Yin & Yang

YIN & YAN (yang)
This Symbol of Yin-Yan represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents “everything”, while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called “yin” (black) and “yan” (white), which cause everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other.

While yin energy is dark, passive, downward, cold, contracting, and weak, yan energy is bright, active, upward, hot, expanding, and strong. The shape of the yin and yang sections of the symbol, actually gives you a sense of the continual movement of these two energies, yin to yan and yan to yin, causing everything to happen.
If Yan is overly powerful, then Yin may be too weak. If Yin is particularly strong, then Yan is weak.
Yin is more a more feminine, receptive, nourishing and relaxing energy while Yang is a more masculine, active, outgoing, consuming energy. If masculinity’s yang force is overwhelming, then there will be excessive heat. If the femininity force of yin is overwhelming, then there will be excessive cold.
When numbering the tsubo points, the Yin meridians move up the body, whereas the Yan meridians move down the body. Remember body position of Eastern Anatomical Position when figuring these directions out.
Chinese medicine does not cure diseases, but rather, prevents It. This reinforces the idea of self care of one’s own KI. Self awareness for optimum health is one of the main elements in Asian bodywork systems.

Jack Kerouac To Live Fully Is Madness

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live,
mad to talk, mad to be saved…the ones who never yawn or say a
commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman
candles exploding like spiders across the stars.

Cranial Sacral

Describing what a craniosacral therapy session feels like is not easy. A recent client of mine said, “It feels like being in the womb of the world!” Words like “peaceful, relaxed, balanced, centered, free, calm” are often used to describe the experience of a session.

You might think of receiving craniosacral work for numerous types of symptoms or conditions. Headaches, low back pain, symptoms from injuries, recovery from surgeries, nervous system disorders, brain injuries, spinal injuries, muscular-skeletal issues, tension, stress of all kinds, integration of emotional and spiritual issues, hiatal hernias, immune system issues, and more. This modality treats the whole person, so it seems almost limitless as to what might be addressed.

Craniosacral therapy originates in the western medicine practice of osteopathy. It is a profoundly relaxing and gentle modality that promotes healing on a deep level. The focus of the practitioner is mainly on the subtle movement and slower rhythms of the fluid continuum that is present in the body.

This work began with an osteopathic doctor named William Sutherland. As a student of Franklyn Taylor Stills in Kirksville, Ill., around the turn of the 20th century, he began exploring the possibility and significance of a type of motion occurring between the sutures of the cranial bones. He began experimenting on his own cranium, applying devices that restricted movement of some areas of the skull, while freeing up or amplifying movement in other areas. He observed how these restrictions caused imbalances in other systems of the body, including mental and emotional.

These experiments revealed a relationship between the free-flowing subtle movements of the cranium and the health of the whole person. The results led Sutherland to a mechanical view of the relationship of the cranial bones to each other, almost like a system of pulleys and levers, with the spheno-basilar joint in the center of the head being the focal point of this movement. He also observed a relationship between the sacrum and the cranium through the involuntary movement of the spinal dura. He hypothesized that these movements might be caused by the motion of the cerebral spinal fluid around the brain and spinal cord.

Sutherland began working on patients to restore balance to this system or mechanism, and he taught this system to other osteopaths. It took many years of success with his patients and much lecturing and teaching before it became accepted in the osteopathic community that the cranial bones did have motion and that cranial osteopathy was an effective healing modality.

Dr Sutherland became deeply interested in what was the driving force behind this motion. He observed a type of respiration of the whole body, or the fluid body, that is separate from lung breathing. He called this motion Primary Respiration. This is the kind of breathing we were doing inside our mothers’ wombs. As his work deepened and matured in his later life (mid 1940s), he began to discover that the more he got out of the way and observed this process of Primary Respiration, the better the results for his patients. He observed the presence of very slow movements that he called Tides, which seemed to move through the body at various rates. He also observed stillnesses in which it seemed that the system was able to come to a deep rest and get recharged or reorganized. He observed that sessions in which these deep states of rest and stillness occurred resulted in his patients being able to change long-held patterns of imbalances in the body and mind. He began to develop and teach this very gentle method of the work in his later years. The continuation and evolution of this phase of his work is what is now known as the biodynamic approach to craniosacral therapy.

