Posts

Thai massage, Yoga and Awareness

/in /by

Landon Sykes and I spend lots of time hanging out and discussing the nuances of Thai massage. As males in a female dominated field we share a rapport that often finds us trading bodywork then having beers afterwards. I decided to record one of our conversations so you get an idea of what we’re doing with amazing bodywork in Austin, Texas.

Landon has been a massage therapist slightly longer than I have but we both focus on Thai massage. When we discuss yoga and Thai massage and the effects we’ve seen in clients it’s from observation over the years. Putting your hands on that many bodies over 10 or more years gives you a solid idea about muscle tightness, rigid inflexible joints and what happens when you don’t get work regularly.

You can schedule a session with Landon by calling 512-318-4387

14 years

/in /by

I began to consider how long I’ve been working on chronic pain issues recently. My journey began in 1999 after being hit by a drunk driver. Since then I’ve done everything within my power to help my body heal. It’s nearly impossible to explain what I’ve integrated, worked on and processed over the years.

My spine itself has gone through so many changes alone that it’s like tracking a history. The physical component is intriguing. I was told after my accident that I was fine only to discover that I was in fact, far from fine. My health deteriorated and my spine slowly closed down, becoming immobile and stiff. Years of yoga and bodywork have removed those barriers and I laugh when I tell others that the spine is a series of joints, meaning that it moves. When it stops moving, oh you’re in for lots of pain.

Maintaining range of motion, muscular strength and allowing blood flow and vascularity keep one young. Scar tissue that I’ve helped stretch and at times gently tear apart has been removed. Feeling a small area that’s immobile start to move again is a sensation that’s almost impossible to explain to someone who’s never felt it. I’ve felt a deadness turn into softening then the feeling of cold air blowing into areas of my upper back and spine for years. Life returns. Stagnant water has become a creek with ebb and flow.

Breathing into a restriction, stretching into a yoga pose and integrating my own self has been the most healing journey in my life. Losing your alignment will queue you into how your spiritual life can be rerouted through the movement of a single vertebrae.

May we all keep breathing and moving while meditating. Happy holidays.

Holidays

/in /by

The holidays are upon us full force. While we’re eating turkey, being thankful and celebrating with family remember these can also be stressful times of the year. Bodywork and yoga are your friends, use them.

People sometimes tell me when they find out I’m a massage therapist or yoga instructor, “Oh! Of course, you’re so calm and relaxed, no wonder you went into that for a job.” I often giggle and respond, “Relaxed? It’s taken years of hard work and breathing with focus to Learn to be this calm.” I didn’t just arrive at decent health and more calm, I worked for it.

Riding in a car with a friend I realized I got extremely anxious. I was worried they weren’t watching the road and it dawned on me that all these years later, I’m still more nervous when other people drive. In the car accident I was in, someone else was driving so there’s this fear, this anxiety about loss of control. Even I get stressed and have bad days. Yoga and bodywork is how I deal with it.

These traditions have been maintained and passed down because they work. Don’t forget them over the holidays.

What is Thai massage pt.4

/in /by

Thai massage is old world asian physical therapy. You’re not having a client do exercises but the therapist is helping extend range of motion in joints, softening muscle tissue and allowing the nervous system to idle in neutral.

Many people are keyed up. Modern life in cities is a constant blur and trying to remain sane is often a struggle. To say we’re scattered is putting it lightly. In yoga I’ve heard teachers talk about what it means to embodied. As a yoga teacher and practitioner I completely understand that process and its value. Thai massage allows me to give clients a small taste of that.

Life can be fun, full of joy and you can have less pain. Being in your body, enjoying the sensations of a therapist compressing muscle and moving you around can produce warm, glowing, nurturing sensations. In a culture where people touch little and have high degrees of back pain, Thai massage is desperately needed.

Low stress, better health and a more integrated sense of well being? Sign me up! Thai massage is the best.

Hope

/0 Comments/in /by

Having a conversation with a client he announced, “you give people hope.” When clients pay small verbal affirmations of my work I’ve made it a point to sit in them, honor them and let them sink in. All too often I finish a session thinking if I could have been more in tune, if I could have used more pressure etc. Being a perfectionist has its downfalls. I’m happy to give people hope, I’ve had it myself for quite some time.

