Massage Therapists Just Keep Going!

Here's a heartwarming story that was on Yahoo's UK site today. What an amazing lady!

Gran, 98, celebrates massage moment

A 98-year-old grandmother has been hailed Britain's oldest massage therapist as she celebrated 60 years in the profession. 

Evelyn Blackburn was first granted her licence to operate in 1949 and has just renewed it with Harrow Council.

Mrs Blackburn, of Pinner, north London, has treated tens of thousands of people since a friend's sore neck prompted her to learn the techniques of massage six decades ago.

But she has kept abreast of developments, embracing alternative treatments such as cupping - made famous by celebrity enthusiast Gwyneth Paltrow - and radiesthesia, which treats people's energy or auras.

Mrs Blackburn said: "I have massaged thousands of people over the years - from mothers and grandmothers to builders and scientists. Back when I started, I used iodine-based oil called Dragon's Blood. Nowadays, I use the modern substitutes. You have to move with the times.

"I still maintain the best treatment is a pair of hands.

"I don't think anything can replace massage. I have used lots of therapies and machines, but nothing is quite as effective.

"A massage is much better than all these advertised creams to put on your face and body, although the companies making the cream wouldn't like to hear that - but it's the truth."

Mrs Blackburn used to treat up to eight people a day at the clinic where she worked in Nower Hill, Harrow, but for past 24 years has worked from home in a room adapted into a studio.

Outside of her work, Mrs Blackburn, a widow for several years, has travelled to the US 67 times to visit her daughter and grandchildren.

Special Event!

You are invited to join the Introduction to Energy Medicine Class on Sunday, April 19 for Chakra Balancing.

You will learn

• about the chakra system in Eden Energy Medicine
  
• how the chakras affect our health and emotions
  
• how to test each of the chakras
  
• how to clear and balance the chakras in a complete healing session

Chakra work is one of the most powerful and effective ways to work with the body's energies.

What Donna Eden says about chakras:

"Chakras support everything. You can move deeply into the energy when you work on chakras. If I have one shot with a person, I do their chakras. Reiki works better if you do a chakra clearing first. It can go in deeper."

Even if you never learn how to work with any of the other nine energy systems of Eden Energy Medicine, learning how to work with the chakras alone will give you an effective tool you can use for yourself, and with friends and family. Chakra work is also a useful adjunct to other bodywork and healing modalities.

Space is limited, so early sign up is recommended.

When: Sunday, April 19 from 2 - 5 pm
Where: West Sedona
Cost: $47 including book ($30 without book)
Sign up on my website with Paypal
Full payment required to reserve your place

You will need to bring something to lie on (the floor is carpeted) and a light shawl or blanket for covering if you tend to get cold easily.

Class Update - Black Pearl Sanctuary

Monday's Energy Practice Class here in Sedona will give an opportunity to learn the Black Pearl Sanctuary. This is a profound yet simple technique that directly affects the hypothalamus gland and triple warmer meridian. It is essential when dealing with long term stress and is deeply relaxing.

The whole class will be dedicated to the Black Pearl so that everyone gets a chance to give it to someone else and to receive it too.

The class starts at 3:00 pm and you will need to sign up, either by email or by calling me at 928-282-7614. There is an $8 drop in charge.

If you're just visiting Sedona, this could be a wonderful introduction to Eden Energy Medicine, and a great way to meet some locals. If you live in the area, come try out the class and find out how much better it will make you feel!

Donna Eden's daughter, Titanya

Donna's eldest daughter Titanya, is a friend and a very special being. Those of you have who have attended one of Donna and David's classes or trainings will have experienced the exuberance and joy that enters the room when Titanya is sharing her Energy Dance or poi ball demonstrations. Titanya, has been seriously ill these past few weeks. If you feel to, please send your love and healing to her. You can read updates about her condition on the blog her partner, Jeff, has set up for her.

Hopefully it won't be too long before our beautiful Tanya is brimming with vitality again and sharing her wonderful free spirit with us once more.

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Diane Lukich (hope that's the right spelling - the writing was kind of hard to read) who is the winner of a private Energy Medicine session with me. I held a draw at the Sedona Women's Expo yesterday (Saturday), and Diane was lucky enough to have her name pulled. I've emailed her and hope to be hearing from her soon, otherwise we will go back and draw another one. 

The day was hard work for me, so I don't think I'll be doing another one any time soon. I'd much rather be teaching a class or giving sessions, but thank you to all who stopped by. It was lovely connecting, and finding out so many of you already know Donna Eden's work and have read the Energy Medicine book.

Tod and I are talking of having an event at home, as a way of introducing our work to more people. For those of you who don't already know, Tod is a very gifted soul reader and counselor.  He also works with sound and breath. Now the weather is getting warmer, we could do something outside. Let us know if you'd like an email letting you know of such events. I'll also post it here, so come back and check often!

Energy self-care tips: Making Space

Our bodies function best when there is space. That's why we can feel so sluggish when our muscles are tense and we're tight with stress. There's no space for the body to breathe. When you're feeling constrained, low on energy, tight, aching or lethargic, take a few minutes to create some space in your body and you'll be so glad you did.