Today, this work is done by some osteopaths and has been embraced by many massage therapists as well, thanks to Dr John Upledger, who was the first person to present and teach this work on a wide scale to non-osteopaths. Today, many different schools offer craniosacral therapy, some with a more bio-mechanical point of view (Upledger), some with a pure biodynamic approach (Charles Ridley, Franklyn Sills, Micheal Shea), and some with a combination of both (the Milne Institute offers both biomechanical and biodynamic perspectives, as well as explorations of shamanic practices).

Craniosacral therapy is gentle and safe for all ages from newborn to the elderly. Heidi Wilson offers classes through ASIS Massage Education in Clarkdale. For more information, visit www.asismassage.com

Zen Shiatsu

Zen Shiatsu, also known as Masunaga Therapy, is a form of Meridian Shiatsu. A difference between Masunaga’s Zen Shiatsu and earlier forms of Shiatsu is that Zen Shiatsu uses not only thumbs and palms but also fists, elbows, and knees. Zen Shiatsu represents a return of the values of Traditional Chinese medicine, in comparison with anatomy based Shiatsu, or Tsubo Shiatsu. Masunaga advocated treating the whole meridian system through pressure and stretching to achieve systemic change for the entire body, mind & spirit.
The meridian system represents the meeting place of tsubos of the human body. It also represents divisions of the complete function of the human organism into discrete spheres of influence. Tsubos are pressure points or openings on the channels where chi (energy) gathers and can become blocked. In acupuncture, needles are used to stimulate these points. With Shiatsu you use your fingers, hands, elbows, forearms and feet.
In addition to the technique, a primary precept of Zen Shiatsu is the importance of remaining in a Zen-like, present centered state when practicing shiatsu. While either nourishing weak (kyo) areas and / or dispersing excess (jitsu) areas; using two-handed technique to better feel the flow of chi (life force). This present centered work is anchored from working from the hara (belly), which is the body’s energy center. In Shiatsu, it is not uncommon to incorporate various Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnostic techniques such as pulse rates, smells, and tongue qualities.

SHIATSU

SHIATSU
Shiatsu comes from the Japanese language: shi, meaning finger, and atsu, meaning pressure. Finger Pressure is a traditional Japanese therapy based on anatomical and physiological theory. It is regulated as a licensed medical therapy with the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Japan. Shiatsu is an ever evolving modality. Various styles of so called Derivative Shiatsu, incorporate aspects of Japanese massage traditions, Chinese Medicine practice, and “Western” anatomy and physiology. The term shiatsu was first cited in 1915, in Tenpaku Tamai’s Shiatsu Ryoho.

Tokujiro Namikoshi systemized the form of shiatsu therapy we know today, which is based on Western anatomy and physiology.
The western world was first introduced to the work by Masunaga’s book, called Zen Shiatsu. Then popularity increased when Wataru Ohashi developed a style called Ohashiatsu, and brought it to America.

Living Gently

We at ASIS hope that we can all meet each other in the same
compassionate way that we meet our client and their tissue. If there is
ever an dissatisfaction within the teaching staff or directed towards the
administration, we hope that you can approach the person you have issue
with.
When issues fester or poor feelings are aloud to continue with in a
group, it usually ends up affecting the system as a whole.
Part of the ASIS philosophy includes the idea that we are all
participating through our small actions in the larger world’s problems or
solutions, depending on what we are doing. When I have a problem with a
peer, colleague, friend, family member, etc, and I choose to talk about
them in a negative way to a third party, I am triangulating. Usually,
whether I like to admit it or not, I want that third party to take sides with
me, thereby excluding and even condemning the person I’m in conflict
with. We all know what it feels like to be excluded and or condemned.
The next thing I know, I know have conflict and WAR.
So what about diplomacy? What about the idea that if I’m having a
difficulty with a person ( or with my work system), I talk directly to them.
Or, if that’s too scary, I ask someone in the spirit of peacefulness, to
mediate, or help me find the courage and skill to communicate how I am
feeling, and how this other person effects me. I call this world peace
work. We need to stop making others evil and wrong, as we try to
navigate our own lives. The way I see it, we’re all just trying to keep our
heads above water, and a big dose of honesty, compassion, and tolerence
is good medicine for all involved.
Like children, students learn more from what is exemplified than from
what is said. So we can talk peace all we want, but if we are not actually
participating in peace, what we are modeling is not then congruent with
the mission of this massage school.