Clients come to me with a list of complaints, aches, pains and usually in 2 hours they leave feeling much better. Their conditions don’t just go away, we’ve just lessened the issue. Their medical complaints are so vast I can’t expect to cure anything, that’s not really what I do. The only cure comes from inside them. Beyond genetics, they control the nurture. You can nurture all sorts of conditions and see improvement. It reminds me of veterans who’ve lost limbs. They seem to have the strongest bodies because the rest of them is compensating for not having the extra limb. They seem stronger than everyone else. I told myself many years ago that my pain may never fully go away but if it cannot the rest of my body will be so strong and so healthy my issue is just an annoyance that doesn’t rob me of my life.

You have arthritis? Carpal tunnel syndrome? Thoracic outlet syndrome? Pain and tingling in your hands and arms? Pain in your feet or lower legs? Pain that runs down your leg from your buttocks? Low back pain? Upper back and neck pain? All of those are the most common conditions I see and I can almost guarantee that within a few sessions I can show you great relief. Beyond that I can help describe what may be happening, how you can work on it at home and how we can prevent it in the future. That’s where hope comes in. I don’t work with you to keep you coming back. I work with you so you get better. I’m happy to work on you but it does my life no great joy to create a revolving door of clients.

Let’s look at something as insidious as arthritis. This one is personal to me since this seems to run in my family. There is I don’t doubt some genetic component but nature/nurture is the battle I see looming large. Until the science steps up and gives us more details I believe most conditions can be made tolerable if not healed. Any kind of -itis is usually inflammation at some point. Inflammation seems to be a normal healing response that goes haywire.

In my case I’ve apparently come from a line of people who are prone to arthritis and I’ve had trauma to my neck and upper back from a car accident. Double whammy. Do I have arthritis? I don’t believe so. Will I have it? A doctor has told me that I will probably get it particularly in areas that were damaged in the accident. That sets up my life and my challenge. I want to be healthy and whole.

Yoga in particular holds great potential. Thai massage and other bodywork is good as well but yoga in particular appeals because it’s inexpensive, noninvasive but goes to the core of your being and you take it with you. You don’t have to keep coming back to me, you know how to care for things yourself, with practice. Along with deterioration of a joint that goes with arthritis I believe there are muscular and structural issues at play. You must keep the joint mobile within reason and help your cardiovascular system flush the area with fresh, clean blood as much as possible.

It’s been my experience that warming the area, flushing it with blood will help with symptoms and long term I believe it may in some instances heal arthritis. Mine, if I have it isn’t bad. Certainly not to the point of taking medications. Currently I take…nothing. Not even an aleve from time to time. So, heat the body up, keep it pliable, strengthen muscles and continue using your body. Very simple health advice overall. This does however go deeper.

The poses in yoga help clean you out from the inside out. Your Whole body. This is the definition of holistic. Part of that work is breathing, the pranayama exercises in yoga. This work regulates the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in your bloodstream and also helps balance the different parts of your nervous system. People’s sympathetic nervous system is often keyed up, fight or flight wins. Problem is in fight or flight your body doesn’t care if you digest food, doesn’t care about cleansing and repair. You Must stimulate your relaxation response. This part of your nervous system that takes over is the parasympathetic. This part cleans, repairs, and nourishes the relaxation response. Your body and your nervous system must be balanced.

Krishnamacharya held that the breath was critical to controlling the inner functions of the body. He would say, in English, “Lungs are pump. Control breathing. Control heartbeat.” ~ A. G. Mohan, “Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings”

Now we get to where it’s really interesting. This is the edge, the area that’s hardly been studied scientifically. Yoga gives you control over your body. With practice you can control things that most doctors will tell you you cannot control. We talked about vascularity and blood flow and how important it is in inflammatory conditions like arthritis. What about the center of the cardiovascular system, the heart? Here’s cutting to the chase. Not only do I think you can make areas more vascular and cleanse them I think that you can fundamentally gain control of your heart and heart beat itself. With practice you can stop your heart. Most will tell you this is impossible and that’s fine.

I don’t necessarily wish to have this control, this is deep, far reaching work that may take a lifetime but if you can control your heart enough to make it stop do you think you could help a case of arthritis? My point exactly. You have Far more control over your health and conditions than most would have you believe.

