General Background
The meditative embodiment arts have been a core passion, inspiration & path of service since I was a teenager.
Partly inspired by being born 3 months premature with a congenital heart issue requiring my first open heart surgery within my first year of life. And a few more open heart surgeries since then.
Learning & applying ways of naturally supporting wellness & harmonious embodiment helps support quality of life & awareness.
In affirmation of this, since 1989 I have involved myself in formal & self-motivated learning & application of various massage & meditative embodiment wellness arts.
I began my lifelong journey of zhan zhuang and tai chi qigong in 1989.
And I completed and was certified from one of the first massage schools I studied at, in 2004.
Cumulatively I have at least several thousand hours of formal & self-motivated education & study in massage, anatomy & related meditative embodiment principles & processes.
I provide functionally therapeutic & relaxing massage sessions, & qigong lessons, as a supportive contribution for people to compliment fitness & related self-care wellness lifestyle choices.
Helping you be more comfortable & healthy in your body in order to enjoy life more fully.
My experience providing chair and table massages in varied locations & contexts since 2004, includes -
* High end spas.
* Chiropractic clinic.
* Physical therapy clinic.
* Tech companies.
* Various festivals, such as Earthdance, Harmony Festival, dance festivals and others.
* Farmers markets.
* Athletic events.
* Corporate massage companies.
* At various kinds of businesses.
* Onsite at homes.
* At my downtown San Rafael, California office.
* And others.
Massage Background.
In early 1990s I completed & was certified in Reiki 1 & 2.
And Pranic Healing in 2001.
In 2004 I first formalized my massage experience by becoming a certified massage therapist through LifeStream Massage School in Napa, Ca..
Training included Deep Tissue, Swedish, Reflexology, Anatomy, Chair Massage and other courses.
In 2005 I completed a Thai massage course at McKinnon Institute.
Between 2006 - 2009 I completed an additional 500+ hours of additional training at The Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, Ca.. Courses of study included Shiatsu, Anatomy & Histology, CranioSacral, Thai Massage, Lomi Lomi, Myofascial, Sports Massage, more Deep Tissue and other modalities. Although there were many classes in Acupressure at the Acupressure Institute, I focused more on taking sports, deep tissue, myofascial massage & anatomy courses.
I intended to complete an additional 300 hours at the Acupressure Institute as part of their 800 hour program I signed up for, but I moved out of state for a year and when I returned the school had changed ownership then closed.
Along with thousands of hours of additional, self-motivated study & experience in anatomy, massage principles & methods, fitness & meditative embodiment processes.
Completed & passed Emergency First Responder / Advanced First Aid course at College of Marin.
Blending deep tissue, myofascial, sports, pnf & swedish massage methods with a meditatively attentive, slow, nurturing quality, is the foundation of sessions I provide.
Supporting you in maintaining a healthy, fit body and an appreciative, honest way of being & relating. Exploring & enjoying the interrelationships of muscles, fascia, how to use your body efficiently while also helping resolve & prevent areas of excess stress, misalignment, injuries. Nourishing healthy, harmonious embodiment.
Currently I provide massage sessions as a wellness support for people at my San Rafael, California office.
And out-calls / on-site throughout the SF North Bay area at public & private events, businesses, parties, fitness & athletic events, homes, and many additional contexts & locations.
And Pranic Healing in 2001.
In 2004 I first formalized my massage experience by becoming a certified massage therapist through LifeStream Massage School in Napa, Ca..
Training included Deep Tissue, Swedish, Reflexology, Anatomy, Chair Massage and other courses.
In 2005 I completed a Thai massage course at McKinnon Institute.
Between 2006 - 2009 I completed an additional 500+ hours of additional training at The Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, Ca.. Courses of study included Shiatsu, Anatomy & Histology, CranioSacral, Thai Massage, Lomi Lomi, Myofascial, Sports Massage, more Deep Tissue and other modalities. Although there were many classes in Acupressure at the Acupressure Institute, I focused more on taking sports, deep tissue, myofascial massage & anatomy courses.