Peace to us all.

4 Aspects present in all successful therapy

1) Therapist’s local is designated as place of healing.
-The setting arouses client’s expectation of health/ help
-Setting acts as temporary refuge from client’s daily life
- Is sanctioned by the society it’s in
- In the home, setting becomes healing space by some ritual
-Such as a settling is sharply distinguished from the client’s normal
surroundings
-The client is protected and contained by the setting
(Containment= space where client feels she can go anywhere they
need to-safe)

Important shared aspects of there space
-Cleanliness/ hygiene
- Therapist’s presence
-Location
-Outside environment (street, airport, noise)
-Sensory – lighting, sound, music, smell, temperature,
decorations
-Therapist’s dress
-Size of room
-Or none of the above-
-Serving (tea, h20, etc)
-Displaying degrees/diplomas

2) A particular type of relationship exists between client and therapist
-Essential ingredient is client belief in therapist’s competency and
desire to be of help. There genuinely cares
-Therapist believes client can Master their problem, validating
client.
- Client senses they are accepted and understood-potentially
enhances morale

3) All therapies are based on a rationale or myth, which includes a
explanation of illness and health, i.e. deviance and normality.
-The rationale must imply an optimistic outlook/ outcome

-Each school of therapy gives cause of distress, goals for
improvement
- Therapeutic myth must be compatible w/ client and therapist
worldview
- Rationale allows client to make sense of their symptoms, gives
empowerment

4) The procedure used by the therapist demands some effort or sacrifice
on the client’s part
-Provides sense of mastery to the client, allows client to marshal
his/her own resources. Active participation
-Allows client to value the therapy
-Active participation serves as vehicle, encourages and maintains
healing relationship between therapist and client
-Enhances therapist and self confidence
Caution: competences vs. power/ ego

Enter the therapy with interest, attention, and heart

THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM

The lymphatic system in vertebrates is a network of conduits that carry a clear fluid called lymph. It also includes the lymphoid tissue through which the lymph travels. Lymphoid tissue is found in many organs, particularly the lymph nodes, and in the lymphoid follicles associated with the digestive system such as the tonsils. The system also includes all the structures dedicated to the circulation and production of lymphocytes, which includes the spleen, thymus, bone marrow and the lymphoid tissue associated with the digestive system. The lymphatic system as we know it today was first described independently by Olaus Rudbeck and Thomas Bartholin. However, Hippocrates was the first person to mention the lymphatic system in fifth century BC. Rufus of Ephesus, a Roman physician, identified the axillary, inguinal and mesenteric lymph nodes as well as the thymus during the first to second century AD
The dissolved constituents of the blood do not directly come in contact with the cells and tissues in the body, but first enter the interstitial fluid, and then the cells of the body. Lymph is the clear, protein rich fluid that is formed when interstitial fluid enters the conduits of the lymphatic system. The lymph is not pumped through the body like blood, but is moved mostly by the contractions of skeletal muscles.
The lymphatic system has three interrelated functions.
1)   It is responsible for the removal of interstitial fluid from tissues.
2)   It absorbs and transports fatty acids and fats as chyle to the circulatory system.
3)   The transport of antigen presenting cells (APCs), such as dendritic cells, to the lymph nodes where an immune response is stimulated.
The study of lymphatic drainage of various organs is important in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer. The lymphatic system, because of its physical proximity to many tissues of the body, is responsible for carrying cancerous cells between the various parts of the body in a process called metastasis. The intervening lymph nodes can trap the cancer cells. If they are not successful in destroying the cancer cells the nodes may become sites of secondary tumors.
Diseases and other problems of the lymphatic system can cause swelling and other symptoms. Problems with the system can impair the body’s ability to fight infections.
In the early 1930’s, Danish physiotherapists Emil and Astid Vodder developed their system of Manual Lymphatic Drainage, which has become the basis for most Lymphatic Drainage massage techniques used today. In the 1970’s, Hungarian physicians Michael & Ethel Foldi combined Vodder’s MLD with a variety of other massage, exercise and hydrotherapies into a comprehensive treatment for Lymphedema. This is called Complete Decongestive Therapy.

