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Sometimes an accidental encounter explodes in your mind, assembling events, concepts, and memories in one logical chain that to you seems utterly natural and true. At the same time, the non-uniform nature of the components makes it a challenge to place them in one coherent narrative. Still, I feel compelled to do it in this post.
Not long ago, I had a discussion with the member of the students of science of massage institute, with whom I share the same learning habits. That is if the presented material is complex, I won’t shy away from re-reading it or re-watching watching video materials numerous times.
This is my “modus operandi” when it comes to studying. It always worked, is working for me today, and it seems like it is working for him as well. We have to understand the subject to the level of what I am calling a sense of touch,” to see with our hands what eyes cannot see.”
One of the statements of our on-line exchange was the following:” Massage therapy is not rocket science. At the same time, I'm positive that many great rocket scientists, cannot learn massage. They just naturally not born to be massage therapists.”
After I made this post, I received a call from a good friend of mine, graduated from my school 25 years ago. He is a talented marketer, holds an MBA degree, and, at the same time, is a talented massage therapist. Actually his “day job” is being a marketing director, the head of the department of a big corporation. At the same time, when time permits, he does massage, which he passionately loves.
He told me that nowadays if after five minutes of reading, or a few seconds of watching instructional material, people interest is not triggered while they involve only a very superficial mental effort, they lose interest and take flight.
I started laughing and told him that I hear the same opinion from other educators. That is if you are not going to catch the audience's attention in the first five minutes of the discussion they lose interest in the video.
I shared, that it sounded like nowadays people massively suffer from attention deficit disorder. He was laughing with me as well.
To be serious, I don't believe this type of attitude exhibited in professional instructional fields. Maybe it applied when reading” professional literature” that makes no sense whatsoever. In such a case I am losing the interest. However, usually, I am not looking to be entertained. Instead, I am expecting a knowledgeable professional, who teaches not from a book only but shares a treatment room experience.
A massage educator must be clinically very experienced. Before teaching certain protocols, an educator must perform hundreds if not thousands of them in the treatment room. The technique of an amateur, who is doing the protocol first time and the technique of a professional who spent hundreds of hours doing it differs in a myriad of important details that might not even be noticeable at a lazy glance. I am not excluding the possibility of some individuals having an exceptional memory or superior intelligence who as a result might need less reading times to understand. However, in my experience, for the rest of us, in order to understand an educator to the “a sense of touch” level, we must read the material or watch the video numerous times.
The process of learning is far from being linear. One might look at the same line many times and then, suddenly, experience the surge of understanding. In my view, if somebody passionately wants to learn how to help suffering people, one must have the desire to learn and put out the mental effort that is much beyond a superficial glance, must prepare themselves to reread as many times as needed.
Probably it is difficult to become a great rocket scientist, without the ability to read professional materials, as many times as needed for understanding, hours and sometimes days, months, or maybe years. Only some people are born to become rocket scientists, and some are born to become massage therapists. Therefore we would learn as much as it is required to learn whether these are theoretical concepts or hands-on applications to ensure our future clinical success.
Medical massage is not rocket science, but a very powerful methodology of treatment.
My friend agreed with me but added with some bitterness:” Nowadays we live in different world, in times of the overall different mentality, but that’s how it is. If you are an educator, you have to consider yourself to be an entertainer as well.
Friends, I trust this fellow was right, and if it's possible to teach an old dog new tricks, I would try to learn how to be an entertainer as well.
To be serious, I believe that some of us are naturally born to be massage therapists.
To be naturally born to become massage therapists means to be born with a gift, with a talent. Still a talent only means a potential. A talent, must be developed. I can claim that I was naturally born to become a massage therapist, but throughout my entire career, I somehow knew, that in regards to developments of skills and the ability to achieve rapid and sustained results, the sky is the limit.
In my previous blog “A professor of medicine didn’t ask for references” I told you, about me having an opportunity to work at the research facility.
There, besides the cardiologist, I also work with another professor of medicine who is a pulmonologist.
As always the principal investigators, keeping his cards closed. It is difficult to know what the subject of their research is. He assigns different tasks to different groups, each of which brings the data to principal investigators for analysis.
I believe soon I will know a bit more. Once I assess the outcome data, after my treatment. At this point, I am just having fun.
This pulmonologist told me that by all means, it looks like my treatment could be very beneficial for treatments of bronchial asthma. I responded that in 1976, Dr. Lominaga, researched and proposed the protocols for bronchial asthma. Thus, when I have the opportunity to treat bronchial asthma patients, I usually succeed. In America, I had numerous documented cases, when after receiving my treatments, and providing monthly maintenance treatment, people live normal life, without inhalers and steroids.