I intended to complete an additional 300 hours at the Acupressure Institute as part of their 800 hour program I signed up for, but I moved out of state for a year and when I returned the school had changed ownership then closed.
Along with thousands of hours of additional, self-motivated study & experience in anatomy, massage principles & methods, fitness & meditative embodiment processes.
Completed & passed Emergency First Responder / Advanced First Aid course at College of Marin.
Blending deep tissue, myofascial, sports, pnf & swedish massage methods with a meditatively attentive, slow, nurturing quality, is the foundation of sessions I provide.
Supporting you in maintaining a healthy, fit body and an appreciative, honest way of being & relating. Exploring & enjoying the interrelationships of muscles, fascia, how to use your body efficiently while also helping resolve & prevent areas of excess stress, misalignment, injuries. Nourishing healthy, harmonious embodiment.
Currently I provide massage sessions as a wellness support for people at my San Rafael, California office.
And out-calls / on-site throughout the SF North Bay area at public & private events, businesses, parties, fitness & athletic events, homes, and many additional contexts & locations.
Meditative Embodiment Background.
I began practicing foundational martial arts & meditation as a teenager in 1987. In 1989 I began Tai Chi, Qigong, Zhan Zhuang, Baguazhang & Wing Chun practice with Sifu David Leung in Eugene, Oregon. Eventually focusing on Tai Chi & Zhan Zhuang qigong ( and some baguazhang ) as my main practices.
From 1998 - 2001 in Eugene, Oregon, I taught Tai Chi Qigong and Zhan Zhuang classes to the public.
In 2002 I moved to the San Francisco Bay area, and continued my learning & practice independently, and by attending Yiquan, Zhan Zhuang & Tai Chi Qigong classes taught by Fong Ha in Berkeley, Ca from 2004 to around 2013. Along with teaching my own classes at community centers and at a park.
At a Bodyworlds exhibit at The Tech science center in San Jose, California.
Bodyworlds is a collection of real human bodies which have been preserved using a method called plastination.
This provides a uniquely detailed, authentic presentation of human anatomy.
Bodyworlds is a collection of real human bodies which have been preserved using a method called plastination.
This provides a uniquely detailed, authentic presentation of human anatomy.
Two qualities, two choices of attitudes & behaviors are, in my opinion, most important to living a quality, healthy life. Additional to being physically healthy - fit, honesty and appreciation are essential.
True honesty with self, people we relate with & generally, requires & deepens integrity and trustworthiness.
And is, unfortunately, not as common in many people and society as some might idealize and would make life more harmonious.
Some people of both genders choose to misleadingly lie passive aggressively and / or directly to themselves and other people. About reality, about their true beliefs, expectations, boundaries and assumptions, their attitudes and behaviors and other facets of life. Whether to intentionally present a false image to others in attempt to gain something they may not if their true self and behaviors were known. Or to lie & pretend the limits of their personal understanding, familiarity, comfort, preferences are the limits of everyone else's & what is good, and to attempt to bully others into submission to their personal beliefs.
To try to avoid equality of admission, responsibility & accountability for their negatively projecting assumptions, attitudes, behaviors & effects of them.
To steal.
To pretend to themselves ( or others ) they are "victims" & that their negative projecting interpretations are the only possible interpretation and intention. For social status. Out of vindictiveness or other unhealthy motivations.
During the over 2 decades so far I have attended multiple massage schools & have been meeting & giving massage sessions for thousands of individuals, I have learned through experience how diversely people of both genders choose to view & feel about, be comfortable with and prefer their human body in massage context. Including areas of their body they want avoided & included and undraped or draped, depths and qualities of massage touch, amount of talking and music or silence during sessions, etc..
One example includes some people I've given sessions for prefer to talk a lot during sessions. And many, most, people I give massages for prefer minimal talking during their massage sessions so they can quiet their mind and relax more deeply.