Rumi Poems

I have lived on the lip of insanity
Wanting to know reasons
Knocking on a door, it opens
I have been knocking from the inside!

Nutrition

In the unforgettable words of Jack LaLanne, “. . . exercise is the king and nutrition is the queen.” He nailed that comparison. In life, as in the game of chess, Regina is much more influential than Rex.
Nutrition can compensate for sloth much better than exercise can overcome bad food. In today’s world, how much of which foods you put in your mouth determines roughly 60% of your level of health. Even the American Medical Association estimates that two of every three deaths in this country are essentially self-inflicted, i.e. “the direct result of lifestyle choices.”
In these days of declining life spans – sure, infant mortality rates are way down but adult mortality rates are worsening – it’s hard to stay optimistic about our species. At the same time that research is revealing more about which foods really nourish us, our tastebuds are busy leading us farther astray. Since the end of the 19th century, health-nuts have been warning us that we are “digging our graves with our forks.” Why do we act this way?
Through countless generations, human beings became physically adapted to unpredictable, even intermittent, food supplies. Long before our ancestors learned to store excess food in granaries, icy caves or airtight containers, their bodies learned to store excess food as energy (body fat). Without that layer of protection, they would not have survived long winters or bad times, and we would not be here now.
In effect, our bodies are programmed to store fat as quickly as possible. Every day, as we consume more than we burn by moving, we get bigger. That’s the way we’re built.
Now that we are faced with a mind-boggling variety and availability of goodies, from complete junk to superfood concentrates, even adults act like Pinocchio’s friend Lampwick on Pleasure Island. This “problem” of abundance is aggravated by the fact that our guts, including every one of our digestive organs, are not yet adapted to modern foods or to modern cooking.
While the most dangerous cooking techniques (microwaving, frying, baking) clearly wreak havoc on our bodies, they are just the tip of a threatening iceberg. Problems such as soil depletion, soil distortion, pesticide and insecticide contamination, loss of vital factors over time and in processing, and intentional adulteration grow larger with every passing day.

What can an intelligent eater do? Consider the following observations.

1. Good digestion is the key to lasting health. Cultured and fermented foods are crucial for this.

2. Synthetic vitamin supplements can very easily upset normal, healthy metabolic processes
(including digestion).

3. Human beings digest proteins from animal foods better than proteins from plant foods.

4. Bone strength and kidney health both suffer as protein intake drops.

5. Most people are not physically equipped to be strict vegetarians. Our ancestors were highly
carnivorous and plants do not supply all the nutrients our bodies require.

6. Food cooked right is healthier than most raw foods. [Up to the boiling point is fine.]

7. Most overheated food is worse than indigestible; it is toxic and/or carcinogenic.

8. “Organic” foods are not just less contaminated than commercial foods, they have more
nutritional value and more flavor.

9. Cholesterol in unprocessed food is less dangerous than the chemicals and rancid fats
in packaged food.

10. For the entire world population, the most widespread food intolerances (aka “allergies”) are
to cereal grains.
John Ogle has owned health food stores, taught nutrition, and health, and currently teaches anatomy and physiology at ASIS Massage Education in Prescott. He resides in Northern Arizona. For more information about ASIS Massage, go to www.asismassage.com