I Love Learning/Recent Workshop in The Auth Method

I love learning.  With the exception of some time during middle and high school, I loved school.  I read a lot, studied a lot, asked my teachers lots of questions, and had interesting discussions about many topics with my friends and parents outside of school as well.  I chose an alternative college (Fairhaven, at WWU–http://www.wwu.edu/fairhaven/about/) which is really based on independent learning, and loved it.  I think everyone starts out loving learning, but society can discourage our natural curiosity if we’re not careful.  Actually, I think we better work on this, and fast.  We need people who can think for themselves, to figure out how to solve some of these messes like the oil spill—or better yet, PREVENT THEM!  Anyway…

After Fairhaven, I went to massage school and loved that (although working f/t and going to school was tough!).  I have continued to follow my interests and read, research, and explore.  The internet has made this so easy, too—I’ve participated in several discussion forums and online communities.  It is just so fun to keep growing.

Last weekend, I took a class in a style of massage called “The Auth Method,” developed by Shari Auth (http://www.shariauth.com/continuingEd.html).  She teaches using the forearms as tools.  This should be taught in all massage schools!  It can be used to do lighter, more circulatory work, but we focused a lot on strokes for deep tissue work.  She introduced us to some tai chi stances and ways to use our bodyweight for leverage, so we can be very relaxed, but still go as deep as we need to.  Being relaxed as a practitioner allows our clients to relax more, as well.  The forearm is also broader than using a hand or fingers, which is satisfying for the receiver, in that it provides more contact.  I highly recommend any massage therapist check out these techniques, and if you’re in NYC, see if you can get a session with Shari!

There are so many other classes I want to take this summer, but getting in lots of Vitamin D while we can here in Seattle is top priority, so we’ll see…!