Articles and Essays
Only Love Changes Hate
http://snapjudgment.org/rabbi-and-kkk This amazing story has been on my mind in recent weeks. It tells the personal experience of a man confronted with hateful threats and turning the situation around to truly change someone’s heart. An excellent listen.
Read MoreThe Polyvagal Theory
The Polyvagal theory as described by Dr. Stephen Porges helps us to understand our physiological responses to stress. Knowing why our bodies do what they do can be SUCH A RELIEF for our minds, which love to find meaning for the states we find ourselves in, even when those states don’t match the current environment.…
Read MoreThe science of Mind over Body
Released Jan 26, 2016 Fresh Air with Terry Gross interviews Jo Marchant on topics that may be relevant to your interests. They certainly were to mine, pinging especially my trauma training and the physiology of PTSD. The blurb: “The mind has the ability to directly affect our health, from pain and depression to heart disease.…
Read MoreFascia 101
Thomas Myers, a Structural Integration elder, explains fascia (your connective tissue body), which we seek to engage when we do an SI intervention: And here is an amazing clip from a microscopic movie made by a French hand surgeon who was curious about the mobility and adaptability of the fascia of the wrist. This is…
Read MoreWhat is fascia?
One of the common questions I get about my work is “What is the difference between massage and Structural Integration?” The primary difference is intention and the systems we are working with: massage therapy is great for stress reduction and getting the blood and lymphatic systems moving, Structural Integration is aiming more for engaging long-term…
Read MoreThe Allowing Will
Some time ago the magazine of the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration® published an excerpt from Dr. Jeffrey Maitland’s book Spacious Body: Explorations in Somatic Ontology. It was a dense and chewy read by a philosopher and Rolfer, and though it took me a while to read the whole article, his ideas have resonated in…
Read MoreOf Grace and Gravity
The world of Structural Integration owes a debt to Bruce Kubert, who has produced a film about Ida Rolf’s gift to us. In it, he interviews many of the old-timers (some of whom are my teachers) who worked with her directly and pulls their collective wisdom into one place for us to enjoy. My favorite…
Read MoreLiberation is Possible!
Twig Wheeler has done some lovely descriptive work with the ideas of Somatic Experiencing over the years. He did a one-man theater piece that demonstrates viscerally what many words of explanation would still struggle to convey. Here is an excerpt wherein slowing down and feeling/listening to his body yields a feeling of completion and illumination. There is something…
Read MoreMoving, 2014
August 15, 2014 marked 21 years in the Maud building for me. I was 22 when I signed that lease, fresh out of massage school and super tired of being a bike messenger. My brother had asked me if I wanted to fill up some space on the back of the Stranger (where he was…
Read More20 Years!
This month marks my 20th anniversary in practice! I have been in the historic Maud Building the entire time, first just in the little room I now use as my office, and then expanding into what is now the treatment room in 1997. I spent some time this weekend creating the invitation to a celebration…
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