Massage World - Sept 2007

MASSAGE WORLD The Massage and Body Therapists Magazine £4.00 August/September 2007 www.massageworld.co.uk

Heptathletes – a sports massage challenge Structural Integration & the ISSI The Next Starbucks LaStone Therapy Japanese Holistic Facial Therapy

READER’S OFFER SEE PAGE 7 calendar I news & views I products I research I student section I directory

L A I C E P S R FE F O N IO E 22 T IP G CR E PA S B E SU S

MASSAGE WORLD EDITOR

Wendy Kavanagh

FEATURES WRITERS

Lorraine Bliss Jill Campbell James Earls Susan Findlay Cheryl Isherwood Virginia Postrel Darien Pritchard Charles Wells

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Hayley Evans

MEDIA COMMUNICATION

C J Newbury

PUBLISHERS

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UK: £25 UK Student: £20 Rest of World: £40 ISSN 1474-4171

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welcome editorial by Wendy Kavanagh his month’s issue is packed full of articles to inspire you through the summer months. For those considering advanced studies, 2007 has been a big year for Structural Integration. The growing interest in SI has led to the establishment of the International School for Structural Integration in Scotland to serve both the UK and European Union. Lorraine Bliss takes us through the art of Japanese Holistic Facial Therapy, a great additional skill to massage that can be integrated into a regular treatment routine or stand alone to relax and rejuvenate – sounds just what I need!

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Susan Findlay takes a look at heptathletes, the most challenging sport for women covering seven disciplines that really takes the toll on the body, and requires the sports therapist to really exercise their skills.

Over the years I have often been asked ‘what happens after I qualify, where can massage take me?’ A recent email from the Kingdom of Bhutan brought this to mind. A male student after qualifying gave up a very lucrative job in the City and the next thing I knew had taken a post in as spa hotel in the Maldives, starting at the bottom of the ladder. Within a short time he was running the spa and making sure all the massage therapists were well qualified for the needs of the clientele.

My next postcard came from Thailand where he had moved to manage the famous Annapuri spa. We caught up on a quick trip to London where he told me he had visited other venues for the group and also managed to fit in a post graduate course for himself in India – what energy. He is presently in the Himalayas having taken the post as manager for a very prestigious hotel and is looking for a Spa manager and massage trainer.

So my answer to the original question ‘where can massage take me?’ is from Britain to Bhutan. Happy travels.

contents LaStone Therapy - the thermotherapy treatment...

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LaStone has been established for 14 years and recent developments have seen the creation of an extensive range of advanced training for therapists; thermotherapy treatments that use more than just hot stones.

Structural Integration & the ISSI

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Recent publicity on the ‘Oprah’ show in USA and Vogue magazine has brought S.I. to the public’s attention. This somatic practice utilises fascial manipulation, body awareness and movement education and is set to take the UK by storm.

Using your Fists - to save your fingers and thumbs

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This is the second of two articles looking at effective ways of using your fists. The previous issue focused on using the metacarpo-phalangeal joints, whereas this issue concentrates on using the side of the fist.

Heptathletes - a sports massage challenge

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Susan Findlay of the NLSSM continues her series on sports massage with the challenge of heptathletes. These women tend to have a wider range of injuries, and possibly a higher incidence of them due to increased demands on the body.

Japanese Holistic Facial Therapy

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An art as well as a therapy, this technique is an offshoot of Anma the traditional system of Japanese Massage and acupressure. Lorraine Bliss describes the therapeutic and ‘indulgence’ benefits of this practice.

The Next Starbucks?

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regulars

A look at how a fragmented feel-good industry could turn into a ubiquitous brand; Virginia Postrel an acclaimed writer looks at how marketing massage therapy American style could also work for the British.

editorial

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industry news and views

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the journey of hands

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muscle of the month

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product reviews

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aromatherapy

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faqs

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resource directory

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course listings

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news&viewsnews&views A New Chapter An Invitation to join CAMLIS: the national CAM Library and Information Service This is to invite you to become a partner in the national Complementary and Alternative Medicine Library and Information Service (CAMLIS) based at the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital. This is an important collaborative project to develop an excellent library and information service, serving the needs of clinicians and researchers, patients, potential patients and the general public.

The Project The Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital, the Research Council for Complementary Medicine and the League of Friends of the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital have joined forces to start a library which aims to serve clinicians and researchers as well as patients and the general public. Anybody with an interest in Complementary and Alternative Medicine will have reference access to the library. Two professionals will build up a collection of initially 3,000 volumes, a range of print and online journal subscriptions and other relevant resources, and will deliver support to users in person, by phone and by email.

The library will have a strong internet presence which, we hope, will become the portal to CAM resources, and will allow online searching of local and remote print and online resources. The hospital has set its splendid Boardroom aside for the library, conveniently located between the café and the retail pharmacy and just above our conference and training suite.

There is currently no comparable specialist CAM information service anywhere in the UK, nor, indeed, elsewhere in Europe.

We hope that the CAM library at the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital will boost both research in CAM, and the general public’s interest in it.

Lorraine Davis elected as FHT President Lorraine Davis has been elected as President of the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT) following the departure of Wendy Arnold earlier this year. Lorraine has been working with the FHT for some time, representing the interests of the lecturer membership as Vice President for the Association of Therapy Lecturers (ATL) for the past three years.

Lorraine was elected by the membership of the FHT at the AGM earlier this month.

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Progress In 2004 the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital began to raise £250,000 as start-up funding for the CAM Library. In early 2007 we appointed an excellent librarian, Gerhard Bissels: he joined the project from University College London where he had developed the Information Centre of the Eastman Dental Institute. Plans for collections and services, for IT infrastructure, library technology and furnishings are now well underway. It is hoped that the library can be launched officially in early 2008, and will have reached a size of 3,000 volumes in 2010.

The Role of Professional Bodies We would like to involve all professional bodies from the field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine to join us as partners in the library project.

The benefits to your organisation are: •All your members will enjoy the right to borrow books in person or by post.

•Your organisation will have a representative on the Library Committee which advises the librarian.

•Your organisation will be able to present itself to the public in the library. The library will display your leaflet and joining form, and special events or displays can be arranged, e.g. to fit in with training courses at the hospital.

In return we would ask you for a financial contribution towards the running costs of the library of £10 p.a. per subscribed member of your organisation. This amount will be reviewed annually.

Joining the Library Stakeholders We would be pleased to welcome you as one of the founding stakeholders of the CAM Library at the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital when we officially launch the library, in early 2008 if everything goes to plan. The Librarian, Gerhard Bissels, will be happy to answer any queries regarding the project; he can be contacted at Gerhard.Bissels@uclh.nhs.uk or 020 7391 8825.

Dr PeterFisher, Clinical Director.

Lorraine comments on her new role: “I was delighted to be elected into the position of President for the FHT and hope to be able to follow in the footsteps of Mr Sharps, Jackie Palmer and Wendy Arnold who have all done such a fantastic job of developing the association and its members.

I would like to thank the Board who have been so supportive to me as I have adjusted to my new role and look forward to working with them and the FHT membership in the future.”

news&viewsnews&views Healthy Vibes A uniquely dedicated radio show for alternative health has started in Brighton and already has listeners around the world. The Holistic Network with Milly & Jaynie calls itself Radio Reverb and is a fusion of positivity, inspiration and empowerment for living a healthy, happy, fulfilling life.

The 48 minute programme broadcasts on Monday lunchtimes and is repeated on Saturdays at 3.00pm. If you live in the Brighton & Worthing area you can tune in through 97.2 FM otherwise you can listen through the website www.radioreverb.com. Jaynie Ralph, health writer and Milly Hartley, aromatherapist, host a show with guests from all areas of complementary health, personal development and philosophy. The dynamic pair talk to massage professionals and also interview world teachers of personal development.

The magazine style show plays music full of positive messages such as 'Lovely Day,' Bill Withers,’ Freedom,' George Michael and 'Shine,' Take That.

the basic skills needed to make it happen. Now we have taxi drivers as fans and listeners in other countries – it's amazing."

"I created the radio show as a platform for complementary therapists, experts in the field of energy and healing to promote their wonderful work to a larger audience." Says Jaynie, the founder of The Holistic Network. "So I enrolled on a design course then onto a radio production course to learn

For more information www.theholisticnetwork.co.uk.

Radioreverb 97.2 FM. If you live outside the Seaford to Worthing area you can listen live through www.radioreverb.com

Massage World Readers’ Offer The ‘Super Face Saver’ is available to readers at 25% off normal price at only £14.99 plus £2.95 delivery. Prices include VAT Viscoelastic (memory) foam was developed for the nasa space programme to cushion the astronauts in their seats as the take off G forces were so great they could cause bruising and cellular damage. Viscoelastic foam when under pressure shapes to the astronauts’ body contours and spreads the load evenly over a greater area than conventional foam materials.

