Esalen Massage is special.
For many it's a fun massage. For me, it's far more than that. After 35 years of trying to understand how the body (and person works, it's a chance for me to put that all behind me.
I first studied the physiology- the atomic and molecular interactions to understand how the body works. I wanted to know what makes us "tick", and more importantly, what we can do to achieve more and do better at what we love.
As an undergraduate I had the great opportunity to study under, and be mentored by, Dr Tim Lohman, one of the giants in the field of body compostion. After a year working and studying in his lab, I came to see that to change a person's body composition (ie fat loss) there was much more to understand and adjust than just "calories in, calories out".
Unlike emergency medicine, we had to work with not only the whole person, but something deeper. While many of my classmates went on to medical school or physical therapy school, I found that I wasn't drawn to that, there was something in the back of my head that wasn't satisfied.
Years later, without finding solutions I decided to start my application process to earn a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. At the same time a friend was attending the Boulder College of Massage Therapy and I was impressed with the quality of education she was learning and, more imporantly, I saw it as a way to fill in some of the gaps in my application to PT school.
At the Boulder College of Massage Therapy I got my arse kicked. I got my ego and 20 years of becoming well educated in how the bodyworks handed back to me. My ego said "I know how it works, and I love learning, so give me your best". Beck Stephens took me up on that offer. My ego at being able to learn and understand was strong. And I was forced to surrender that I knew how the person worked. Due to my trying to win an intellectual battle with a practitioner of 30 years, I found that my world expanded. Beck was able to teach me how to feel the meridians, even before we were taught them.
There were many more times in the next year when I had more and more opportunity to learn how ELSE the body works. I learned many ways to understand, many perspectives of how to solve the problems and pains of the body.
I learned to resolve and clear out the marks that trauma leaves in the body. I learned to hear with my hands. I learned to treat using only my hands.
However...
For many it's a fun massage. For me, it's far more than that. After 35 years of trying to understand how the body (and person works, it's a chance for me to put that all behind me.
I first studied the physiology- the atomic and molecular interactions to understand how the body works. I wanted to know what makes us "tick", and more importantly, what we can do to achieve more and do better at what we love.
As an undergraduate I had the great opportunity to study under, and be mentored by, Dr Tim Lohman, one of the giants in the field of body compostion. After a year working and studying in his lab, I came to see that to change a person's body composition (ie fat loss) there was much more to understand and adjust than just "calories in, calories out".
Unlike emergency medicine, we had to work with not only the whole person, but something deeper. While many of my classmates went on to medical school or physical therapy school, I found that I wasn't drawn to that, there was something in the back of my head that wasn't satisfied.
Years later, without finding solutions I decided to start my application process to earn a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. At the same time a friend was attending the Boulder College of Massage Therapy and I was impressed with the quality of education she was learning and, more imporantly, I saw it as a way to fill in some of the gaps in my application to PT school.
At the Boulder College of Massage Therapy I got my arse kicked. I got my ego and 20 years of becoming well educated in how the bodyworks handed back to me. My ego said "I know how it works, and I love learning, so give me your best". Beck Stephens took me up on that offer. My ego at being able to learn and understand was strong. And I was forced to surrender that I knew how the person worked. Due to my trying to win an intellectual battle with a practitioner of 30 years, I found that my world expanded. Beck was able to teach me how to feel the meridians, even before we were taught them.
There were many more times in the next year when I had more and more opportunity to learn how ELSE the body works. I learned many ways to understand, many perspectives of how to solve the problems and pains of the body.
I learned to resolve and clear out the marks that trauma leaves in the body. I learned to hear with my hands. I learned to treat using only my hands.
However...
