Phew! The past few months have been on overdrive for myself and my husband. I skipped my e-news in April because my life was such that I wanted to hide under a rock, fetal position. I'm sure you've all been there before!

Looking at my March enews, I was riding high on my meditation practice. I was diligent with it--every morning- -and I was writing as well. My verb tense is key here. "Was". Yes indeedie--it went OUT THE WINDOW with the chaos of March and April.

In deciding what I should write for this e-news, I was pondering if I should expose my faulty, meditation practice. "Practice what ya preach, Sistah!" Right? Well, I decided it's best to show the humility and the reality. I know that my clients and students look to me for advice--stretches, exercises, pain reduction, but they also look to me to help guide them into a slower pace of life--a nurturing, oceanic rhythm that they don't receive from the huss & buss of life.

Ironically, though, this "stepping off the bandwagon" has made me feel closer to my clients and students--we have more compassion, "metta", for others when we begin to realize that we all walk in similar shoes. Sure, I know this, but the past few months have REALLY made me relax from certain, boxed ways of thinking.

Yes, we all have boxed ways of thinking, whether we meditate and chant daily or not. Even being attached to a daily practice of meditation can become a box--a need. I sometimes find myself obsessive compulsive about my schedule and regime--if I don't do XYZ for the day, then I feel a bit unsettled. I see those XYZs as curious attachments.

Various religions/cultures describe attachments as different things--monkey mind, material possessions, relationships, ego, labeling, religion itself--they aren't necessarily "bad" but something we need to move away from to be in a peaceful place. Think of it simply as things we need to LET GO OF to be more relaxed.

I've definitely been FORCED in the past few months to let go of several things--in regards to meditation, it was more a letting go of the way I perceived meditation. It is difficult for all of us to meditate when our brains are bursting at the seams with stress and chaos--it's easy to do it during the calm times. It also doesn't really matter HOW you do it or WHAT it looks like, I've realized. There were times that all I could muster were a few, insanely, deep, glorious breaths--and I really believe that those breaths held the power of a longer meditation.

So the meditation tools I gave in March are helpful to get you started but please realize, like I did, that sometimes all you can do is take some victorious breaths--and have compassion that you have done your best.

Always Namaste-ing, Hillary

Advanced Thai Massage Pressure Point Therapy

This is a wonderful class for the serious student seeking to take their Thai massage practice to a deeper level. Suitable for Thai therapists trained in any of the major styles, who have completed the Front/Side/Back/Sitting Positions and can comfortably perform a 90-minute traditional, floor session.

In this class, dive deeper into Thai acupressure techniques intended to relieve specific types of pain. We will focus on acute Back Pain for this 2-day workshop. You will learn a traditional, effective, intense 90-minute session protocol for treating back pain, including learning over 20 specific acupressure points and many stretches. You will also gain a greater understanding of the relationship between Thai, Ayurvedic, and Chinese medicine. Have fun giving and receiving with other experienced therapists while enhancing your Thai practice with new techniques that will greatly benefit your clients.

Wed & Thurs, July 21 & 22, 2010, 10:00a - 6:00p, 15 CE hours approved by NCBTMB

With Guest Instructor, Rose Gricsom with the ITM style of Thai Massage. Rose will be visiting us from NJ--visit her website to learn more about her teaching and amazing background: www.thai-massage.org

Cost: $350 with $50 EBD if paid in full one month prior, by June 20th, (reduced to $300).

Location: Hillary's new studio: 3904 Winona Ct. Denver, CO 80212

Payments will be received by Denver School of Thai Massage. We will only be accepting payments in full to reserve a spot (space is very limited). Checks or credit cards accepted for payment. Hillary will be the TA for the course. Don't miss this fabulous opportunity!

Sen Sib translates to "10 Energy Lines" in the Thai language. In the Thai healing system energy lines are known as "sen". The sen lines are conduits-they are able to connect and move substances and sensations from one place to another. The sen are pathways for prana to flow. Prana is a Sanskrit word for "life force" or "vital energy". In Thai, "Prana" translates to "Lom Pran", or "the wind of life". The sen can also be viewed as rivers of energy, with the major and minor chakras, or energy centers, acting like whirlpools in the river. The 7 major chakras are situated along the centerline or Sen Sumana, while minor chakras are all over the body.

Thai massage pressure points are minor chakras. Acupressure and acupuncture points can also be viewed as minor chakras. The Indian system calls these minor chakras, marma or varma points. In the Chinese tradition about 2,000 points are now known, of which 365 are described as classical. Most acupuncturists use 60 to 150 of those points in their daily practice. With the Indian system there are 108 marma points. In Thai massage, point work is done as an addition to line work, and the emphasis is always on the lines.

In Thai Massage we thoroughly open and remove blocks along these sen lines so the lom can flow more consistently and vibrantly through the whole body. We open and remove blocks through focused and thorough work on the sen lines by palm, thumb, forearm, elbow, knee, and foot pressure, along with stretching.

Each sen line has an orifice in the body with which it connects. Some schools teach that the orifice is the origin point and other schools teach that most of the points start near or above the navel and pass through that orifice.

Thai sen lines closely resemble Chinese meridian lines and Indian Prana Nadi lines. The 10 sen lines, Sen Sib, are considered invisible because they do not have a specific, anatomical base, though you can generally follow them by anatomical markers. Since Thai Massage has been passed orally, from teacher to student, until the twentieth-century, there are differences between Thai schools and lineages regarding the sen sib.