Another example is depth and pace of touch. Some people prefer relatively lighter, flowing quality of touch. While others prefer blending some light pressure while also including stronger, deeper slow focused touch.
Another example includes the fact that several women who taught massage classes I took at a couple massage schools, expressed respecting the value of including abdominal & breast massage for women as part of sessions. Initially I was unfamiliar with that. But since then I experience many women indirectly or directly expressing openness & even appreciative preference for such inclusion during their massages.
For reasons including supporting healthy lymph flow, releasing & relaxing chest muscles & fascia, and the calm, non-shaming nurturing it provides.
From this I learned to recognize & respect that the limits of the assumptions & familiarity I originally had about this and other things, are not the limits of what naturally exists among people, is equally valid, comfortable & preferred by many people.
Another example of this is when a woman who works as a personal trainer, came to me for her first massage from me, and about half way through her massage she spoke up and said the reason she wasnt stating a boundary when she was supine ( face up on the massage table ) and I was massaging just the upper part of her shoulders and pectorals was because she is totally comfortable and prefers I include her chest, breasts and abdomen as part of her massage. At the end of her session she thanked me for being very respectful, safe and giving a wonderful massage.
Then the very next day another new client arrived for a session with me, and before we even began her massage I mentioned as I always do, one of my boundaries includes that she ( whoever receives massage sessions from me ) simply own her equal responsibility for knowing & mutually respectfully directly honestly verbally telling me any boundary and preference she has before and during her session for mutual clarity.
So I can know and respect such for mutual comfort. Since individuals have diverse interpretations, boundaries, preferences, comfort levels and I am not a mind-reader of course.
She unfortunately chose to not own her responsibility for her own negative misinterpretations and feelings, and told me she shouldn't have to tell me because I should just know. She instead chose to feel offended and blame me for my being honest about the fact that while her boundaries and preferences are equally valid and I would respect them if she simply honestly tells me in a mutually respectful, direct way, I am not a mind-reader and there are many other women & men with equally valid, different interpretations, boundaries, comfort, preferences and what they view as natural, healthy and respectful.
While I am generally currently not personally comfortable talking a lot, or giving full breast massage inclusively for people outside of a more personal close & lasting relationship with someone specific, and have additional personal preferences & boundaries, I still have the maturity & honesty to respect that the limits of my own & others personal familiarity, preferences, boundaries and comfort are not the limits of what exist, is good, appropriate and healthy.
As long as we own our equal responsibility to honestly communicate our boundaries with whoever we relate with in any way and once done & understood such is respected, this allows for mutually respectful, harmonious understanding, relating & sessions.
Being truly honest with ourself and each other is necessary to develop, live and relate with genuine integrity, maturity, clarity, trustworthiness and love.
Being honest requires a willingness & choice to actively turn our attention to our beliefs, assumptions and related feelings and behaviors, to inspect them without confirmation-bias, and to transform those which are 1 sided, which deny facts and are hypocritical, divisive and dishonest. To instead choose a more authentic, inquisitive way of being and relating.
Combining this with mindful appreciation for even the seemingly mundane aspects of existence and relating, is a powerhouse for enriching the quality, integrity and beauty of our character. Our mind & heart.
True honesty with self, people we relate with & generally, requires & deepens integrity and trustworthiness.
And is, unfortunately, not as common in many people and society as some might idealize and would make life more harmonious.
Some people of both genders choose to misleadingly lie passive aggressively and / or directly to themselves and other people. About reality, about their true beliefs, expectations, boundaries and assumptions, their attitudes and behaviors and other facets of life. Whether to intentionally present a false image to others in attempt to gain something they may not if their true self and behaviors were known. Or to lie & pretend the limits of their personal understanding, familiarity, comfort, preferences are the limits of everyone else's & what is good, and to attempt to bully others into submission to their personal beliefs.
To try to avoid equality of admission, responsibility & accountability for their negatively projecting assumptions, attitudes, behaviors & effects of them.