We have used a special grade of this Viscoelastic foam in the designed of our face hole cushion, the foam selected allows the head of most clients to ‘sink’ into the foam and therefore allows a larger surface area to support the face, pressure is evenly distributed making it more comfortable than any other face cushion. In addition the

weight of the head compresses the foam to such an extent that the neck will not be put into extension, allowing a natural position for your therapy treatment. Complete with a zipped removable Terry Towelling cover there are seven colours to choose from: Navy; Dark Green; Burgundy; Cream; Sky Blue; Lilac and White.

Please quote: Massage World when ordering.

MASSAGE WORLD

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LaStone Therapythe thermotherapy treatment … that uses more than just hot stones Photo: Jo Schmitz

As the innovators of stone massage in both Europe and the USA over the past 14 years, LaStone have maintained and grown a flourishing education programme that aims to educate for excellence.

More than a ‘hot stone’ body massage it is a Total Therapy System designed to create master practitioners and enable therapists to develop their skills in a range of treatment fields. With over 25,000 therapists working in over 100 countries worldwide, the popularity of LaStone has grown consistently through the years and treatments are now available in major destination spas, hotel groups, health hydros and private centers. All qualified LaStone therapists automatically become members of an International network that supports all types of therapists across the health industry.

These ambassadors deliver the highest quality treatments and the LaStone philosophy to their clients.

Much confusion has arisen over the years about the differences in

treatment plans from LaStone and subsequent expressions of the principals of using stones to massage the body. Although named by the press – ‘hot stone therapy’, LaStone is actually the only directly prescriptive temperature treatment on the market and is a concept based on thermotherapy to deliver this deeply therapeutic, relaxing, grounding, deep tissue, cleansing treatment – with the stones being the tools that administer the elements of temperature to the body. In 2006 LaStone earned its hallowed place on the world renowned SPA Healthy Living Massage Milestone Calendar charting revolutionary and innovative ideals in massage therapy since the dawn of time, from 300BC to the present day.

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massagereport lastone therapy

So what is the value of a thermotherapy treatment to your clients?

The chemical responses in the body occur when using the temperature to ‘work’ the blood vessels to vasodilate and vasoconstrict in an alternating pattern – this in turn creates a flushing action moving the primal bodily fluids to the vital organs. Toxins are directed towards the liver, congestion and fluid retention towards the lymphatic nodes, and nutrients throughout the blood stream. This science creates an increase in the metabolism and pulse rate therefore increasing circulation; additionally the cold stones immediately create an analgesic effect on the muscles, reducing pain, inflammation and congestion.

Whatever your current philosophy, whether you are thinking of training as a LaStone therapist or becoming a

Photo: Stone-Forest

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client, there is a level of LaStone that everyone can get to grips with. Once you have experienced the training or the treatment you will see how the combined energies of the stones and the temperature create a unique and thoroughly rewarding wellness treatment.

suitable for those already trained in LaStone Original Body or Simply Stones. This treatment enables the therapist to work deeper and more effectively using thermotherapy when working on a site specific area for greater lasting results, the temperature does the hard work, not the therapist.

LaStone offers over 12 courses: Simply Stones 2 day course teaches you a 60 minute treatment. Original Body 3.5 days teaches a 90min treatment.

New course development has seen the creation of a variety of courses and they now offer an extensive range of advanced training to therapists from a variety of disciplines. Stone Sole Reflexology 3 day course is specifically focused on stimulating all the reflex points making reflexology a full body treatment and is open to qualified reflexologists.

Deep Stone is highly prescriptive and

Photo: Jo Schmitz

Photo: Jo Schmitz

massagereport lastone therapy Muscle tension and inflammation are reduced by the use of the cold stones and using the combined properties of hot and cold leads to an increasing flow of blood to muscles, stimulating them to flush out toxins. The treatment is at once deep and remedial as well as healing and releasing. In total you will learn how to treat 43 different specific muscles over the 4 days of instruction. As the course progresses we incorporate these new techniques and your existing skills into a full body treatment and assess your ongoing professional development.

LaStone education goes beyond any other massage training – we focus on both the wellbeing of the client and we also care for the wellbeing of our therapists. No more aching fingers, injury or strain, even the largest of your clients will experience a deep and penetrative treatment that works the whole body systems with a tenth of the pressure needed in a standard Swedish massage. Our instructors are

highly qualified and have worked in their specific fields for at least 5 years prior to becoming a LaStone Instructor; they must have a full and thorough knowledge of all aspects of LaStone, and have completed over 1000 hours in practice.

Benefits of LaStone Education • Intensive and thorough tuition • Thermotherapy science • Analysis of symptom responses within the body to temperature • Unique stone massage techniques

Scheduled Courses are held in Stratford upon Avon and training can be arranged on site for colleges, spas health clubs, hotel groups and salons.

Students must be fully qualified in some form of body work and been practicing for at least 6 months.

• Energy centre and specific therapy techniques • Contra-indications and considerations • All training equipment supplied • Illustrated training manuals provided

To learn more about LaStone® courses for spa, energy and science please visit our website www.lastonetherapy.co.uk For press information please contact Cheryl at cherylpr@lastonetherapy.co.uk T: 020 8683 8490 Photo: Jo Schmitz

UK Market Leaders in Portable Therapy Equipment Tables, Chairs, Stools & Accessories – Table prices start from £170

Click online or FREEPHONE: 0800 083 5530 for more information or to locate a dealer www.therapyessentials.co.uk

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Structural Integration the ISSI

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2007 has been a big year for Structural Integration. In America practitioners of this bodywork have been inundated with calls from new clients responding to an article published in Vogue in March. In April, Oprah aired a segment on the benefits of S.I. and practitioners were swamped with new clients and enquiries about their work. What does that have to do with the UK you say? Well, a little known event occurred simultaneously here in our own country. IASI, the International Association of Structural Integrators gave its approval to the International School of Structural Integration (ISSI) and they now have an office here in Scotland to serve the UK and European Union. The function of this office is to educate the public in the benefits of Structural Integration and coordinate new training classes. Structural Integration (SI) is well known and widely accepted in the U.S, Canada, South America, Israel and Germany but the remarkable benefits have just begun to gain momentum in the UK. The few practitioners that are available here are currently handling all the clients they are capable of seeing in a day so the push is on to train new practitioners and expand the client and knowledge base.

What is Structural Integration?

Structural Integration (SI) is a somatic practice utilising fascial manipulation, body awareness, and movement education. It is practiced in an organised series of ten sessions that are given within a framework designed to restore postural balance and functional ease by aligning and integrating the body in gravity.

It is practiced by people trained in schools and institutions that Above: Dr. Ida P. Rolf meet the standards established by the International Association of Structural Integrators (www.theiasi.org).

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by Jill Campbell

Structural Integration was developed by Dr. Ida P. Rolf (1896 – 1979), a doctor of biochemistry who was a research scientist for the Rockefeller Institute for 13 years. As a lifelong seeker of knowledge, Dr. Rolf combined her scientific background and experiential knowledge to develop a system of hands-on bodywork which she termed Structural Integration, also then known as “Rolfing®”. This evolved into a series of 10 sessions she called “The Recipe”.

The principle of Dr. Rolf’s Recipe was to bring the entire body into balance and vertical alignment with the field of gravity.

The effects of gravity on the human body were fundamental to Dr. Rolf's development of SI, so much so that she stated, "Structural Integration is not a treatment, but a preparation for the use of gravity”.

Dr. Rolf was passionate about retaining her Recipe in its original format and today, whilst there are a number of schools teaching Structural Integration, few offer it in its original form.

The ISSI is one of those schools.

The S.I. Process The process is a gradual one; as a client your practitioner releases strain from the superficial layers and steadily works deeper into your body's structure to bring about lasting structural changes. Each session works with a specific theme that emphasises exact anatomical goals; an identifiable layer of fascia – superficial, middle or deep – is addressed, and precise structural objectives are obtained. Every session makes a demand on the body that is consistent with the intention of the goals of the next session.

The realignment of the body is an ongoing process from the moment the work is started and continues long after the last of the sessions has been completed. Assimilation and incorporation of the new information depends very much on the individual. The process of change can continue for anything from 6 months to well over a year before the body once again reaches a level of stasis. By this stage the new

advancedbodywork structural integration

information has been integrated and the body is then ready to experience further work.

Structural Integration aims to affect the whole person, emotionally, physically and energetically by way of altering the physical structure. Our emotions and behaviour patterns for instance are often related to our physical being. As impediments to balance are removed and the body comes into greater alignment, aspects of the Self also become more aligned. Finally, the Structural Integration process provides increased body awareness and presence allowing for a feeling of finally being at home...in your body.

During a session As an SI practitioner, you will use a range of techniques to lengthen and reposition the fascia and the body. The amount of pressure used and techniques applied varies. You may use slow, deep, stretching movements, or constant applied pressure. As tissue is being released, the client may experience a variety of sensations ranging from warm and pleasant to uncomfortable.

You will apply appropriate pressure during the session based on your client’s feedback so the pace of the session is under their control. Clients may also be asked to move as pressure is applied, or to stand and move at points during a session.

