My Austin allergy recovery story

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Most people who live in Austin suffer from respiratory allergies. The weather reports always show the pollen and mold counts. One so-called joke is that in the early days of Anglo settlement, native Americans called this area “beautiful place with bad air”.

I moved here in 1986 (after a couple of earlier sojourns when I was young), and within a few years, I was taking prescription allergy medicine every day, all year round. I still got sinus infections, usually one or two per year, for which I was prescribed antibiotics.

In 1997, I moved to Dallas where I didn’t need to take allergy medicine. When I moved back to Austin in 2000, the allergies started up again. That was my least favorite thing about living in Austin. I asked around and decided to go to an acupuncturist who did NAET (Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique).

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Thoughts on the film Where To Invade Next

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Two things really moved me in Michael Moore’s film Where To Invade Next. He visited prisons in Norway and interviewed inmates and staff. Prisons there are extremely humane. There is no capital punishment, no life sentences, and little or no rape and violence in the prisons. Each inmate has a cell with a door they can lock with a key.
When they get out, they have to be fit to live in society, and the prisons work toward that end.
 
Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 4.11.38 PMIn comparison, when you think about American prisons cheaply warehousing huge numbers of minority inmates, run by corporations for profit, providing cheap labor, allowing rape and violence to occur, it’s easy to see Michael Moore’s point that our prisons are a socially condoned, legal form of slavery. 
 
The other moving thing was his visit to Germany to see how it deals with its history of Holocaust. Students learned empathy for a Jewish man who had to put the belongings he most cherished into one suitcase, because Nazis were forcing that onto him. The students then put their most cherished belongings into a suitcase. One by one, in went the cell phones, photos, keepsakes, etc. You could see it made a deep impression on them. 

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TMJ massage relieves jaw issues and renews the spirit

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A client came to me a couple of weeks ago for 90 minutes of “Whatever Works”. During the session, she learned that I offer TMJ* care sessions and asked a lot of questions about it. She had not known previously that a trained, skilled bodyworker could relieve the symptoms of TMJ disorder – jaw pain and tightness, clenching, grinding, popping, clicking, locking, etc.

I explained to her a bit about the anatomy of the jaw, how I work, and the outcomes of my TMJ clients. Since others are likely unaware that trained massage therapists can offer TMJ relief, I’ll share that info here. Continue reading →

Board certification achieved!

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I just learned that I have successfully jumped through all the hoops on my way to becoming board certified in therapeutic massage and bodywork.

Board certification is a voluntary credential that means:

  • I took an exam and became nationally certified in therapeutic massage and bodywork.
  • I have received over 750 hours of approved massage and bodywork training.
  • I have over 250 hours of work experience in massage and bodywork.
  • I passed a national background check.
  • I maintain CPR certification.
  • I agree to uphold standards of practice and a code of ethics.
  • I oppose human trafficking.

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Massage clients wanted!

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monkeymassage

Need to dump your stress, chill, release tension, move better, relieve pain, recover from an injury, treat a condition?

I can help.

I’ve been doing massage for four years now, and for the first time, a contract has fallen through. It’s nobody’s fault: my employer (a small unit in huge company) was internally audited. The audit caught some irregularities in my paperwork, and I can’t work there until it’s straightened out. Since it’s a huge bureaucracy known for its slowly turning administrative wheels, I have no idea how long that will take but I’m not holding my breath. Continue reading →

My 2016 Tarot reading

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2016 Celtic CrossMy Celtic Cross spread for 2016, done on January 1, 2016, using the Osho Zen Tarot deck.

The issue is Silence, crossed by Existence. Continue reading →

I dreamed I was dying, and no one knew. When I woke, I learned David Bowie had died.

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I did a biodynamic craniosacral session yesterday with someone I cherish. In years past, I’ve participated in several of her workshops exploring life and death. As in my life, unexpected violent death visited her life early on and made a lasting impression, so we both have a long acquaintance with death and mortality.

This was our first session doing biodynamic work.

(And by the way, biodynamic work may have been first written about by cranial osteopaths who spent decades working with people, mostly in silence, listening intently and deeply, who finally had the courage to say, “There’s something else going on here.” However, in my opinion, this work is timeless, and another label for it, that goes back to ancient times, is hands-on healing.)

I dreamt in the middle of the night that I was dying. I had been told that I had a terminal condition and that nothing could be done to restore my health. I was on my way out of this life. Continue reading →

Here’s how I do bath therapy.

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This morning I felt the need to nurture myself after a bit of a rough week wondering about my status with a place that provides a good chunk of my income and also having some lower abdominal pains that I believe were due to the adjustments my body is making as I realign my pelvis.

(See previous posts about my SI belt, pelvic tilt, and self-treatment program if interested.)

These were just little bumps in the road. We all experience them. But often we don’t know they’re not the beginning of major stressors until some progress or good news occurs. I don’t believe in worrying about things beyond my control. I like to place my attention on what I can do, and do it. But I’ve been a bit unsettled, experiencing uncertainty.

Both of those concerns are currently resolving favorably. I more than recovered the lost income with private clients, and doing Kegels has helped me recover from the pains. Continue reading →

Etiquette for massage: how to handle stinky butt

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Warning: This is a delicate topic.

All massage therapists and bodyworkers who work with unclothed people have encountered this phenomenon, and it goes by several names: stinky butt, monkey butt, smelly ass, stinkbutt, stinky bum, ass stink, swamp ass, sweaty bum, and rotten smelly butt hole. You get the idea.

It happens like this: The therapist leaves the room, and the client undresses and lies down on the table between the sheets. The therapist re-enters and begins the session.

When the therapist is ready to work on the client’s hip/sacrum/gluteal muscles, he or she undrapes the area, usually leaving the butt crack covered.

Suddenly a nasty smell hits the therapist’s nose. Pee-yew! It’s gross, and the client is often unaware of it, which makes it embarrassing for both the therapist and the client.

And it can happen to anyone. Continue reading →

2015 blog review

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I’m curiously sorting through my blog stats, now that 2015 is nearing its end. Before I get into the data, I want to acknowledge that I haven’t posted as often this year as in the past. (This is number 43 for the year.) Part of that is that I have less time to write. If you’re not familiar with my story, I quit my last job as an employee in 2010, went to massage school in 2011, and have been working, learning, and building my private practice since then. Business has grown sweetly this year.

Another reason I’ve posted less is that because of my work, I pay more attention to the non-verbal realm of life, to the haptic experience, to yours and my felt sense of being and how it changes. It’s difficult to write about. Not impossible, though, and I hope to do more of it in 2016.

On to the stats! My blog received a record number of views in 2015. The most popular posts were published before 2015. I’ve gotten 49,166 views as of today, December 20, so there’s still time to reach 50,000 this year! All-time views since the blog started in late 2009 have reached 177,513. Continue reading →