If you have arthritis I recommend Bikram yoga. The practice works your heart, warms your body and speeds cleansing and repair. The internal tourniquets you form flush the problem areas with blood. This may never heal your condition fully but if the symptoms go away, do you still have arthritis? Let’s explore and see. I’ve been doing so for the past 7 years.

Image and yoga

/0 Comments/in /by

For years now my practice has mainly been solitary. I practice Bikram yoga at a studio once a week and as far as community is concerned that’s just the hand full of students who show up at my home studio twice a week. I vascillate over whether to engage in more sangha locally at a studio and also wonder if it’s best to continue my slow steady solo path.

There are advantages to either side of a yoga practice. Years ago I went to maybe 10 classes total before I just practiced daily at home the 20 or so poses I’d learned. Being alone meant I could hold the pose longer, hang out, breathe and really deepen my practice in a way that I couldn’t at a studio where the teacher was helping a whole class move through the poses and didn’t have time to focus on me alone.

In solitary yoga you don’t get any community. There is something to be said of sangha within the yoga community and being able to relate to our communal goals and work in our practice. At times this makes me aware of the real humanity of the practice and as a teacher it reminds me to try to meet students where they are at. All of my students are different, have different bodies and needs and as much as possible I try to steer them the direction that will give them the most bang for their buck so to speak.

Financially as a teacher it may be best to venture out, teach at a studio and work with a larger number of students. This also creates an interesting setup regarding the studio itself. In the US people expect a large, spacious studio with wooden floors. Everything is clean, tailored just so and comes with all the trappings we think of in such a space. I care nothing for image.

Part of the reason I’ve enjoyed working in my home studio is that it’s about the practice, not the space. There is no image to maintain. It has a carpeted floor, it’s a repurposed garage and has recycled mirrors. If you’re looking for what you consider a yoga studio, you’re in the wrong place. My studio is about yoga, not about image.

That one sticking point has prevented income over the years. I could make more if I spent more time focused on image, scenery and facade but how would it affect my practice? My concern is that it would lose depth. I love looking at photos of sadhus in India in sackcloth covered in ashes. That my friends is yoga. You’re breaking down your ego, not bolstering it with brazillian wood floors and painted mandalas in an air conditioned building.

Both as a teacher and practitioner I go where I feel works best for me. Image isn’t my forte. If you’re looking for image this isn’t your practice and I’m not your teacher. Substance? Oh, there’s depth over here.

“Once in awhile you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.”~~the Grateful Dead

Meditation

/0 Comments/in /by

When I went to the Moving into Stillness retreat with Erich Schiffmann and friends I watched Erich like a hawk. This is common to anyone who teaches me. Over time I’ve learned that your teachers are everyone. What I like, what I dislike and what I aspire to be are contained in those around me and if you look closely your teachers are never further than a glance away.

My reason for watching Erich is I won’t have a huge time around him. What I’m looking for isn’t truth, least not from Erich so much as listening to a friend on the path who’s exploring to share insight. It’s not just teacher to student or peer to peer as much as he’s been doing this awhile, he’s charted the path more during his years…watch him.

While engaging our group in a talk he discussed meditation. All of yoga for Erich goes back to this. Hatha yoga is designed to get one ready to meditate. I’ve only just started practicing sitting meditation after working on my posture for years. As Erich discussed meditation he said, “there’s just something about it.”

The hawk like precision I had made me say, “Aha!” internally. Even he, after all these years recognizes it’s ineffable. Krishnamurti, Iyengar and now Erich all putting their hand on their forehead and going how can you describe the indescribable? Everyone attempts to, what other language is there? We use symbols to communicate and share but in the end it’s your path and no one else’s. Teaching is good but it will never communicate experience itself.

“There’s just something about it.” That small glimmer of light within his talk put me at ease. It feels good to have community that is as perplexed, confused, happy and in awe of what we’re working with. We’re alive. We’re focused and trying to gain more insight in how to lead healthier, better and more integrated lives. Yoga and meditation are good medicine, not just for your body but for your soul.

Expert

/0 Comments/in /by

I almost loathe the word expert. It’s tossed around so willy nilly that people talk to me and consider me an expert on gardening or worm composting but if you looked at our garden, well, you might think twice about listening to my advice. I’m still trying to figure it out.

