Thai Massage Can Make You Better

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We just finished another full Intro. to Thai massage class at our studio. That means I’m surrounded by 8 or more eager students trying to pull together a routine I’ve put together to try and help their clients, family and friends feel better. I give teaching my all and quite honestly have to hold back due to time. I told students several times that we need to lock everyone in a cave for several months and practice, then they’ll understand the teaching. It’s So simple it takes time. It’s like describing how to make wine. You ferment grapes. It’s never that simple.

When I consider what I’m trying to do. I return again to Jiro Ono. He doesn’t practice Thai massage but when I saw the film I understood immediately. He’d settle for no less than perfection of his craft and art. I don’t want to control Thai massage or make sure it’s traditional, I want to set it free. I want to be able to look back and know that I helped teach the best bodyworkers the US has to offer. When students ask about new moves or techniques I think of Bruce Lee saying, “I fear not the man who knows 10,000 kicks but the man who has practiced 1 kick 10,000 times.”

Come. There’s work to do. It demands your soul.

Thai Massage Is The Best

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Lately things have been hectic with classes and business plans. We’re hopefully going to have videos of the sequence used in the Free Thai Massage Workbook available sometime in November. In the midst of all the teaching and sharing I’m amazed at how advanced such an ancient tradition is.

I gave a demonstration to massage students at a school in Houston yesterday and heard a loud laugh. I looked around and asked what was funny and everyone’s eyes went to the door. I looked behind me and saw a student gazing through the window at my demonstration with this look of complete amazement. Thai massage doesn’t often Look like other kinds of massage. 😀

Robert Gardner Wellness Thai massage cobra

I wrote a brief article for Massage Career Guides about Thai massage as well. It’s been wonderful to share this ancient healing art.

Staying Relaxed

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A friend asked me how I stay so relaxed. He knows of my business, how frenetically I work and sees the constant output but yet I sat, relaxed, open, receptive. He did catch me at a good moment but the honest truth is that I work so much I go to sleep dreaming about what my next project is. It’s taken an inordinate amount of work to restore my health and with all that bodywork and yoga, I learned how to let go. It’s still a practice, still work on my part but it’s helped tremendously.

Another thing I do beyond Thai massage, yoga and other bodywork is acroyoga. I was introduced to it by friends in the Austin Acro Community. Grant Shipman and I have lots of conversations about community, business and the changing world that Thai massage and acroyoga are in.

Grant started an acrobatic yoga group called Yogabatics and put out a free video series. The first of which you can see below.

Since Grant has done his best to provide innovative new ways to help me stay relaxed in my free time I thought it was time to show him off on the blog. If you’d like to contribute to his ongoing video project you can learn about it here.

Tea Is A Constant

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I try to allow myself simple pleasures. Tea is one of the small things that improves my life, gives me a resting meditative moment and prevents me from drinking much soda. Green and white teas are loaded with antioxidants and go wonderfully with various foods. I drink mine warm but sometimes make cold brewed tea in summer. A floral white tea called White Peony is pictured below.

WhitePeony2

My friend Lauri Smith and I connected over our love of tea and I recently purchased some tea from her business White Cloud World Teas. I typically drink white and green teas but I’ve also grown to like the earthy smokey flavors of oolong like this Ting Tung Oolong pictured below. Tea drinkers eventually sound like wine drinkers or foodies comparing the flavor contrasts of various brews.

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I’ll always go back to my love of plain camellia sinensis, the tea plant. Herbal teas are nice but there’s something mystic about the complex flavors that come out of this one plant. Below is a green tea called Dragon’s Well.

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