Experiences such as the release of emotions, memories or traumas that have been stored in the fascial tissue may occur during a session; such releases can create the opportunity for change and / or resolution of the issues presented.

Movement and proprioception education will also form part of the Structural Integration series. You can help your client become aware of their habitual and inhibiting patterns and help them change these patterns to achieve more fluid movement. Movement education can affect our level of daily functioning by helping to change unhealthy patterns in common activities such as sitting, walking and breathing.

Each SI session builds upon the last as the myofascial tissue is systematically released and the different layers of tissue throughout the body are organised and balanced. The Structural Integration series is designed to work in a specific sequence and you will recognise your client’s unique needs as you gain experience, using your skills to address these appropriately within the session framework.

Benefits of Structural Integration The actual benefits of Structural Integration are so extensive that it would be impossible to list them all. This is because we are working with a medium whose integrity influences every system within the body. Structural Integration is a very personal process; as the lives of no two people are identical their experience of, and benefits from, Structural Integration will never be exactly the same.

On a physical level people often appear taller and slimmer; many actually gain anything from 1/4" to over 1“ in height.

Feelings of discomfort or pain are either alleviated or more often completely removed. More efficient use of our muscles allows the body to conserve energy and creates more refined and economical patterns of movement which often translate to increased levels of energy and alertness. In general, when our body is aligned in gravity we have a better sense of balance; greater flexibility and a feeling of lightness; we move with more ease, fluidity, efficiency and grace. Movement is a pleasure, breathing is easier and good posture is effortless.

On a psychological level, feelings of stress decrease while our level of relaxation increases, bringing a sense of inner calm, greater self-confidence and self-assertion, objectivity and a more positive outlook. An experience with Structural Integration may help release an individual's potential, promoting positive change, lowering anxiety, improving sleep, increasing confidence and maturing emotional expression.

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advancedbodywork structural integration

The International School of Structural Integration (ISSI) The ISSI emerges at a time when tuition of Dr. Rolf’s original work is sadly being lost or diluted. The ISSI is committed not only to retaining Dr. Rolf’s original work but, through investment in their students, they aim to spread her work in its original format to the global community.

now being taken. The ISSI goes where the training is needed so if you’d like to bring the training to the UK, contact the I SSI via the information below. You can also take advantage of a training discount if you are able to help in class set-up in your area.

A career in SI is a reciprocal gift of well-being If you are already an experienced bodywork practitioner, provided you can satisfy their entrance requirements, you can fast-track through the training without having to repeat areas you have previously studied and have experience in. If you don’t have any previous training in massage therapy or another body work modality don’t be put off; they offer a full range of courses that you can take from having no anatomical or bodywork experience that will enable you to do the full course with them.

It is clear that today’s increasingly stressful lifestyle is causing more and more people to search for a better quality of life and provides therapists with an opening to an ever-expanding market. Structural Integration is seen as the profession of the future as it is such a wonderful tool for personal growth and true physical integrity for both client and therapist alike. It is empowering by nature and, rather than simply addressing specific symptoms, SI treats the human being as a whole, giving them the opportunity of a more balanced life.

If you already work within the health profession, Structural Integration is a unique specialisation that, besides personal growth and great personal satisfaction, will certainly bring you competitive advantages. If you are in another career, SI will open up an entirely new world of opportunities.

At this time, the ISSI is enrolling students for classes in Canada, America, Australia, France and Brazil. In July / August 2008 classes are set to be held in Europe and applications are

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Contacts: For more information on the ISSI, entrance requirements, classes and schedules please visit: www.theissi.org; or contact our Jill, the ISSI’s European Director, by Email on jill@theissi.org or tel: 01698 387768.

Jill Campbell B.Sc., RMANM European Director, Teaching Assistant Jill was born in Scotland and earned her Honours Degree in Biological Sciences in Edinburgh. She was introduced to Structural Integration when she badly sprained her ankle; following a few minutes of work her ankle felt remarkably free and the restriction at the ankle joint had completely gone. Jill was so impressed by the efficacy of the work that she put her experience and knowledge into training as a Structural Integration Practitioner.

Jill is a Registered Member of the Association of Natural Medicine (RMANM) and a Professional Member of the International Association of Structural Integrators (IASI).

Using Your Fist to save your fingers and thumbs

by Darien Pritchard

Part 2 – Using The Side of the Fist This series of articles are extracted from a forthcoming book on Dynamic Bodyuse for Effective Strain-free Massage. This book promotes good bodyuse as an integral part of doing massage and presents guidelines on reducing poor working habits that take a cumulative toll on the practitioner’s body. Previous articles covered ways of minimising the strain on your fingers, thumbs and knuckles.

This is the second of two articles looking at effective ways of using your fist. The previous article focused on using the metacarpo-phalangeal joints (the ‘MP’ joints) for sliding pressure strokes, which is the most commonly used area of the fist. This article looks at using the side of the fist.

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newtechnique using your fist

Some important warnings

The Side of the Fist

While using your fist saves your thumbs, fingers and knuckles, it’s important not to overuse it. If you need to increase the pressure or sustain it significantly, switch to using your forearm or elbow, particularly on the larger areas of the client’s body.

(These will be the subjects of future articles.) Practitioners with small or slender hands need to be especially alert to this.

Figure 1 – Using the medial side of fist

As with all of the articles in this series, the printed word on the page can only give you suggestions to try out.

Experienced practitioners who are accustomed to monitoring both their own bodies and the client’s reactions as they work, will no doubt find it relatively easy to extract useful practices from the article.

However, the newer practitioner may have trouble applying the ideas and techniques presented here. It’s important not to plunge in blindly, because this article covers ways of working that can easily lead the practitioner to strain themselves and also to bruise the client. Therefore, if this is new territory for you, I encourage you to work through these techniques with an experienced colleague or teacher before you use them on clients.

Of course it takes time to master and co-ordinate the elements that make these ways of working easy and effective. However, as they become familiar, you may find yourself applying more pressure than you realise, so make sure that you remain sensitive to your client’s responses.

Figure 4 – Adducting the wrist

Using the side of your fist (the medial/little finger side – figure 1) enables you to spread the pressure without digging in as much as with your MP joints (previous article).

Keep your fist relaxed Figure 2 – Relaxed fist

Keep your fist relaxed (figure 2). Don’t clench it, which is more awkward and harder work. This would lead to unnecessary tension in your shoulders as well, and your pressure would therefore be less consistent, which would make it harder for the client to relax with the stroke.

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Support your wrist Figure 5 – Holding the wrist with the other hand

Supporting your working hand at the wrist is a good reminder to keep your wrist relatively straight in long sliding strokes. One way of doing this is to hold your wrist with your other hand.

Figure 6 – Resting the wrist over the other forearm

Don’t let your wrist bend Figure 3 – Letting the wrist abduct

Another way of supporting your wrist is to rest it over your other forearm.

It’s crucial to keep your wrist relatively straight (figure 1) to ensure that there is an unbroken transfer of force in a

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direct line from your arm. Don’t let it bend as this puts pressure on it and can strain it over time. The most common problem is letting it collapse down (into abduction – figure 2), but sometimes people bend it up too much (adduction – figure 3).

newtechnique using your fist

Mutual hand support

Involving your body

Figure 7 – Mutual hand support

When you are sliding firmly along muscles with fist pressure, move slowly and keep the pressure consistent. This gives the tissues time to ‘trust’ your pressure and accommodate to it. Don’t try to force the tissues into submission, which is likely to cause the client to tense against you.

Figure 9 – Using bodyweight for sliding pressure

When you are working with both fists simultaneously, you can use each hand to support the other (figure 7).

This is much easier than trying to control each one separately at the same time. The steering and consistent pressure can then come primarily from leaning your bodyweight behind your hands, so that it requires less effort in your shoulders and arms for control.

Figure 8 – One hand inside the other

In order to deliver consistent pressure, position your body so that you are directly behind your working fist(s).

Sway forward for the stroke (figure 9), so that the force comes primarily from leaning your bodyweight behind your hands, rather than from standing still, tensing your shoulders and trying to ‘muscle through’(which, in turn, would cause you to tense your wrist and your hand).

Try to be aware of your breathing when you are applying sustained pressure. You may be unconsciously holding your breath as you focus on the client, which is likely to cause you to tense up.

Conclusion You can also use one hand inside the other (figure 8), or one pushing the other (figure 9,).

In this article I’ve covered a few ways of using the side of your fist in order to save your fingers, thumbs and knuckles. However, although your fists are stronger than those other massage ‘tools’, they too can be

strained by using them too often or with too much pressure, especially if you have small or slender hands. So, if you need to work deeply and firmly for an extended time, switch to your forearm or elbow (the subjects of the next articles).

And bear in mind that it’s relatively easy to strain yourself and/or bruise your clients when using these types of techniques poorly. So, find an experienced colleague to explore this material with, and monitor your own body and adapt to your client’s responses as you work with these techniques.