The pulmonologist asked me if it would be possible to evaluate these patients. I contacted my patients, and he interviewed them by phone. Three days later, I saw them at the research facility. The pulmonologist also requested to interview me.
He asked me whether during the first experiments in the facility, prior to implementing techniques for acetylcholine techniques, I included the acceleration of lymph drainage techniques, and if so then why?
I answered affirmatively and briefly explained to him the claim of the Russian scientist involved in the developments of acetylcholine release techniques.
From my article “Can massage techniques be equated with remedies?”
I also asked him, if granted a person accumulated a lot of metabolic waste, I won’t perform detoxification techniques, but only use techniques to release acetylcholine, would it positively affect blood supply volume at the capillary network. He said yes, for a short time. Then I inferred “In such a case as you describe, detoxification is must be done.” His answer was yes.
Then the pulmonologist asked me whether the acceleration of lymph drainage/detoxification techniques was included in treatments of the documented cases of bronchial asthma?
My answer was also affirmative. Many if not all bronchial asthma patients developed lymphedema and lymph drainage/detoxification techniques are very powerful in reducing lymphedemas.
He then told me that he re-read my article and directed me to the following sentence from the article conclusions:” The major contributor to dominating anticholinergic, is the accumulation of toxic metabolic waste. In order to counterbalance this negative process detoxification procedure must be performed.”
He suggested that although I used lymph drainage/detoxification protocols for the reduction of lymphedemas, they also played a significant role in achieving sustainable results for the treatment of bronchial asthma.
Then he added that he was planning to purchase my medical massage educational video where I teach acceleration of lymphatic drainage techniques. He recommended producing a medical massage educational video where that would address teaching massage protocol for bronchial asthma. He added
“I believe this is your moral obligation to teach it.”
I pondered on what he said so straightforwardly and yet with a good share of hidden depth. With all the amiability expressed toward me, he didn’t imply that I need to promote my medical massage educational videos for gainful purposes.
He meant something else. Every person eventually becomes a champion of his profession. Their very thinking pattern becomes shaped by what they encounter in their daily struggle to excel in the profession. In the case of massage therapists, this becomes a daily struggle to help people to feel better. Thus, being more than 45 years in the field, my mind, without even my conscious guidance, accumulated a large body of theoretical and practical knowledge, that exists almost independently of who I am as a person. In a way, my brain was borrowed as storage of this universally useful knowledge.
Given that knowledge cannot magically transfer from the storage in a teacher’s head to heads of students, both of those participants of an educational process must exert effort in insuring this transfer. A teacher by providing an educational narrative and recording it in understandable media while a student by exerting an intellectual effort while studying the material, which often involves reading or watching it over several times.
My thoughts made me smile and I told him that besides manual acceleration of lymphatic drainage, the medical massage educational video #5,offers the protocol for bronchial asthma.
Surprised he said:” What a coincidence! It must have been meant to be this way.”
I explained to him that at the time of bronchial asthma treatment, I performed detoxification procedure, without the understanding of its importance, but simply from my personal experience; if not to perform bronchial drainage techniques, the results won’t come fast enough. The incorporation of bronchial drainage techniques often causes almost immediate improvement to a clinical picture.
He has asked me to explain and to demonstrate bronchial drainage techniques and I did.
These great scientists and clinicians requested me to try implementing this protocol in his presence. Thus we tried it. The experiment proves all that I was saying. I expressed the desire to continue experiments on bronchial asthma patients as I have an idea for a comprehensive experimental protocol. We would get a lot of answers and I am completing recommendations for IRB application.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the conversation with my friend student triggered the thought process in my mind that lined up some events and concepts in one connected logical chain. All starting from entertaining the modern audience as an important part of the modern educational process and their lack of attention and effort to concentrate, to the conversation with the professor pulmonologist about asthma massage protocols and his request for me to spread the knowledge. I guess what gave the energy to these chains of thoughts was the sad realization that acquisition of real knowledge cannot be sustained at a minimum effort and requires its due diligence.
1. I was blessed to meet great scientists and clinicians and I was flattered when a professor of medicine told me that I am having a moral obligation to produce instructional medical massage educational videos for bronchial asthma message protocol. This sounds unusual here in the US, but it was typical for my old country, where many MDs, Ph.Ds.and professors of medicine would have to believe in and have a passion for massage therapy.
2. An interesting point. I asked him why he believes that it is my moral responsibility to produce these medical massage educational videos. He replied that it would be wrong if an unexperienced practitioner, the one who didn’t perform hundreds of treatments would teach simply for the purpose of making money. “People won’t learn anything,” he said. I immediately referred him to this link.
