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Greetings!
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Uptown Minneapolis Office hours: Monday and
Wednesday 10am - 9pm, Fridays noon - 5pm and
by appointment (office
or on-site)
Available Saturdays after 1pm and Sundays by
appointment only.
To schedule bodywork, call Scott at
612-756-2671,
or email scott@apeacefultouch.com
I often come across a lot of great articles
and research about the power of touch to
transform humans, but recently I read an
article that really stirred me. The article
talked about a
study where premature babies were given ten
sessions of light therapeutic massage.
These newborns gained 50% more weight than
their counterparts who did not receive
massage. As well, they were able to leave
the hospital an average of six days sooner.
Up to a year later they had maintained their
growth advantage and had better mental and
physical abilities too boot!
This left me just astounded! Wow! A really great "head start" in life, just from receiving TEN gentle massage sessions after being born! Then I began to dig deeper into my thoughts and reactions.
What if all of us received this kind of touch in the first moments of our life? No - even more - what if all of us could experience massage or touch throughout our lives, and it was just as common as eating, breathing, or walking? What might we all become? What diseases might we not experience? What kind of enhanced quality of life could we really truly have?
I then started thinking about the concept of
"Touch as a Human Right." Many people do not
receive any kind of touch in their daily
lives. Those marginalized in society,
persons with diseases like HIV and AIDS, the
elderly, homeless youth, or even those among
us who simply live alone, or those whose
families simply do not touch - what kind of
freeing power could touch have for them? For
that matter, what kind of healing and freeing
power could touch have for every one of
us?
One of the "visions" I have for
the future of our culture, is that of
massage and structured, healing, and
compassionate touch are commonplace. Parents
teach their children. Friends massage one
another and teach and share their skills.
Instead of buying $500-600 (or more)
treadmills for our exercise rooms, we all en
masse buy massage tables, and we consciously
realize that touch is a vital necessity in
our lives, and a life-affirming way to share
our time and love with those who are in our
lives.
A friend of mine joked with me,
"But Scott, you'd be out of a job if everyone
already knew how to give a great massage!"
Maybe he's right. But... what doors could
that open? Who would teach others? Who
would mentor others learning about
therapeutic touch? Who might be there to
create the next emerging techniques?
I
think that for now, my job is fairly secure,
as people generally like to visit specialized
professionals for many things in their lives.
But, I still believe that a shift needs to
happen at some point in our cultural
development. Touch as a Human Right - I
think it's something to ponder.
Starwalkers is a place where people can come to stay for a time, or come to workshops and retreats, in order to begin to come to know what lies at our very core. What is ours to do in the world? What are our unique passions and talents that are just below our surface that we want to bring forward? Creating a supportive community as we explore these things is emphasized throughout all of Starwalker's programs.
Feel free to stop by and say hello, and also enjoy the entire expo! It's a great opportunity to learn about nearly everything under the sun about sustainable living, from green remodeling, to solar energy, to local and organic farming, etc.
For more information, visit these websites:
Living
Green Expo
Starwalkers
Are you looking for a way to both reduce your
spending on energy, help the environment, and
maybe inspire others as well? The goal of
the Minnesota
Energy Challenge is to empower
Minnesotans to take simple steps to reduce
their energy use and Minnesota’Äôs CO2 emissions.
I enjoyed going to this site and putting in my own personal "pledge" for my own energy reduction. It gave me some great tangible and measurable statistics on the exact impact that activities like taking the bus, biking, or replacing bulbs with compact flourescent lighting would have, both monetarily, and on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions! Seeing my own impact and my own savings was very eye opening.
Oh! And for the months of April and May, if you bring in your Energy Challenge summary, you can receive $10 off a one hour massage or Reiki session!
Starwalkers is an intentional learning community in Northfield, MN that specializes in personal, social, political, and economic transformation. A community living program as well as workshops are offered in a supportive community environment.
Brett Engle, also known as "Cloudboy" , is a graphic designer, artist, and performance artist in the Twin Cities. I've known Brett for a number of years, and have always found his work... no.. his way of being.. to be nothing less than inspiring. If you are looking for original art, graphic design, or just looking for some validation to "live your passion" within your own life, you should visit his website, and especially his Artist's Statement.
Do you have a haiku to share? It's a simple formula - 5 syllables in line 1, 7 syllables in line 2, and 5 syllables in line 3. That's it, 3 little lines, 5-7-5. Send your haikus to me at scott@apeacefultouch.com.