Darien Pritchard has thirty years of experience as a bodyworker, including twenty-five as a massage trainer. For twenty years he has run professional development training for qualified massage practitioners in UK, Australia and Scandinavia.

With Su Fox, he co-authored Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology for the Massage Therapist (Corpus Publishing, 2001), a textbook for massage students and practitioners in their early years. Dynamic Bodyuse for Effective Strain-Free Massage will be published in early 2007 (Lotus Publishing, UK; North Atlantic Books, USA).

CONTACT DETAILS: T: 029 2045 4506 E: darien.pritchard@virgin.net W: www.dynamicmassage.co.uk

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Massage Therapists Guide for Heptathlons

by Susan Findlay very discipline has its sport related injuries. As discussed in previous issues, triathletes have a variety of injuries that are sport specific.

Swimming will predominantly have issues with the shoulders and back, cycling typically will be knees, hip and wrists, while running has a multitude of conditions with legs and ankles. As can be seen from the biomechanics, injuries are more likely to be related to the stresses and demands that are specific to the sport.

E

The main difference between triathlons and heptathlons is, triathlons have three events over a one day period, while a heptathlon consists of seven events over a two day period. An athlete 20

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competing in a heptathlon will usually have a wider range of injuries, and possibly a higher incidence of them.

This coincides with the increased demands made on the body.

Heptathlons are designed for women only and they include: a high jump, long jump, shot put, javelin, hurdles, a sprinting run and a distance run.

Female heptathletes are amongst the most talented women in athletics as they must be incredibly strong, have a tremendous amount of skill in a wide range of sporting events and be extremely motivated.

They often start training very young, and in the early years the main concentration will be in developing the

core skills and technique rather than trying to focus on hard exercise. This makes for a stronger foundation from which a heptathlete can build on, thus ensuring they have the necessary skills to move to the heavier training levels.

Failure to do the groundwork will lead to injuries, and if the athlete does not train systematically at the various stages, but tries to push too much too soon they will plateau, and not be able to progress, as well as sustain injuries.

As a sport & remedial massage therapist we look for these situations.

If an athlete comes in with regular minor injuries, it is important to question whether they are following a prescribed training program.

sportsmassage massage for heptathlons

Heptathlon (for women only) 7 events 200 meter sprint 800 meter run 1 100 meter hurdles long jump shot put javelin high jump

Decathlon (for men & women) 10 events 100 meter sprint 400 meter sprint 1,500 meter run 110 meter hurdles discus throw javelin throw shot put pole vault high jump long jump Sometimes, the athlete will do extra training without telling their coach and the type and amount of training could be wrong for what the intended need is.

It is also important to keep the communication open and work together with all members of a training team. Not only for situations like the above, but if the athlete is consulting with a variety of people to enhance her training, yet they are not communicating with one another, they could be working at crossed purposes, which has the potential to be counterproductive and hinder the desired outcome.

It would be difficult to discuss all the common injuries that a heptathlete could face. Since in previous issues we have covered conditions related to running, cycling and swimming, I will take the opportunity to deal with a specific injury that is a common to javelin throwers.

Tendinitis of the long head of biceps What causes is?

The tendon and its sheath can be damaged by poor shoulder mechanics as well as an overuse syndrome of chronic wear and tear, due to excessive overhead motions such as throwing and lifting.

Signs & Symptoms Pain that is felt anterior to the shoulder, it can radiate to the elbow. There may be a clicking or popping sound in the shoulder with movement. There is evidence of pain with an overhead action.

Treatment The first step is to assess the range of motion (ROM), assess for weak rotators, check for functionality of the glenohumeral joint. Check for postural imbalances such as kyphosis in the upper thoracic region. Feel for which muscles are strong, weak, short and long. When massaging and changing tissue tension, it is important to lengthen tight muscles before you start strengthening the weaker ones. There needs to be a balance between

Susan Findlay is the director of the North London School of Sports Massage, and the Institute of Sport & Remedial Massage. She is on the board of the General Council of Massage Therapists and is actively involved in the future professional development of massage. Originally from Canada, she has a BSc in Nursing and has headed numerous health and fitness programmes in conjunction with CP's. Susan lectures on a range of courses at NLSSM and has a busy clinic in North London.

Susan Findlay, BSc RGN, Dip SMRP, MISRM Tel: +44 (0) 20 8375 3518 www.nlssm.com

flexibility and stability, so it is vital not to loosen tight muscles too quickly without initiating the proprioceptive properties back into the weaker ones at an equal rate. At this point, if they are not already working with other bodyworkers, it is good to suggest such therapies such as pilates, physiotherapy, a personal trainer, nutritionist etc. to take the rehabilitation further.

Conclusion Heptathletes are often plagued with frequent injuries, simply because of the demands being made on their bodies is so varied and intense. As a therapist there is a great deal to consider, and certainly having such a demanding and complex combination of events, does require a wide range of knowledge and experience. It is important to assess each condition individually and then as a whole, to determine the interrelationships. Work with other professionals, obviously it is about the client, and their performance, and working together will maximize the effectiveness of the soft tissue work.

Denise Lewis Heptathlon Olympic Champion 1996 – Olympic Games Atlanta – Bronze medal 1997 – World Championships – Athens – Silver medal 1998 – European Championships – Budapest – Gold medal 1998 – Commonwealth Games – Kuala Lumpur – Gold medal 1999 – World Championships – Seville – Silver medal. Underwent a calf operation following these championships. Right shoulder injury 2000 – Olympic Games Sydney – Gold medal. Achilles injury 2004 – Olympic Games Athens Pulled out – injured June 2005 – Retires. "There comes a point when you have to take stock and I just did not want to be in pain anymore," she said.

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The Journey of Hands– working our way around the world of massage The thirteenth stop on our world clock takes us to the Indian sub-continent

Origins As promised last issue, Journey of Hands is back with it’s next stop – India. As Ayurvedic massage and treatments have now become so familiar, we journey to Southern India, to where Chavutti Thirumal is practised. This discipline originated centuries ago in Kerala where it was originally used to prepare warriors for battle. It was developed to heal as well as improve suppleness and flexibility. The term Kalari Practitioner which is sometimes used for the person performing Chavutti Thirumal comes from the ancient Indian Medicinal System indigenous to Kerala. In later years it was adopted by the Kakathali dancers.

The Treatment The therapist first oils your body and then uses their feet to massage you with a combination of short and long, specific strokes. To achieve this, the recipient lies on a mat on the floor and the practitioner holds on to a rope

which is usually suspended horizontally a foot above their head, in line with the client’s spine. One foot is applied at a time in a very precise manner. Sometimes some hand massage is given in preparation for the more intense footwork, where no muscle or ligament is left untouched.

Although there are few practitioners in the UK, the popularity is growing. It is not for the faint-hearted, rather like learning to fly. It is a very strange concept to balance on one foot whilst using the other like a hand. The technique was borne of yoga and Siddha medicine and the moves are fairly yogic in their format. It is the only massage that can cover the whole body in one stroke whilst maintaining deep and even pressure.

For information on courses: Visit: www.bodybasicsonline.co.uk or Contact: Body Basics 42 The Broadway Stratford London E15 4QS T: 020 8522 1414 E: Admin@BodyBasicsOnline.co.uk

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MUSCLE OF THE MONTH 24

n last month’s issue we looked at the psoas muscle, this time we turn out attention to its friend and fellow hip flexor the iliacus. So friendly are they that they even share a tendinous attachment into the lesser trochanter and you may often see the pair referred to as the “iliopsoas” muscle. While they do overlap with many of their actions I believe they differ enough in order to merit being dealt with separately in this series.

I

Origin Inner surface of the ilium Insertion Lesser trocanter of the femur Action Hip flexor

A lot of the muscle can be worked from this position, folding the client’s thigh further up into flexion can sometime assist you sinking further and often you will feel the lateral edge of the psoas muscle as you delve deeper. Working with your fingertips you can stroke through the fibres feeling and assessing for trigger points and tender areas.

With more familiarity of this area you will be able to assess when the two muscles have become adhered to each other at this level and working to differentiate the two by working your fingers between them, lifting the psoas up off the iliacus can be useful for those prone to groin strain.

Freeing up this iliac fascia can be time well spent for any client with hip restrictions.

The psoas is capable, perhaps, of opposing itself in some of its actions on the spine and because the iliacus is only reaching up the body as far as the iliac crest its effect on the spine is indirect and will only be able to affect it by pulling the top of the pelvis forward, thereby increasing the lordotic curve.

Like the psoas however, the iliacus’ main action is as a hip flexor and will aid stability of the pelvis and, thereby, the lower back in both walking and standing.

Just as the psoas has a smaller brother, the psoas minor, the iliacus sometimes has a smaller satellite muscle called either the iliacus minor or the iliocapsularis which attach from the anterior inferior iliac spine to the intertrochanteric line or blends into the iliofemoral ligament.

