teach. But I don't always talk about it. Its simply part of how I work. Some people do not understand it, or are unsure that it exists. Even so, it is an important part of every session. When a client brings up the subject, it is always nice for me, to be able to talk openly about energy--discuss it, answer questions about it, etc. 

Go to the Rubin. Museum that is, in Chelsea, here in the city. The exhibit on Carl Jung's Red Book is there for a bit longer, and it is special. For me,  the connection between Jung's work and Authentic Movement is imprinted yet again. In seeing the exhibit I am reminded of how related the two are, and am newly inspired to dive into moving/dancing, with Jung's drawings and work with the unconscious, in conscious mind.

Just to see that book, in the glass case, is worth the trip to the Museum. This large (1 and 1/2 by 2 feet?) leather bound book is nearly 100 years old, and full of what many say are the richest words and images in the history of psychology. It has been locked away in a vault in Switzerland by Jung's family, for decades, and was just unveiled, for the first time ever in public, at the Museum, this past Fall. I was there, and it was a momentous occasion.

This is a book Jung wrote, in 2 hour periods if I remember correctly, in the privacy of his office, during a period, when he was in crisis. Some would say he was going crazy. This is what his family was afraid of, and thus the lock and key. But what Jung was doing, brilliantly, was documenting his process. In large, colorfully illustrated drawings he shows us what he experienced in the journey into his shadow side/the unconscious/the underworld/the rabbit hole. The drawings are amazing. 

A new client, a dancer, just asked me today, "How is a Thai Massage different than a regular Massage?".  We talked about the differences, and the similarities, for awhile, and it strikes me as a totally relevant topic to blog on to you now. 

Thai is different in that it is a three dimensional massage. As you receive you are being moved, turned, and stretched. As the receiver you are feeling many of the ways your body can move. During a regular Swedish table massage you are still/passive as you receive the massage strokes, kneading, and pointwork. Both treatments leave you feeling relaxed and refreshed. The Thai also energizes you. Thai is especially good for the joints, as it mobilizes each one, getting the synovial fluids going. Table very thoroughly moves your lymph and your blood--this is especially good if you are achey before the massage. Of course, then there is that you are fully clothed during a Thai, whereas you are unclothed during a Table massage, covered by a sheet for your privacy.

A Thai massage is a cultural experience that goes back literally 2,000 years to its inventor, the Buddha's doctor.  Swedish Massage, like allopathic medicine, is a more modern field in Western culture, though it also has roots going way back in countries like India.