He said:” This is very impressive, and what you’ve described necessary qualities for an educator, is absolutely correct. Then he added:” Regrettably lately in my fields, people often write papers, analyzing experiences of other clinicians, and not sharing their own experiences. Internet damages clinical minds. Demagoguery and offering of multiple references, just confusing young MDs.”
3. I believe these scientist’s research is related to cardiothoracic diseases, including the effect on the electrophysiology of the heart. I am not stupid. LOL. Soon I will know more.
4. If you read my articles carefully and maybe reread them, you would see that diseases and disorders /dysfunctions of organs and systems lead to negative chain reactions that demand multiple approaches, implementing different massage protocols. A comprehensive holistic view on the human body, its functions, and dysfunctions, evidently demands multidisciplinary, medical massage approach.
We are naturally born to be massage therapists, to practice an extremely powerful methodology of treatment.
5. The first two days working at the research facility I felt great. I didn’t even feel the discomfort of having pandemic protective equipment on. This equipment is quite unusual, similar to an astronaut costume. Today when the original excitement subsided it was much more difficult to do physical work while having this stuff on. I would have to get used to it.
My hat is off for the large group of young women and men who are working all day long caring this stuff.
Today I complained, and they told me not to worry, I would get used to it. I hope so.
6. Massage therapy is not rocket science. At the same time, I’m positive that many great rocket scientists, cannot learn massage. They are not naturally born to be massage therapists.
For example, I always start reading a research paper, from applied methods. Then I move to the abstract, and at this moment am deciding if I have the interest to continue to invest my time.
When I’m reading professional articles by my colleagues, I am starting to read from the conclusions and summaries. I do not believe, that we massively suffer from the attention deficit. It just so much information out there, that it pushing guys to lose attention after a few seconds. Therefore I recommend starting reading my article, from the conclusions and summary. My friend and student, I have mentioned above, encouraged me to address and to advise on this subject. I’m not naturally born entertainer but considering myself naturally born massage therapist and educator.
For many decades, I have successfully performed 1000s of different medical/sports massage protocols. As you understood from my articles, I knew a lot about what my hands are doing. For example, the physiological effect of massage on the human body is crystal clear to me.
I succeed in developing a sense of touch, which is to understand the theoretical concept, to do level of imagination, to see with your hands, what eyes cannot see. However, have rediscovered a much more extended chain of positive reactions.
One can come across new discoveries and new understandings that are not going to change the way they perform the massage. In our field, the clinical proof is what matters most.
However additional understanding empowers human factor/energy healer, as well as new understanding, suggests to incorporate techniques into the protocols I never before included. These additional techniques allowed me to achieve results faster, as well as contributed to the sustainability of the results.
I do re-read my articles and highly recommended them to follow my advice. Rereading my articles helps me to empower understanding, which is crucial in our business. It is impossible to advance hands-on skills without deep understanding.
I am being responsible while reading articles of my colleagues and am not shying away from rereading them as many times as necessary for a complete understanding. Learning is nonlinear and you never know when the spike of new understanding might flash through your mind. I even find it helpful, at times, re-read my own articles and compare what I knew at the moment of writing with and what I know today.
I highly recommend doing this due diligence while reading professional literature in relation to the articles written by my colleagues and in relation to reading my own articles. Rereading helps to empower understanding, which is crucial in our business. It is impossible to advance hands-on skills without deep understanding.
Practitioners, who took my sports massage classes, and/or bronchial asthma and bronchial drainage classes, or maybe learned from my medical massage educational video #5 and medical massage educational video #7, can recognize that I am doing the same protocols for both disorders.BTW, medical massage educational video #5 has developed 25 years ago medical massage educational video #7 has developed 23 years ago. Nothing changed, today, only I am incorporating acetylcholine release techniques in every medical massage protocol, as well as incorporating lymph drainage techniques/detoxification practically in any protocols.
In my practice, I always dedicate every fifth procedure to the full-body acceleration of lymph drainage techniques and taught this to my students. Today I know the important details.
From my original article.
I also asked him, if granted a person accumulated a lot of metabolic waste, I won’t perform detoxification techniques, but only use techniques to release acetylcholine, would it positively affect blood supply volume at the capillary network. He said yes, for a short time. Then I inferred “In such a case as you describe, detoxification is must be done.” His answer was yes.
From my original article
The major contributor to the domination of anticholinergic the accumulation of toxic metabolic waste. In order to counterbalance this negative process detoxification procedure must be performed.
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