The lateral portion of the muscle can be quite easily palpated in supine with your client’s knees bent, feet firmly on the table, sink your fingertips over the edge of the iliac crest just above the level of the inguinal ligament. This is pretty much the same position as with the psoas muscle but this time, rather than traveling medially, as you sink deeper into the body flex your fingers so that they press against the inside of the bowl of the pelvic bone. If you press down on the leg of the same side you’re palpating and ask your client to lift their foot of the couch you should be able to feel a contraction under your fingertips.

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The iliacus, along with the other hip flexors, often shorten due to the amount of time we spend sitting in flexed positions whether slouched at a desk, driving or relaxing in front of the television.

Remember that whilst we think of these muscles as hip flexors, if they are short they will pull the pelvis forward when we stand toward the hip rather than the other way around – it’s an unusual client who will walk or stand with their thigh elevated, a much more normal effect will be to draw the pelvis and low back downward.

Iliacus

In order to stretch the connective tissue out, helping with range of motion of the hip into extension, the therapist can simply hook their fingers into the fascia pulling it superiorly while the client slowly glides their heel along the couch straightening the hip joint against the resistance you’re providing with the lock in the tissue.

Trigger points in the iliacus, like the psoas, will refer pain to both the back and into the front of the thigh, maybe even occasionally to the knee of the same side. With one of the roles of the iliacus being a stabilizer, both coming to and standing can be painful for the client as they will be recruiting the muscles. Most of the trigger points can be accessed by the method described above but often one can develop along the tendon closer to the lesser trochanter, while this can also be palpated I consider it safer to learn this under direct instruction due to its proximity to the femoral artery.

As mentioned above, shortness in the iliacus muscle can pull the pelvis forward and down creating a hyperlordotic curve in the spine but often this is not identical between the two pelvic hemispheres. For reasons yet unknown, it is more common for the right ilium to be drawn into an anterior tilt, creating a torque through the pelvis. This will affect the alignment of the sacro-iliac joint and the lower spine making them vulnerable to further pain patterns. Learning to rebalance all of the muscles attaching around the coxal (hip) joint can therefore be essential in creating a long term solution for the clients who complain of low back and sacro-iliac discomfort.

REFERENCES Travell & Simons (1999) Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction The Trigger Point Manual Vol 1. Upper Body 2nd Ed. Biel, A (2005) Trail Guide to the Body Finando, A & Finando, S (1999) Informed Touch James Earls is a massage and structural integration practitioner working in Belfast, he is also director of Ultimate Massage Solutions importers of a wide range of high quality bodywork related books, videos and DVDs and provides expert postgraduate workshops. You can contact him on +44 (0)7774 183458 or at www.ultimatemassagesolutions.com.

The diagrams are taken from "Trail Guide to the Body" and has been used with permission of the publishers, Books of Discovery.

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productreview Books Seated Upper Body Massage For All Andrew Sceats Pressuredown Books £16.00 inc. p&p In this book Andrew Sceats, who is a respected Complementary Therapy Practitioner and tutor, clearly describes his seated upper body massage sequence which he has taught throughout England.

The book contains an enormous amount of informative text, together with photographs that take you through an in-depth massage routine of the client's back, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, scalp and face. Andrew’s sequence is an integration of different styles of bodywork, and many movements, for example those named the ‘Ballerina Lift', the ‘Ballerina Pirouette' and the ‘Tommy Cooper Shuffle' are unique to his sequence and can be used as a basis for treating clients which is not diagnostic and allows for a therapist's different skill, experience and fitness levels.

The book also illustrates ergonomic seated massage chair and desktop massage unit in action, including the treatment of disabled people, in particular those in wheelchairs, where seated massage is a need which has been greatly overlooked.

If a therapist wants the answers to questions such as what equipment is needed for a seated massage treatment; how do I market myself; what are meridians and Tsubo points; this book will provide all the answers.

Email: andrew@pressuredown.net www.pressuredown.net

Combined Special For Massage World readers Get both the book & dvd for only £24

DVD Seated Upper Body Massage For All Andrew Sceats Image Factory £13.50 inc. p&p This form of massage has the client sitting clothed in either an ergonomic massage chair or using a desk top massage unit. Although seated massage is relatively short in duration, the movements carried out on the upper body shown in the DVD can be adapted to form the basis of a longer massage either in a massage chair or on a conventional massage couch.

The areas covered on the DVD are the back, neck, shoulders, arms and hands, scalp and face.

Andrew is keen to advocate protecting therapists in their bodywork so he emphasises good therapist posture, the opportunity for them to treat sitting down during a treatment and the option of using hand held massagers. A DVD can show practitioner posture in a way that reading a book cannot. In addition to showing common massage strokes and acupressure action on the body's meridians, Andrew also emphasises the importance of stretching and deep muscle vibrations.

The advantage over the book is that the viewer can study the massage sequence as a whole or view the sections about the various parts of the body separately.

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productreview Products Affinity Aluminium Massage Table Certikin The all new lightweight Affinity Aluminium Massage table weighing only 14.5 kg combines good looks and lightweight design with super strength. It still has the comfort of other tables, using 2inch “Therafoam” under its pvc upholstery and has the flexibility of a height adjustment between 26-32 inches.

Designed to be quickly and easily set up – 7 seconds to be precise, it offers the exceptional rigidity and stability of aluminium and so can take large clients with ease. The ten position lifting head section allows the client to sit right up, whilst its increased length cushions the nape of the client’s neck for superior comfort There is also excellent access at each end of the table, useful for a variety of disciplines.

Being a 26” width allows easy portability for the mobile therapist and for the professional sports therapist unsurpassed access to the lumbar area.

www.therapyessentials.co.uk Freephone: 0800 083 5530

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calendar of events 22-23 September 2007

30-1 September/October 2007

An Introduction to the Rosen Method

Holistic Health 2007

Regents Park College, London

Donington Park, East Midlands

This unique visit of two well known characters in the body work field is not to be missed. Read more below about this significant event.

The FHT together with the Guild Press provide a perfect platform for products and services, together with an extensive lecture programme at this Midlands venue. Visit massage World on Stand C82.

CONTACT 020 7060 0683 • W www.rosenmethod.co.uk

CONTACT 01332 227698 • W www.beautyserve.co.uk

23-24 September 2007

6-7 October 2007

Total CAM Show

CamExpo 2007

International Centre, Harrogate

ExCel, London

If being a CAM practitioner is your passion as well as your profession, come along to see this showcase of new products, network and have fun.

Now in its fifth year CamExpo has firmly established itself as a leading event for the CAM community. Visit Massage World on Stand

CONTACT 01923 690699 • W www.totalcamshow.com

CONTACT 0870 800 5210 • W www.camexpo.co.uk

To publicise your event/conference/exhibition on our calendar page email: massageworld@btconnect.com Dates and venues correct at time of going to press.

Significant Visit

For the CAM community

Hans Axelson from Sweden who initiated the ‘peaceful touch in schools program’ will be visiting London in September accompanying Marion Rosen to run a week-end introductory workshop in the Rosen technique.

The Total CAM Show Harrogate enjoys a very special relationship with the industry. It is a show with a unique feel, dedicated to bringing together suppliers with the CAM Practitioner in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere that helps make our industry a community.

At 93 it's pretty incredible Marion has the stamina to travel, given that she thinks Heathrow the most unpleasant terminal she's ever had the misfortune to have to go through! She is giving us a mercy visit in many ways, because she thinks the UK needs Rosen!

This is a really significant visit, not just because of her age but to have the opportunity to be in the same room as her is very special. She has the most extraordinary presence, survived the Nazi's, and I think her form of revenge on war is loving acceptance. The way Rosen students work with each other always connects people to this refreshing, liberating and vitalizing aspect of a bigger love that connects us all.

The workshop will be at Regents Park College September 22/23rd. The cost is £180 and booking is essential. www.rosenmethod.co.uk T: 020 7060 0683 Take along a copy of Massage World or send this offer when booking and you will receive a discount of £20.

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That's why Harrogate attracts the audience you want to see, the qualified practitioner. They visit for the industry's only free educational seminars that include highly regarded, industryrecognised speakers including Patrick Holford, Marilyn Glenville, Jan De Vries and Jayney Lee Grace. They know that at Harrogate they will be able to meet and do business with exhibitors who are professional, knowledgeable and dedicated to giving them the best and most innovative products, whilst enjoying the free education programme.

The entire Harrogate experience is designed to help you build relationships with the people who are core to our industry the practitioner. Every minute provides you with the opportunity to talk directly to practitioners and to do it in the true spirit of the industry - common goals, common vision and a great sense of fun.

To find out more about how you can join the hundreds of successful companies who exhibit at the Total CAM Show or simply visit telephone 01279 816300 or email info@totalcamshow.com

A line on linseed by Charles Wells I was not entirely surprised that some of you have suggested honey as a possible curative, because it does have an enviable reputation for healing cuts and sores.

However I would not have thought to mix it 50:50 with linseed/flaxseed oil (Linum usitatissimum L.), as someone suggested, although flaxseed’s specific name is so coined to acknowledge its great utility.

