"Lee, you know we’ll always love you but you’re just not the same person anymore and we can’t watch you throw your blog down the drain without saying something. You’ve been staying up partying with your “textbooks” every night until the wee hours of the morning. You spend all weekend on the couch tripping out over your “A&P homework” and when you do leave the house it’s just to go fool around with another computer at that “job” or to go to “class” with your massage therapy friends. Either you sit down and write a blog entry right now or we are going to have to walk out of your life. We can’t sit here and watch you act like your blog isn’t important. Don’t do home work. Don’t run errands. Just sit at your computer long enough to catch all of your friends up on what’s going on with you lately…"
Or something like that. It’s hard to hear Exactly what they are saying over the coughing and the thunder…
So here I finally am again! Mostly what’s been happening with me lately consists of sitting at my desk or on the couch poring over books, with just a dash of classes, work, driving to and from said classes and work, and the occasional hour or two of sleeping thrown in for spice.
“Books?!” You say. “But I thought you were in a massage therapy program?”
Yes that’s true, but you would not Believe how much bookwork there is for this very hands on craft. Just like singers learn languages and music theory as part of learning to perform, budding massage therapists have an overwhelming amount of anatomy and ethics and theory to learn. The anatomy is the biggest chunk by far. It is fascinating stuff and I do find myself often turning to Dan to say things like, “Did you know that connective tissue is thixotropic and piezoelectric?! Isn’t that fascinating?!” (Which is usually met with a blank stare…) But I really wish I had had an A&P class at some point in my higher education. I feel like I’m starting from scratch with a rather difficult subject. (Interesting point on how massage students study A&P: We do not dissect anything But we do “palpate” all manner of things on each other in class… For a grade… Ever palpated a classmate’s Ischial Tuberosity before? Yeah, I thought not… But I have!)And then there is the carting of the table to practice client’s houses for practice sessions, at least two a week. I don’t think I mentioned that yet. They have already sent us out to lay our hands upon living, breathing people! The only concessions to our ignorant status being that we are asked to focus only on certain stroke that we have already seen in class and preferably work on healthy practice clients. It’s still pretty scary!
I cannot stress enough though just how wonderfully all my friends have risen to the challenge of being my guinea pigs! I am getting tons of practice, which is good as I have discovered a decided lack of coordination in the left hand. This greatly impairs my ability to Beat, Hack and Slap my clients in a rhythmically pleasing way. (I know you think I am kidding but these are actual names of actual techniques!)
The school itself is beautiful
and I get there early each day, as I leave work between 3 and 4 and class starts at 6:45. It’s quite a treat to sit by the pond in the evening and watch the bumblebees and butterflies and birds and frogs and koi. Also I find it a great place to study and refocus after work.The teachers are all very good and, other than a brief lecture on my deplorable handwriting, I have acquitted myself reasonably well so far I think. If not, it’s certainly not for lack of trying hard, as Dan can attest. (He is Very patient with me through all of this!) I feel very fortunate to be part of this program, which is clearly very well thought out and thorough in its preparation of budding massage therapists. Not only does it focus on understanding the body and the technical aspects of the work but it also attempts to address how to set up a successful practice and also how one makes the jump from just a good manipulator of tissues to understanding the work on a more intuitive level. It’s great to be held to such a high standard but I am still sort of scared that I’m not going to be able to successfully master the intuitive art part. I know I can learn the stuff from books but getting it in my body is hard for me. Still, I have at least another ten and a half months to try to figure it all out!
Another exciting massage related opportunity I’m going to have is that Thomas Myers--who studied with Drs. Ida Rolf (invented Rolfing), Moshe Feldenkrais (invented the Feldenkrais Method), and Buckminster Fuller (invented the “tensegrity model” among other things)--inventor of Kinesis Myofascial Integration (which I think is a fancy term for deep tissue work to improve posture and ease of movement) is teaching an advanced class at my school and I managed to get signed up as a “model” for one of his students! I’ll be receiving his entire program (albeit from a student) of 12 pretty intense sessions over the next few months. It seems like a perfect time to be taking part of something like that. I’m hoping to get a lot out of it both physically and educationally!
And, last but not least, I am Highly anticipating becoming an Aunt sometime very shortly. My sister-in-law Kim is due on the 28th!
So that’s the news from Lake Woebegone where the women are trying not to have a nervous breakdown, the men are patiently supportive and the public radio station is having the Longest Fall Fundraising Drive EVER! Ahem.