Occasionally someone will call me a yoga master and as I appreciate the compliment I remind myself that I know what seems like nothing. I may know a little more than you but that just means I’m a step ahead. If you want to be where I’m at just take some time and practice after reading a few books. The words expert and master exist in some relative space. It only means something in context. Next to the average guy in the supermarket, sure I’m a yoga expert. Stand me next to BKS Iyengar and I know nothing. I can’t even stand on my feet correctly.

What I know comes from books, asking questions, google, reading and study but the heart comes from my own experience. There may be better ways but I’m not aware of them. If I did, that’s what I’d be teaching. When I lead student through a yoga pose I’m leading them through what I do. Over time the yoga of teaching gets stronger and with feedback I’m more aware of the nuances in their practice but what I know, in my heart, is my practice.

How does someone become an expert? I think you continue to grow, push and explore. Being an individual means you take your own path, not someone else’s. My students are told time and again that it’s their yoga, not mine. I will lead you through to the best of my ability through what I’ve done but you must make the practice your own. Yoga is about feel. I can’t teach you to sense every nerve, cell and nuance while breathing into it. That’s you. Your job. I point the way, you walk.

Knowing the boundaries and parameters of bodywork means well, honestly folks I’m a snob. I hate using that word but it’s as if I’ve been working and cooking in 4 star plus restaurants and someone wants me to pretend fast food is high cuisine. I’m picky about bodywork and with a public who may not have explored the work of massage warehouse surplus may be fine. That may work well and be what those people need. I offer more. There are days I wish I could receive my own bodywork.

Mastery is the word I prefer. I’ve achieved a level of mastery. Granted I’m not even sure what that level is. I’ve never completed Bikram’s yoga in totality through a sequence. For six years I’ve worked and I still cannot hold all the balance poses, go deeper into some etc. It’s fine though, having heart and perseverance will beat out any in born skill over time. Tortoise and the hare.

Currently my level of mastery means I want an audience. I want people to listen. I wish for students to sit and ask questions, let me talk and converse with them on the state of our health care system. Yoga and bodywork are a solid foundation along with local food to base your health upon. There will always be more. Being an expert and developing mastery mean this, you’re painfully aware of the limitations of your knowledge. That is where I am. Painfully aware.

Neighbor as Self

/0 Comments/in /by

I watched and listened to this latest video and I’m glad I’ve chosen to shoot, edit and distribute content on my own. This freedom means I can discuss whatever I care to and whatever is on my mind at that present moment.

In this video I discuss yoga, some of its energetic underpinnings and also touch on how I came to the practice. Energy flow and a release of physical tension lead to a clearer sense of self and a calm nervous system allows us to listen to others easily. With this new found calm you can begin the process not only of sitting meditation but making life itself meditation.

When discussing yoga in a western culture there are many stumbling blocks. If someone tells me they are a Christian and therefore cannot do yoga my hackles raise. If God who created you wishes you to be in back pain, have poor health and the inability to use the temple he’s given you, then he’s simply not much of a heavenly father. Sounds more absentee to me.

That may be a harsh statement but consider that for ten years I look around and see suffering. Jesus came to remove suffering. Much like my teacher I’m here to help do the same. That’s why I teach yoga and practice Thai massage.

Where does yoga lead us?

/0 Comments/in /by

This is the first of what I consider a video dharma talk. Dharma is used in a specific context within buddhism and I use the term loosely. In all things take what makes sense to you and leave the rest behind. My purpose in posting the video is to bring more clarity to the spiritual component of hatha yoga and how a regular practice within this realm can change your life.

Hatha yoga practice leads to meditation. This is the entire purpose of a hatha yoga practice and what it’s designed to do. The vibrant health that comes from a practice hopefully allows someone to live a long full life where they can continue their meditation practice and spiritual pursuits. A balanced body leads to a balanced mind and then you tap of the door to the spirit. The integration of these parts of your being continues. Yoga means union.

I’d like to thank Erich Schiffmann for the added encouragement to post this video. The ease with which he complimented my videos as being heart felt made this a much easier process.

Feeling

/0 Comments/in /by

I found a book at the thrift store today that was about yoga. It caught my eye from the bin and realizing it contained American yoga teachers I flipped through its pages and decided to purchase it for the library.