To steal.
To pretend to themselves ( or others ) they are "victims" & that their negative projecting interpretations are the only possible interpretation and intention. For social status. Out of vindictiveness or other unhealthy motivations.
During the over 2 decades so far I have attended multiple massage schools & have been meeting & giving massage sessions for thousands of individuals, I have learned through experience how diversely people of both genders choose to view & feel about, be comfortable with and prefer their human body in massage context. Including areas of their body they want avoided & included and undraped or draped, depths and qualities of massage touch, amount of talking and music or silence during sessions, etc..
One example includes some people I've given sessions for prefer to talk a lot during sessions. And many, most, people I give massages for prefer minimal talking during their massage sessions so they can quiet their mind and relax more deeply.
Another example is depth and pace of touch. Some people prefer relatively lighter, flowing quality of touch. While others prefer blending some light pressure while also including stronger, deeper slow focused touch.
Another example includes the fact that several women who taught massage classes I took at a couple massage schools, expressed respecting the value of including abdominal & breast massage for women as part of sessions. Initially I was unfamiliar with that. But since then I experience many women indirectly or directly expressing openness & even appreciative preference for such inclusion during their massages.
For reasons including supporting healthy lymph flow, releasing & relaxing chest muscles & fascia, and the calm, non-shaming nurturing it provides.
From this I learned to recognize & respect that the limits of the assumptions & familiarity I originally had about this and other things, are not the limits of what naturally exists among people, is equally valid, comfortable & preferred by many people.
Another example of this is when a woman who works as a personal trainer, came to me for her first massage from me, and about half way through her massage she spoke up and said the reason she wasnt stating a boundary when she was supine ( face up on the massage table ) and I was massaging just the upper part of her shoulders and pectorals was because she is totally comfortable and prefers I include her chest, breasts and abdomen as part of her massage. At the end of her session she thanked me for being very respectful, safe and giving a wonderful massage.
Then the very next day another new client arrived for a session with me, and before we even began her massage I mentioned as I always do, one of my boundaries includes that she ( whoever receives massage sessions from me ) simply own her equal responsibility for knowing & mutually respectfully directly honestly verbally telling me any boundary and preference she has before and during her session for mutual clarity.
So I can know and respect such for mutual comfort. Since individuals have diverse interpretations, boundaries, preferences, comfort levels and I am not a mind-reader of course.
She unfortunately chose to not own her responsibility for her own negative misinterpretations and feelings, and told me she shouldn't have to tell me because I should just know. She instead chose to feel offended and blame me for my being honest about the fact that while her boundaries and preferences are equally valid and I would respect them if she simply honestly tells me in a mutually respectful, direct way, I am not a mind-reader and there are many other women & men with equally valid, different interpretations, boundaries, comfort, preferences and what they view as natural, healthy and respectful.
While I am generally currently not personally comfortable talking a lot, or giving full breast massage inclusively for people outside of a more personal close & lasting relationship with someone specific, and have additional personal preferences & boundaries, I still have the maturity & honesty to respect that the limits of my own & others personal familiarity, preferences, boundaries and comfort are not the limits of what exist, is good, appropriate and healthy.
As long as we own our equal responsibility to honestly communicate our boundaries with whoever we relate with in any way and once done & understood such is respected, this allows for mutually respectful, harmonious understanding, relating & sessions.
Being truly honest with ourself and each other is necessary to develop, live and relate with genuine integrity, maturity, clarity, trustworthiness and love.
Being honest requires a willingness & choice to actively turn our attention to our beliefs, assumptions and related feelings and behaviors, to inspect them without confirmation-bias, and to transform those which are 1 sided, which deny facts and are hypocritical, divisive and dishonest. To instead choose a more authentic, inquisitive way of being and relating.
Combining this with mindful appreciation for even the seemingly mundane aspects of existence and relating, is a powerhouse for enriching the quality, integrity and beauty of our character. Our mind & heart.
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