1. Stand up and stretch. Reach your arms high above you, grab one wrist and pull that arm over to the side and bend sideways as far as is comfortable. Feel the stretch from the hip all along the side of the ribcage, through the armpit and along the arm. Switch to the other side.
2. Keep both arms reaching up. With each arm in turn, reach up and grab as if you're plucking an apple from a branch high above you. Repeat several times.
3. Fold yourself over so you're arms are hanging to the ground. Feel your spine lengthen and the backs of your legs stretch. Breathe deeply and feel yourself dropping closer to the ground with each out breath. Slowly roll back up to a relaxed standing position.
4. With spread fingers, gently tap all over your face, then a little harder over your head, from front to back. Keep tapping all the way to the shoulders. Do one shoulder at a time so you can tap harder, supporting the elbow of the tapping hand with your other hand.
5. Tap on the chest below the inner corners of the collar bone, on the sternum and on the ribcage beneath each breast. 
6. Continue around to the side of the ribcage, down the sides and onto the hips.
7. Change to an open fist and pound the sides of the legs from hip to knee. Repeat 3 or 4 times.
8. Sweep with open hands down the backs and sides of the legs to the feet, then back up the insides of the legs, across the groin to the hips and down around again a few times.
9. The final time, sweep up the insides of the legs and continue up the front of the body, over the face to the crown of the head. Tap one time quickly on the crown with a "Tuhhh" sound and raise the arms above the head.
10. Turn your hands so they face outwards and, blowing out your breath as if through a straw, slowly lower your arms to your sides.
    

Apart from feeling energized and refreshed after this, it's also good for calming you down if you are stressed, as the controlled breathing at the end will balance your blood pressure.

If you have a friend or co-worker who will try it with you, add the option of pounding with open fists down each other's backs (avoid tapping directly on the spine itself).

If you find you're particularly tense in the shoulders, use a hairbrush (the kind with the rounded tips) to tap all over the shoulder muscles. Allow your wrist to be loose so the brush can really bounce. It's more about the action of all the prongs than how hard you do it. This is a great way to break up tension in tight muscles and reset the spindle cells.

New Energy Medicine Classes

Okay, I admit I've been pretty slack about posting in a while. In my defense, I have been really busy between taking the Energy Medicine for Women Instructor Program (more about that later), fulfilling the requirements to become certified as an Eden Energy Medicine Practitioner (I officially graduated this month), and helping to host Donna Eden's class in Sedona this past weekend, to say nothing of moving house in the middle of all that. Things are starting to ease up a bit now, so I realized it was time to get back on the blog and give you some news and updates.

The EM4W Instructor Program took place in San Francisco last September. I became certified in this so that I can offer classes in my local community (here in Sedona), and share these brilliant techniques with the women who need them. Which is just about everyone. We all have hormones, right? It's even useful information for men, if you live with a woman, or have women in your life, there's all sorts of information that will help you navigate the sometimes treacherous path of male/female relationships.

I'm currently working out a schedule and looking at possible locations for the Energy Medicine for Women classes, which I'm planning on starting in the spring. If this is something you are interested in, drop me a line so I can put you on the mailing list.

Coming up at the end of February, I'm going to be an exhibitor at the Sedona Women's Expo. This is happening on February 28th (Saturday) from 10  am to 2 pm at the Sedona Elk's Lodge. Please drop by if you're in town. There's going to be tons of stuff on offer that's relevant to all women. I'll be giving mini massages and mini Energy Medicine assessments/treatments. You'll be able to view the Energy Medicine for Women DVD (fingers crossed I get the electric hookup I requested), and have all your questions answered. I'm also planning on having both of Donna Eden's books available for purchase (maybe the DVD too), and there are going to be some excellent prizes on offer in the drawing.

Other Energy Medicine news is that our weekly practice class in now on Mondays at 3:00 pm. If you'd like to join us, you'll need to register the first time, and get directions. 

The practice class isn't for everyone. I know that some of you would like to have more of a formal study class for Eden Energy Medicine, so I'm looking at the possibilities of providing a class either once a week, or for a few hours 1 - 2 weekends a month where we can go through the Energy Medicine book step by step. Please let me know of your interest in this and whether you would prefer a weekly (1 - 2 hours) or monthly (4 - 5 hours) class.

If you're wondering what's happened to massage in the midst of all the energy medicine excitement, I can assure you that I'm still giving plenty of massages. Tod and I have teamed up to provide a "Coming Home" experience for those who are looking for direction in their lives. I give an Energy Massage that brings you to a place of receptivity and gets you in touch with your center, then Tod gives a (channeled) Soul Reading. They are proving to be popular and we've had some very encouraging feedback.

Congratulations Donna Eden & David Feinstein!

Both Energy Medicine and Energy Medicine for Women have won in their categories in the USA Book News Best Books Awards 2008.  To quote Donna when she heard the news, "Wow....hip, hip hoooray".

From the USABookNews press release:

USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of THE NATIONAL “BEST BOOKS” 2008 AWARDS (NBBA) on October 20, 2008. Over 500 winners and finalists were announced in over 140 categories covering print and audio books. Awards were presented for titles published in 2008 and late 2007.

Jeff Keen, President and CEO of USABookNews.com, said this year’s contest yielded an unprecedented number of entries, which were then narrowed down to over 500 winners and finalists.

If you don't have copies yet, then get yourselves on over to Innersource to put your order in. They're such excellent health and self-help references to have in your library. I wouldn't be without mine.