How's The Pressure?

This week I stop in with Laureen and Bryn, who are the owners of the Ashland Institute of Massage, which is a small massage school in southern Oregon. We cover a number of subjects, but the idea in this podcast was to get a peak behind the curtain of what it takes to run a small massage school. Many of us have experience of massage school from the consumer side, but I think its always useful to get a perspective from the other side of the experience. We also talk about what it is like to be a small massage school in an environment that seems to be trending towards bigger schools. At the end we share some powerful stories of failure.

This week I talk with Corey Costanzo about working with trauma. We cover a lot of ground, from what brought him to focus on clients with trauma, to specific techniques he uses to help his clients transform anxiety. As usual, I ask my question about failure, and we talk about some of his successes as well.

This week I drop in with Marty Morales, a practitioner of Structural Integration, and the founder of The Morales Method. There are two main topics in this conversation, the first being the history and current orientation of Structural Integration. In particular we talk about how it started, and then the various schools of SI that branched from the original concept. Secondly we talk about the process of building, branding, and implementing a unique form of bodywork. For anyone who has thought about branding their own form of bodywork, this is an episode not to miss.

This episode I talk with James Earls about his work with with Anatomy Trains, and what brought him to eventually write the book titled "Born to Walk". James has a fascinating story about how he initially got into bodywork, and the path of finding teachers that helped complete his understanding of how the body works. The emphasis of this conversation is around the intersection of functional movement and bodywork. However, we do dive into a number of sub topics, from the way in which we learn anatomy, to the importance of owning the quality of your sessions.

This week I drop in with Til Luchau again. We talk about a number of subjects, including one of his new projects as well as how we can better show up for our clients. I pose a question to him that I received from one of my colleagues, and I ask him a few questions to try and find out some of the tips and tricks he uses to be one of the most important leaders in our field today. All this and more from my second interview with Til Luchau.

This week I bring Robyn Scherr back onto the podcast. Previously we had discussed how failure is a vital part of becoming and staying a successful therapist. This time we talk about business, as Robyn is a very successful therapist in her own right. She has run workshops on this very topic, and I wanted a chance to ask some questions about what she has done to be as financially successful as she has. What mind set, habits, and values are integral to her achievements? And conversely I also get to ask where she sees massage therapists making mistakes. All this and a little bit more, in my second conversation with Robyn Scherr.

This week I discuss scar tissue with Marjorie Brook. I get to ask some basic questions that I have always wondered about, like can you actually break up scar tissue? But the conversation goes much deeper than that, as we talk about the emotional and psychological considerations that therapists need to have in mind when addressing this type of work. There are extensive notes from this conversation, so instead of putting them here, you can find them at www.howsthepressure.com, under a newly created tab called "resources". I have placed a PDF of some of Marjorie's information and answers there as well as some other links from previous episodes.

Marjorie Brook and I discuss working with scar tissue.

This week I talk with Robyn Scherr about Failure. We all don't want to talk about it, but it is one of the most potent lessons for growth and learning that we have. So how can we change our relationship with failure from one of fear to one of possibility? We get into specific stories of failure, and I ask some questions that are hard to ask. Like "have you ever hurt someone on your table". All this and more from the first episode of 2018.

This week I talk with Captain and Frey. They are practitioners of sexological bodywork, which is a modality that helps people get educated about their own body, how to experience arousal, and how to connect with pleasure. This was an edgy interview for me to conduct, because in general the massage community is pretty allergic to anything that even approaches working with sexuality. That reaction is of course due to the massage parlors that are fronts for prostitution and sex trafficking. While that is understandable, it is important for us to recognize what responsible and professionals with integrity, like Captain and Frey, have to offer. How what they do can pick up where we step back. How in fact we can be better able to help people with what we know, and where to send them for help.