In the Spanish Inquisition section of the Medieval Torture Museum in Amsterdam, among such pain tools as the Rack, the Pear of Anguish and assorted thumbscrews, there is this little doozy, used to crush wrists of heretics and others holding politically incorrect views....

Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch lived 500 years ago, but like all real art, his paintings carry their meaning through the passage of time. In this one “The Magician”, the life scene in a medieval city can be readily recognized and appreciated by us even today.

The centra...

“If you can’t help others, at least don’t hurt them” said Dalai Lama. As massage therapists, we do both, and there is a fair measure of disagreement among us about inflicting pain on our clients.

What follows is my take on this subject, which might differ from the views...

The title, of course, is a reference to the Latin saying “O tempora O mores” (Oh the times! Oh the morals!), used by the Roman orator Cicero, as he proclaimed his disdain for the morals of the day. Tempora means “time” in Latin, and Temporal bones (one on each sid...

With an apology to the Beatles I am starting this blog post with a line from their lyrics: “… you can start to make it better”. I’ve always suspected that “Hey Jude” was written with massage therapy in mind. With words like “any time you feel the pain”, or “the movemen...

In the March 2019 blog post “Go With the Flow” I went through some general effects of Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD). Here let's get more specific and talk about the benefits of MLD for expectant mothers and their babies.

* Calming Effect.  Pregnancy causes profound ch...

As a soft tissue therapist, I get to work on clients' scars, some superficial on the skin, others internal from the muscle or connective tissue injuries. You might remember my earlier blog post "A Scar is Born". Here is more on the subject.

The forecast says it is going...

If you read my blog, you might remember the "Out on a Lymph" post from March 18, 2018. Here is more about lymph drainage: 

Lymphatic system is like a sanitation department of your body. It cleanses tissues of metabolic waste, excess water, bacteria and toxins. It also s...

Here is a new word for you: “Pandiculation”. It has no connection to panda bears, but comes from the Latin “pandiculari” – to stretch oneself. Pandiculation means stretching one’s body after sleep. You may have not known the word, but you know the concept and have been...

Look at this bear high up in a tree, taking a break from the stresses of daily life, so peaceful and deep in thought. What the poor animal doesn’t realize is that he is about to get a heck of a pain in his sit bones.

The “sit bones”, or “sitz”, is a common name of bony...