The use of bruised linseed was a recommended medicament of Hippocrates. Among the medicinal uses of flax are emollients, the crushed seeds have been used as a poultice, and the whole seed as a laxative. The word liniment, describing a topical application, has its origin from ‘line’. Medically, linen has been used for bandages and dressings and linen ligatures have been popular for surgically securing large blood vessels.

All of which leads neatly to a favourite subject of mine – etymology.

Etymological inquiry often reveals certain, albeit

speculative, traces that the past has left. The Compact Oxford Dictionary is considered as the most reliable source on the linguistic origins of words; it provides several for flax. One simple example is the origin of the word linnet, which appears to be old French, and means “the bird which hovers feeding on seeds over flax fields”, an image secured by common observation. The fact that the language of origin is old French, implies that flax (and linnets) were commonly seen in old France.

Alternatively, linguistic diversity leaves common traces. The word ‘line’ has many linguistic roots, Old English, Old High German, Middle High German, Old Norse, Swedish and Gothic, all implying its descendance from a Latin or Greek ancestor, linum, meaning flax. A common origin and antiquity are clearly implied.

Flaxseed has a long tradition of use in folk medicine;

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internally flax was used as a cure for gastric disorders: indigestion, stomach and duodenal ulcers, and diarrhoea.

Its laxative properties have been confirmed in well-controlled human trials [Cunnane, S.C.M. et al.

1995. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 61:62]. The mucilage, abundant in the seed, is thought to be the active ingredient in such applications.

What’s in a name?

Aware of the potential clinical applications of linseed, or Flaxseed, and components on hyperlipidema, cancer, renal disease, and malaria, I was keen to find out what has given rise to the enduring symbiosis that has spanned Western written and ethno-linguistic history such that even the specific name of linseed, the usual linum species, Linum usitatissimum is so coined to acknowledge linseed's great utility.

Etymological inquiry often reveals certain, albeit speculative, traces that the past has left. The word line has many linguistic roots, Old English, Old High German, Middle High German, Old Norse, Swedish, and Gothic, all implying its descendance from a Latin or Greek ancestor, linum, meaning "flax". The words linen, lining, linear, and lineage are derived from the word line. The utilization of a line produced from spun thread has a clear application in building and is still used to this day, but is buried in antiquity, eg,Ezekiel 40:3 ......with a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed.

It is conspicuous when travelling in remote areas of a "hunter-gatherer" society how few straight or linear constructs exist. Did the concept of a straight line and its application occur to primitive societies as a consequence of the use of a flaxen thread?

The syllabic evidence would suggest so. If this were indeed the case, those societies with the advantages of its application would have benefitted inestimably and, as a consequence, would have become characteristically different than others.

Thus, we must ask to what extent has the utilization of flax fibre and flaxseed oil characterized Western civilisation? Worth a thought.

Flaxseed oil is used in the treatment of skin conditions, such as eczema, acne, and skin dryness, and is also used in skin cleansers and liquid soaps. Flaxseed oil was also used in folk medicine for burn treatment (mixed with calcium oxide).

A decade or so ago, SmithKline Beecham patented a cosmetic preparation based on flaxseed mucilage as a topical application for the skin or

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mucous membranes. They claim a very broad range of application, including use as artificial mucous and/or lubricant for the skin surface, the ocular, nasal, oral, vaginal, and anal cavities. The preparation may be used for treatment of dry-eye, xerostomia, and radiotherapyinduced secretory cell disorders.

Ingesting linseed oil make sure it’s fresh!

Linseed oil contains mainly Omega-3, and some Omega6 and Omega-9 fatty acids. It is a rich natural source of the Omega-3 essential fatty acid alpha linolenic acid (ALA) which can, to a small extent, be converted by the body into eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These are the Omega-3 polyunsaturates found in fish oils.

Flaxseed was used as a food by the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Egyptians have consumed the oil in their traditional food from the time of the Pharaohs to the present day. The people of India consume flaxseed oil in cooking, and the people of China also consume flaxseed domestically in the diet - predominantly as oil.

If all these ancient cultures have traditionally used flaxseed, why have the Europeans incorporated it less frequently into their diet? An the answer to this question lie in the varied additives used to hasten drying properties of flaxseed oil for industrial use and hence the seed’s guilt by association? Owing to the oil’s ability to bind with oxygen to form a hard film, it is called a ‘drying oil’, which makes it of use in paints, varnishes, printing inks, brake linings and linoleum (oil of lin)!

Boiled linseed oil dries more quickly than the coldpressed oil because boiling partially oxidises the oil. This could, in the absence of comprehensive labelling, present a potential health hazard to the unwitting consumer.

However, despite the interest from the health foods market, there are significant difficulties associated with processing traditional flaxseed to obtain a high quality oil for human consumption. Although processing and bottling steps now minimise exposure of the purified oil to heat and oxygen, the rapid rate of oxidation and rancidity on storage at room temperature means that the consumer has to take special precautions to avoid intake of an elevated level of peroxides.

Linseed deteriorates much faster than other oils and, even when kept cool and tightly sealed, will lose its nutrients after four months. Light, air and high temperatures destroy its ALA very rapidly, and ideally linseed oil should be kept in the fridge and used within six weeks of opening. Ultimately, this problem will

probably continue to restrict the market for bottled flaxseed oil but should not affect the use of encapsulated flaxseed oil.

You could always recycle unusable linseed in the summer months and keep those cricket bats in shape!!!

You can contact Charles Wells at: Essentially Oils Limited 8-10 Mount Farm, Junction Road, Churchill, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire OX7 6NP Email: sales@essentiallyoils.com Tel: +44 (0) 1608 659544 Fax: +44 (0) 1608 659566

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J

apanese Holistic Facial Therapy ‘Pure Indulgence’

by Lorraine Bliss

J

apanese Holistic Facial Therapy is an art as well as a therapy. It is a sophisticated offshoot of ‘Anma’, the traditional system of Japanese massage and acupressure. Rooted in the ancient medical traditions of Japan, this system has been refined over 2000 years, and is a specialized discipline.

Japanese Holistic Facial Therapy is a unique treatment, standing on its own as an area of specialized therapeutic care. The treatment, using meridians, and tsubo points (acupressure points), involves stimulating and massaging, the neck, shoulders, scalp and the Meridians on the face which aim to bring about balance and improve the flow of Ki - energy. This method of facial massage is extremely effective and is based on a concept which aims to treat all levels of wellbeing.

The Japanese believe that beauty is more than skin deep and that, in order to be beautiful, one must also be healthy.

In Japan, beauty is considered the optimal state of health.

The treatment is normally done from a couch with the therapist in a sitting position the majority of the time. It is a deeply relaxing treatment with many benefits both emotionally and physically. Japanese facial massage gently stimulates the nervous system to increase blood circulation, aid specific symptoms such as headaches, acne and other skin disorders, reduce and prevent wrinkles, improve the skin tone, repair and balance the condition of the skin, detoxify the skin, minimize the ageing process, and leave your clients faces looking healthy and feeling great. It has been hailed as a non-surgical facelift!

Stages There are four amazing stages to JHFT if you include the cleansing stage. The magic begins with a wonderfully relaxing neck and shoulder massage, followed by the ultimate pampering cleansing session (if required), then just when the client thinks that is it, an amazing mixture of massage and acupressure is applied, followed by some manual lymph draining techniques to aid the benefits of the treatment.

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Here are just a few of the comments clients have made: “I had not expected it to be so relaxing” “I feel so energised” “My skin feels so soft and my neck has lost that wrinkled look“ “I cannot believe what an improvement these treatments have had on my general wellbeing”

The treatment can be practiced by therapists with or without aromatherapy qualifications. There is a great range of carrier oils with their own unique properties which are pre-blended for non aromatherapists. For the aromatherapist it is a fantastic opportunity to use the oils to really tailor the treatment to the clients needs as some of the oils may help specific skin types and conditions.

The non surgical facelift is the benefit that seems to catch everyone’s attention. As therapists know, they cannot claim to cure anyone or promise anything, but clients that have received this treatment have commented on an overall improvement on the skin tone and wrinkles, some even after just one treatment.

newtechnique japanese holistic facial therapy

Benefits Like many other holistic therapies, it is all about homeostasis – bringing about balance. Detoxing is a fashionable word at present and this therapy can help this clearing process through the massage and stimulating of certain acupressure points.

Clients have reported it has helped with specific ailments such as headaches, acne and other skin disorders like eczema. It works at cellular level and coupled with the right choice of products used, the results can really be enhanced.

This wonderful new therapy is ideal for the bodywork therapist looking for an alternative approach to their work, or for those wanting to offer a therapy that will generate interest without them having to do anything!