Looking at the section on Erich Schiffmann it quoted Erich as saying that he only heard Krishnamacharya say three things. The one that caught me was, “yoga is not mechanical.” I’m unsure of the context or how the phrase passed Krishnamcharya’s lips but it struck me.

All during classes I’m talking students through the physical. Move your knee here, turn your arm this way, reach towards the mirror. They sweat, they struggle and often they laugh. In leading them through practice I’ve always told them it’s your yoga, not mine. I’m leading them through what I know of yoga asana. This physical manifestation is very mechanical. Iyengar was often criticized for this in his teaching of yoga but I find the paradox contained within yoga practice keeps me coming back for more.

An asana may be physical but it’s not mechanical. There are pieces and parts, anatomy moving here and there but in the end what do you feel? Done without feeling yoga is just exercise. Done with feeling yoga not only helps keep you in shape, it can teach you who you really are. It’s a path. The discovery of where it leads is the fun part, the journey.

Focusing on the anatomy of a yoga pose is a fun exercise for me. With an anatomy background I enjoy knowing what my body is doing in certain poses but it will never replace the feeling. In a deep forward bend where I feel calm and serene do I consider my hamstrings? Usually I’m just lost in some feeling, some sensation of what is going on. Merge. Breathe.

Excluding the feeling of a pose is a little like discussing love and explaining that dopamine and oxytocin are released and promote the sense of being in love. It can help explain the science and mechanics but does nothing to express the feeling of having your lover embraced in your arms.

Long term the practice gives you intuition. I stop thinking so much and start feeling to the point that of the available actions, I choose the one that suits the situation best. Improv as life. Do your yoga asana with feeling and the real yoga begins. I’ll see you soon in class.

Teaching

/0 Comments/in /by

Teaching yoga has gotten into my blood in the last 6 years or so. My classes are more Iyengar oriented than vinyasa flow but students are invited to open, express, explore and delve into poses while I correct alignment. When I have doubts, need more information or anatomy, I go look it up. If someone desires a teacher who knows it all, they’re out of luck. Even when I recently had a small injury to my knee I used it as an opportunity to look at knee anatomy and make sure my students are safe concerning what I teach.

I’ve taught mixed yoga classes, yoga classes to seniors, yoga classes in offices and yoga classes where I had to entertain a child running around during. Embracing the present moment is what yoga is all about. If you can’t throw yourself to the wolves and make it up, you’re not a very good teacher. Practice with all things.

My yoga will continue to grow. I’d like to work on the vinyasa and explore new poses to add to my sequences but overall I’ve grown comfortable teaching beginners, one day that may turn into teaching intermediate students.

Thai massage classes are another thing all together. The anatomy is the same but Thai massage classes are like teaching yoga to the 3rd power. You’ve still got many students but now you’ve got one student working on another and the first thing you learn is when giving instruction is to say, “You are the giver and you are the receiver.” The rest of the commands go from there, otherwise no one has a clue who’s moving and who’s relaxing.

My recent Thai massage class really made me feel like this is going to work. There are small things to improve but when therapists who’ve worked 20 years tell you this is the best CEU class they’ve taken, you’re onto something. The work is new to them, completely unhinged and out of left field. Massage therapists who work on a table, with naked clients and cream are told, “Get rid of your table, keep the clients clothed and lose the cream.” We change gears completely. Then on the second day I start to hear, “This doesn’t stress my hands as much. My shoulers are more relaxed.” I just smile.

This isn’t new. This work is 2500 years old and said to have been invented by the Buddha’s doctor. I’m just passing it along.

There’s an Austin Thai massage and therapeutics group on facebook and I’ve been asked on occasion to lead them. I relish any chance to talk about this work I’ve grown to love over the years. I find out what the students want to work on and off we go. I lead, talk, discuss, demonstrate and explore for two hours and I notice a familiar face. The students being worked on get this beatific expression. The muscles in their face grow slack and there’s a relaxed smile that reminds me of the smiling Buddha statues. This familiar expression is a person telling me unconsciously that they didn’t know life could be this easy, relaxed and effortless.

I just smile and keep sharing. Teaching gives me the opportunity to say things that even I find amazing afterwards. When I easily flow from a discussion about piriformis anatomy and function to Jesus walking on water I’m at home. The students feel the sincerity, they feel that it’s not about money, not about business or some scheme. Thai massage and the work I teach is about healing.

You want to learn? Come.