Massage Therapy Is Not What I Thought It Would Be - It's More

By Shifu Chase Acuff, LMT

Here I go again, on to my next massage clients. I’m currently about 75 miles Northwest of Anchorage, Alaska. Moving along at about 120 knots and about 1200 feet up. At least that’s what it looks like on the dash as I peer over the pilot’s shoulder. This time, I’m heading out on a big, sleek, red and white turbo De Havilland Otter on skis. We should be arriving at the prestigious Winterlake Lodge in about another 20 minutes. Airplane is the only way in, unless you want to undertake the 90 mile snowmachine ride in from Talkeetna. In the summer, forget it. Too boggy.

My clients are onboard. They are to be guests at the Lodge for the next few days as the dog mushers blow through there at checkpoint four during the famed Iditarod Sled

Dog Race. They all look excited. A few VIPs from Anchorage, a couple from D.C. and another from North Carolina.

Oh nice! Here we go winging through the little pass again to the big valley where the lodge sits. Glacial-smoothed tundra stares right in my window. Awesome! We must be only 500' off the deck here.

Never would have guessed being a Massage Therapist would look like this.

This is my 5th or 6th time out now. I’ve been out in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, and it’s a different place, each season. In the winter there’s snowmachining, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, then when it warms, hiking, kayaking, fishing, heli-hiking, heli-flightseeing, great food, camaraderie and of course, great massages.

Usually relaxation massage out here. Just tuning up a body not used to winter sports or a long hike or maybe just a bit of indulgence to offset a hectic life. I might have to occasionally smooth out a casting arm being overused from going for those monster Rainbow trout. Out helicoptering from fishing hole to fishing hole the day before.

Yes, I’ve gotten in some great, kayaking, snow machining and fantastic heli-flightseeing and heli-hiking in between clients out here and, so nice, the staff gets the same gourmet food the guests get. Rough!


Now, my massage therapy practice is not always as glamorous as this, but it sure is interesting. My clients are so interesting. They open up to you as a massage therapist. You hear the back stories of CEO’s to a hairstylist in from Florida. You might find yourself doing massage by candle light because the generator just kicked off, or doing hard work with a line of chair massage clients at a health fair; in a hallway! I’ve done chair massage in the luxurious Denaina Convention Center for a Chamber of Commerce gathering, open-air massage at the raucous Downtown Market and an overnighter on the Kenai Peninsula for South Central Foundation, as well as numerous and ongoing gigs at many other places in town. It’s fun to be able to go into these places and meet people, where otherwise you would never go. It’s also nice to be so warmly welcomed and invited right on back into the business. Everybody likes having the massage therapist show up.


Your clients are interesting. They are all puzzles. Do they want relaxation, or therapy? Is it low back pain? Recent shoulder surgery? An old snowmachining crash still bothering them? Single mom of three needs TLC? Old injuries, or new? Recent life changes? What’s their rhythm, their depth? What approach, acupoint formula, should I use to give the client what they’re looking for? As I’m giving, is it working? Do I need to change approaches midstream? What do I need to say? Do I need to say anything?


A puzzle, the assessment, the approach. As my skills grow from further work on myself, advanced massage skills, acupoint formulas: the puzzle solving gets faster and the fix, more effective.


The puzzle, though, I find has more depth as I gain more depth. One can look deeper into a person and give, deeper, more refined care.


I was pleased to find, the years of Taiji and Qigong I had prior to massage school actually added to my understanding of massage clients and how to correct imbalances. I see things in body posture and movement and qi flow that tell me things.


I was actually opposed to going to massage school originally. I used to work in hospitals in varying capacities; I thought working with massage clients was like working with patients in hospitals. More of that impersonal, institutional relationship. I wasn’t interested in getting back to that.


I was wrong.


It’s much more personal and meaningful. Some of my clients have been with me for years. I have seen them change and grow for the better in those years. I’ve also been surprised at how fast and effective the massage techniques can be at times. Providing pain relief, relaxation and better health; and all with just my hands. Often times giving people hope, where before their was none.


So, entering the field of massage therapy has been quite the eye-opener. Quite meaningful as I improve people’s lives, and as I see the genuine appreciation on their faces. They don’t have to say a word. You do a good job; you read it on their face, you read it in their body. I get paid well for what I do, and, in addition, the greater "payoff", is in knowing I made a difference in someone’s life.




Shifu Lawrence Chase Acuff, LMT

Shifu Chase is a wonderful massage therapist formerly practicing out of The Oriental Healing Arts Center in Anchorage. He specializes in deep tissue massage and will leave you feeling like a wet noodle (that's a good thing!). He enjoys Tai Qi, QiGong, personal growth, and hosts a highly successful workshop called "Breath For Stress" which he has presented to several local businesses for their Workplace Wellness day.

Fresh Tomato, Lemon, Leek Soup

I have a friend that had surgery last week, so as part of her nutritional recovery I made this soup for her. All of the ingredients will provide her liver the ability to release some of the toxins naturally accumulated from the break down of anesthesia and the other medications being taken. The soup is also nourishing, so it will provide some nice energy for her recovery. Plus it’s delicious! It only takes about 15 minutes to make.

Makes 1 large or 2 smaller servings.
All ingredients are organic.

Soak 3 medicinal mushrooms (dried shiitake and/or maitake taste wonderful) in 1 cup almost boiling water.

Juice the following: (If you don’t have a juicer a blender can be substituted)

4 Roma tomatoes
½ Meyer lemon (or any lemon – the Meyer type is just extra beautiful)
2 cloves garlic
5 sprigs fresh thyme (if using a blender use only the leaves or a couple shakes of dry thyme)

Heat the fresh juice lightly on the stove top, but don't let it boil.