It is a great addition to any bodywork therapist, as it can so easily be tailored to the client’s needs, and elements of it can be taken and used within normal body work routines. Alternatively, it can be provided as a stand alone treatment. JHFT can also be used as a valuable marketing tool as it is ideal to offer as taster sessions at pamper/indulgence evenings or corporate well-being sessions. This unique and special therapy provides a fantastic opportunity for increasing business as it may attract clients that normally treat themselves to facials but not massage or reflexology. Skin care, anti aging, non surgical facelift treatments are among the fastest growing businesses, so to offer a therapy that is fashionable and in high demand can be no bad thing!

Article by: Louise Bliss, Tutor at Middlesex School of Complementary Medicine.

Contact To find out more about JHFT contact Louise on 01923-720000 or info@mscm.biz

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casehistory the benefits of massage for irritable bowel syndrome

The Benefits of Massage for Sufferers of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

By Susan Weston Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the most common gastrointestinal complaint in the Western world. Between 10 and 20 percent of the population has IBS at some time. The syndrome often starts in adolescents or young adults. It affects three times as many women as men, and is often associated with stress.

There is no single conclusive test available to diagnose IBS, however physicians look for the cardinal symptoms that are abdominal pain accompanied by alternating diarrhoea and /or constipation. Often gas, bloating, nausea and other symptoms are also present. Theories on the causes for the disruption of normal intestinal contraction include: poor dietary and lifestyle habits; food sensitivities; lack of fibre; stress; psychophysiological (brain-gut) factors.

Although chronic, IBS does not lead to more serious illness, like colon cancer or colitis. It does not require surgery, and it does not shorten life expectancy. However, the symptoms can be debilitating and isolating for many sufferers.

I decided to undertake the project, as a friend abroad had been a sufferer for some years. I was quite astonished at how widespread in the UK IBS was and was interested to know how different people managed their problem. I chose four subjects that I massaged over a period of seven weeks.

The Approach A management programme for IBS generally includes dietary changes, together with some form of daily exercise, possibly medication for symptom relief and a stress management programme which may include massage.

Massage therapy can benefit IBS patients in two ways: i. The physical benefit of massage on the abdomen is helpful for relieving gas pressure, pain and the bloated, distended feelings associated with IBS ii. The mental benefit applies more to the general body session, stress tends to trigger or worsen the symptoms of IBS and as we know, massage aids the release of natural chemicals such as endorphins that relieve pain and create a euphoric state.

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casehistory the benefits of massage for irritable bowel syndrome

I also wanted to educate those I worked on in the benefits of abdominal massage by providing them with the tools to be able to perform daily self-massage. This in effect became their ‘homework’ to perform each night before retiring. I provided them with a pre-blended bottle of chamomile oil and the following written instructions: “perform the massage either sitting on the toilet or lying down with your knees bent. Make a fist with your right hand and using the knuckles massage your colon using a circular motion. Start at the lower right quadrant of your abdomen (just inside your hip bone) and work up to under the right side of your rib cage, then straight across and down the left quadrant, moving to the inside of the left hip bone towards the groin, the aim being to massage the length of your colon. The rectal canal then extends from the lower left quadrant diagonally across to the groin (or pubic bone). Repeat this massage several ties, experimenting with varying pressure.”- Natural remedies That Work: IBS by Jini Patel Thompson

Cases Client A is a 33-year-old female who has suffered with ME for approximately 4 years and has also developed IBS. She is not able to work and has good and bad days. She has very weak muscles that often contract and won’t relax, especially in the calf area. I treated her over seven weeks, the first treatment as a general relaxation massage and the next four concentrating on the calves. Towards the last couple of weeks her IBS symptoms were noticeably reduced.

Client B is a 42-year-old female who has suffered for eight years and also has Reynauds Disease. She is married with one teenage child and leads a very active life. For the first five sessions I gave general relaxation treatments concentrating on the poor circulation effects to hands and feet, followed by two further sessions where I focused on areas requiring work. On week four, her IBS symptoms had come back with a vengeance and I established she had neither been doing her ‘homework’ nor eating well. This was remedied by the next session and the IBS was under control again.

Client C is a 27-year-old female who cannot remember a time she had not suffered with IBS, as has her mother. She is a self confessed worrier and a perfectionist at home and work. The first couple of sessions were before and after the client running a marathon so treatments were tailored accordingly, thereafter, general relaxation massage was applied. On week six her IBS

symptoms were quite bad, I attempted to introduce some abdominal strokes but had to stop as it made the client nauseous and by the end of the case history period they had calmed down a little.

Client D is also a 27-year-old female who has had IBS over a period of ten years. She has a very small frame and extremely slight. This was the most serious case of IBS out of the four.

The first four sessions were general relaxation massages, gradually introducing some abdominal work as I gained her trust. By session four she was actually requesting more focused work as it was alleviating her IBS. By the end of the seven weeks we had agreed on longer sessions and more focused work.

Conclusion I found as expected that my client’s condition was largely a reflection of what was going on in their lives and the diligence they showed their IBS management programme. Any major stress resulted in a worsening of the symptoms and diet played a large factor. Was massage a helpful part of the stress management? All the clients agreed that it helped them a great deal; some finding focused abdomen massage effective whereas a couple found it uncomfortable.

Each undertook their ‘homework’ seriously and if they did lapse more intense symptoms returned. From this I concluded that sufferers of IBS should undertake self-massage with chamomile or peppermint oil and incorporate regular visits to their massage practitioner as part of their maintenance programme in particular when undergoing stressful situations.

References Irritable Bowel Syndrome Chris Woolston Blue Print for Health 27/08/01 Gut-Reaction, An Ayurvedic Look at IBS Carrie Demers, MD www.123relax.com IBS & Massage Therapy Adonna Pruette www.charlottebodywork.com Natural Remedies That Work: IBS Jini Patel Thompson www.livinglink.com

Aug/Sept 2007 M|W

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faqs!faqs?faqs!faqs?

STUDENT Q&A

Let me introduce myself, I am Isabelle Hughes and will endeavour each month to answer all those questions that never seem to get answered or that you forgot to ask.

You can write or email me at Massage World. Here is a selection of recent enquiries and their replies:

accupressure/shiatsu point of view,

Isabelle Hughes

the GB30 (gallbladder) and bladder channels, are specifically used.

has been practising and teaching massage since 1989 and is also an external examiner for massage therapy.

Drawing on her experience as an ante-natal teacher with the National Childbirth Trust, she currently runs workshops for practitioners on Massage for Pregnancy and Labour and has contributed to books on the subject.

Q. Are there any similarities between acupressure and triggerpoint/deep massage?

A. My first thoughts on this were no as

Q. I practise on-site massage in

acupressure works off the meridians

offices, and the winter is a

whereas trigger points are related to

nightmare for people feeling run-

muscle origin and insertions, for

down, for having flu and colds and

example you work on the origin and

coughs etc, and many still come

insertion of the sternocleidoastoid to

into work. At what point shouldn't

relieve neck tension. However, there

I massage these bodies? I do IHM

are some cross-overs as some

and acupressure chair massage

acupressure points correspond with

which helps them while they are

common sites for triggerpoints.

feeling bad but I don't want to catch anything myself! How can

Q. I am a mobile therapist, what are

I protect myself? Should I say no?

the rules or advice about working

They are still 'well' enough to be

in peoples houses where there is

in work so is it really a problem?

a smoker? I realise the recently

A. I would never treat anyone with an acute infection, or within 48

passed laws mean if clients visit my home it should be smoke free as a

hours of starting a cold. Not only

‘workplace’ does this apply when

might treatment make them feel

I visit their homes?

As a therapist you have that right also, they have asked you into their home and that's their choice.

I don't think you should have to compromise your health in order to work.

You could always ask the client to

worse but the chances of you

A. Local council workers, such as care

catching the virus is extremely

assistants can request a 'working

high. Massaging any one with a

review' of the homes that they go

cold is a contraindication, deep

to, and those being cared for can

massaging someone with a

be politely asked to not smoke

the body, its not a good idea to put

flu/fever could be very dangerous.

whilst there is a care assistant in

toxins back in straight after.

Also you should always use anti-

attendance, but it is not 'illegal',

bacterial wipes on your face holes

nor can the council enforce the

after every treatment as a

ban. They can, however, deny

precautionary measure.

care assistance. I do not think it unreasonable to ask your client if

Q. Can you help with the acupressure points for the sciatic nerve please?

A. The reflexology points for treating

they could refrain from smoking prior and during your visit.

In Scotland, If anyone comes to

sciatica are at the back of the heels,

work in your home you cannot

either side of the achilles tendon

smoke for at least an hour before

and lower legs at the back, also

so as you are then exposing them

across the inner wrists. From an

to your smoke which is now illegal.

remain smoke free for the duration and state that its part of the advice given, eg if you have a therapy which aids in removing toxins from

QA If you would like your questions answered, please send them by post or email to our address on page 3, marked Student Q&A.

Aug/Sept 2007 M|W

37

by Virginia Postrel

How does a fragmented feel-good industry turn into a ubiquitous brand?

Virginia Postrel looks at the American massage therapy market for the answer, which on a smaller scale could also be the answer for the UK. When you step off a plane in Indianapolis, one of the first things you see right next to the directions to baggage claim and ground transport is a sign advertising massages, from the fifteen-minute Fast Track for $18 to the half-hour Extended Stay for $33. Travellers can find similar services at airports in Providence, Anchorage, Cedar Rapids, and Baltimore. The Seattle-based Massage Bar has expanded from Sea-Tac to airports serving Nashville, Newark, and Washington, D.C. And you don’t have to go to the airport. Car washes in Dallas and Austin offer chair massages while you wait. Tired shoppers can get them at the Fashion Show mall on the Vegas Strip, at Whole Foods Markets, and at many large bookstores. Massage breaks are regular features at business conventions and sporting events.

Once a specialised therapy for injured athletes, an indulgence for the idle rich, or a cover for prostitution, massage has become a legitimate and seemingly ubiquitous enterprise.

Between August 2004 and July 2005, about 47 million American adults got at least one massage, up 2 million from the previous year, according to the American Massage Therapy Associations annual consumer survey.

Nationally, massage revenue is variously estimated at $6 billion 38

M|W Aug/Sept 2007

to $11 billion a year.

The AMTA estimates that there are between 230,000 and 280,000 massage therapists practicing in the United States, up from between 160,000 and 200,000 in 2000. Massage is one answer to the question, Where will new jobs come from?

It’s also the sort of growth industry that doesn’t count for much in our public debates about the economy. It’s new but not high tech. It’s flourishing but fairly small, with annual revenues about the same as Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the snack-chips business, or Hollywood’s domestic box office.

The massage industry’s product is invisible, less tangible than a hamburger or a video game. It doesn’t contribute to national power or prestige the way semiconductors or aircraft do. It doesn’t create world-famous stars like sports or the movies.

Its establishments are small, often run by a single individual, and most of its practitioners lack a college education. It is literally touchy-feely.

Basic problems When Americans think about the economy, we tend to focus on familiar, serious businesses computers or autos or high finance. We don’t notice Starbucks until there’s one on every corner, changing not only what we drink but also how we live and work. Massage may not be the biggest new industry or the most influential, but it’s a microcosm of how commerce and culture interact. The same creativity and resilience that built the industries of the past, and the ways of life that evolved with them, are still at work, spinning out new enterprises serving new values.

As a business, massage has two basic problems. The first is that prostitution is generally illegal. A brothel can’t openly advertise its services: no Madame Julia’s House of Great Sex. Instead, Madame Julia pretends she runs a massage parlour,

businesstools the next starbucks

which creates confusion, and sometimes legal obstacles, for people who want to buy and sell back rubs.

The second problem is that most potential customers consider massage a luxury an optional indulgence, if not a slightly shameful extravagance. So they’re acutely sensitive to price.

A massage business can’t pass high labour costs along to consumers without suffering a rapid drop in sales.

One way to attack these problems is to declare massage a medical service. Hence in 1983 the American Massage & Therapy Association dropped its ampersand to create a new profession: massage therapy.

Customers and legal authorities can be pretty sure though not 100 percent certain that a massage therapist isn’t selling sex.

A therapist not only will keep the client discreetly draped with a sheet but also will take a reassuringly clinical approach to kneading naked flesh. A masseuse, on the other hand, may well be a hooker in a skimpy disguise.

A therapy Calling massage a therapy also suggests that it’s good for you, which means you don’t have to feel guilty about spending money on it. You might even be able to pass the bill on to your insurance company (only rarely, so far). Massage therapists understandably want their clients to think of massage as a necessity. At one point in my career I had to defend massage against the prostitution attitude, says Brenda L. Griffith, a massage therapist in Richmond, Virginia, who has been practicing since 1988. Now I have to defend massage against the pampering attitude. Many of her clients do, in fact, have chronic ailments for which massage offers some relief.

But relentlessly touting the healing power of touch makes too many massage therapists sound like quacks. The medical strategy also treats clients as patients, eliminating potential customers who feel healthy. It attracts clients by turning everyday life into a disease. Who, after all, doesn’t suffer from stress? Like graphic and industrial designers who refuse to talk about aesthetics, massage therapists seem embarrassed to say they make people feel good.

Money well spent As something of a massage addict, I don’t buy the medical line, and I don’t think it’s necessary. Assuming it’s not too

vigorous, a massage not only feels good but also helps me think. It’s relaxing, but not so relaxing that I fall asleep. Like a nice glass of wine with dinner or an all-white Heavenly Bed in a hotel room, a massage break adds a little pleasure to everyday life. Even if the massage does nothing for my health, I consider the money well spent. Humans are sensory beings.

Massage doesn’t need to justify pleasing our muscles and skin any more than music has to justify pleasing our ears. Chefs don’t have to call themselves nutritional therapists. Hairstylists don’t have to pretend that grey hair is a disease. Enjoyment is a perfectly fine reason to get a massage. So I was relieved to meet David Palmer, a massage-industry pioneer who believes in the intrinsic value of touch, whether or not it’s therapy.

Palmer doesn’t even use the T-word, referring instead to massage practitioners. Like the people who built the first personal computers, he represents a special Bay Area blend of bohemian self-actualization and entrepreneurial drive. He, too, is a commercial and cultural innovator as the inventor of the contemporary chair massage, Palmer is the man responsible for all those public shoulder rubs in airports and elsewhere.

User friendly In 1982, he was running a San Francisco massage school and worried that not enough graduates were finding jobs.

If massage was so great, why didn’t more people want it?

Aug/Sept 2007 M|W

39

businesstools the next starbucks The answer was pretty obvious: everything about the experience scared off potential clients. If you want to make sure massage didn’t make it into the mainstream, Palmer says, make it as expensive, inconvenient, and scary as possible. Force people to go into a private room behind closed doors, take off all their clothes with a stranger, lie down on a table, get slathered with oil for an hour, and pay $70, $80, $90 for the privilege. Massage needed a form that was cheap, quick, convenient, and fully clothed. Palmer developed an acupressure-based routine, or kata , that took just fifteen minutes and was done while the client sat on a drummer’s stool. Although a chair massage might cost more per minute than a table massage, the price for the experience was much lower. The next step was to create a special chair to support the client’s head, arms, and legs.

Once you have a massage chair, says Palmer, then the massage industry thinks, Oh, this must be real. Once massage chairs start showing up everywhere, potential clients don’t think of massage as a shady business. And more people decide that they, too, might want to give massages for a living.

Hands on service

like to practice it: some 70,000 Americans graduated from massage schools last year. So Palmer and an ambitious young business partner, Sam Keller, are out to create the Starbucks of chair massage to turn a fragmented, feel-good industry into a ubiquitous brand.

Their new enterprise, Zubio, is all about creating consistent expectations, for both client and practitioner. Instead of plopping down a massage chair in someone else’s store or office, Zubio installs permanent, semi-private kiosks. It trains practitioners in its specific kata and pays them by the hour, plus tips and stock options (this is the Bay Area, after all).

Clients make appointments either on the booth’s touch screen or via the Internet. One person can run the booth, concentrating on giving massages rather than handling appointments and paperwork. It’s high tech meets high touch, says Keller. Zubio opened its first kiosk in December and rolled out a couple more in the spring. Whether America is ready for the Starbucks of massages and whether Zubio is it remains to be seen. But Palmer’s dissatisfaction and determination have already changed the world. Twenty years ago, after all, no airport traveller looked for a chair massage. Especially in Indianapolis.

An obstacle to the industry’s growth is the fact that massage is labour intensive, the quintessential hands-on service. A massage entrepreneur can’t automate the experience those vibrating chairs are a lousy substitute for the real thing and can’t outsource the labour to low-wage foreigners (unless, of course, the price includes airfare and hotel accommodations).

Giving an hour-long massage takes an hour of someone’s time, and that someone has to be paid. But one way to build a new industry is to create a more satisfying way to work.

In today’s affluent United States, people are remarkably willing to take lower wages, fewer benefits, and less security in exchange for less stress. Less stress means flexible hours and enjoyable work, not a more reliable income. Massage pay is decent doing twenty hours of actual massage a week, a practitioner will likely make $30,000 to $35,000 a year but therapists get paid only if clients show up. For most massage therapists, having a fulfilling job seems to be worth the uncertainty.

Meaningful work David Palmer, the massage-chair inventor, says he not only wants to make touch a social value but also to make massage a source of meaningful work. There is something seriously sad about a culture where people spend most of their waking lives doing something that doesn’t have inherent, intrinsic meaning for them, he says. He worries that massage still isn’t popular enough to absorb the skyrocketing number of people who’d

40

M|W Aug/Sept 2007

Above: David Palmer in action

.

Virginia Postrel is a contributing editor of The Atlantic and the author of The Substance of Style and The Future and Its Enemies. Her blog, The Dynamist, can be found at http://www.dynamist.com/weblog. Copyright © 2006 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.

The Atlantic Monthly; July/August 2006; The Next Starbucks?; Volume 298, No. 1; 160-163

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