Add to the pot:

½ cup filtered water
soaking liquid from the medicinal mushrooms
1 leek, cleaned and sliced

(Save the mushrooms to cook into something else for yourself).

Once it’s hot, serve and enjoy!

Thai Cabbage Soup

I recently watched someone open the refrigerator door, stand there and stare for a minute, close the door, and move onto their cupboards. With a bored look on their face, they ended up ordering take out. This is the memory I had when I opened my own refrigerator door this morning wondering what I was going to make.

I wasn't in the mood to be bored, so I found myself challenged to be creative and awesome with whatever I had – I was going to make something incredibly wonderful! And it was – so here it is to share with you. (Even my 2 picky eater kids loved it!)

In a food processor use the grater attachment to grate:
1 small cabbage
3 small potatoes, unpeeled
2 carrots
2 cloves garlic

In a soup pot, heat:
2 tbsp. coconut oil
2 tsp. olive oil

When the oil is hot, add 1 spoonful of Panch Phora (this is a great Indian food spice mixture that blends together fennel seeds, cumin seeds, brown mustard seeds, nigella, and fenugreek. Locally I get it at Summit Spice & Tea Co. in South Anchorage. If you can’t find it pre-mixed the single spices should be fairly easy to find.)
Once you can smell the spices, add the grated vegetable mixture from the food processor and lightly sauté for about 3 minutes – long enough to coat the vegetables in the oil and get them a little hot.

Sprinkle a little sea salt over the top, then add enough chicken or vegetable broth to barely cover the vegetable mix, turn heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

Add 1 can of coconut milk and stir. Soup should smell heavenly exotic and have a creamy consistency. Serve topped with a spoonful of flax seed oil. When eating, try not to smile too much or make loud sounds of satisfaction that will leave your neighbors wondering what you're doing.

The cabbage is a great food to stimulate natural liver detoxification. The spices and the carrots have an affinity with the Earth element, as does the potato which – with the skin left on – provides both fiber and nutritious satisfaction. Coconut milk has many health attributes and contains lauric acid which is useful in strengthening the immune system.

Amazing Broccoli Soup

When my youngest sister was little she used to refuse to eat dinner at the table, and instead would crawl around under the table, go up to someone and stick her hand up. This person then had to exclaim,”Oh look – it’s THE HAND!” You then put food into “The Hand” and “The Hand” would pull back and my sister would eat whatever the food was. It was the only way we could get her to eat any vegetables at all.

30 years later, she still hates vegetables. Since she no longer crawls around under the table and I often cook for her, I’ve had to be inventive. This is a recipe for an incredible broccoli soup. She hates broccoli and other green earthly substances (which I adore), but she loves this soup. It’s a favorite of my own kids’ also.

From an energetic nutritional standpoint, the green color is good for the liver, and the upward and inward energetic direction of growth is good for the lungs and large intestine. The fresh vegetables are packed with vitamins and fiber. The method of cooking is warming, tonifying (strengthening), and moistening.

I always recommend organic produce if you have it. This recipe also has very little waste. What small amount you do have makes great compost, or even food for some pets. The ingredients are highlighted.

Chop up the following vegetables and set aside in a bowl:
1 large russet or several smaller potatoes (about 2 cups chopped), washed and unpeeled
2-3 stalks of fresh broccoli including the stalk. (Chop the florets off, then peel the thick skin off the stalk. Chop the soft inside of the stalk into small pieces.)

Keep separate from above:
1 onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped

Warm your soup cooking pot on the stove and add 1 large spoonful of coconut oil with 1Tbsp. olive oil. Coconut oil tends to be sticky to cook with, but blends beautifully with a little olive oil. When the oil is hot, sauté the onion and garlic until they are slightly brown.

Add all of the broccoli.

Leaving at least one inch of space at the top of the pot, cover with your choice of chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water. Sprinkle a little salt over the top and bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 1 hour.

The vegetables should be soft. Turn the soup off and remove from the heat. Sprinkle some dill, fresh ground pepper, and any other spices you like. Add 1 cup of half and half cream.

Using a stick handmixer or blender, puree the soup until smooth. If it's too thick, add a little more water. Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt in each bowl, and either homemade buttermilk biscuits or rosemary bread from your favorite bakery. Enjoy!

When a Healer Dies

I just learned that a local acupuncturist passed away from cancer. She was a wonderful acupuncturist – I had seen her for treatments when I first moved to Alaska years ago – caring, knowledgeable, and effective.

This brings to light a topic that needs to be discussed. In the medical community – both allopathic and holistic – there is an underlying tone of failure that pokes its head out when a doctor or healer dies of a disease. Many people think or even say out loud “What went wrong? Why weren’t they healed? Does their medicine not work, or weren’t they strong enough to do it – why?”

So my first question is: Must a healer be perfect?? Can a healer not get sick? Can a healer not get angry, have a messy home, or ever make a mistake? Why or why not?

With that question simmering on the back burner for a moment, I need to bring out the Spirit aspect of mind-body-spirit medicine. Things happen for a reason, and since it happened it is perfect within the workings of the incredible and complex synergistic universe we live in. Some people would call it God’s plan, others the Creator’s doing, and some would even call it a tragedy. The nature of the Tao considers nothing to be good or bad, just to Be.

Who is to know now what affect this healer’s life and death has and will have on those she touched? On her family and close friends? Who knows in what way the spiritual path of others required this death to happen exactly as it did? What caring, compassion, inner strength, and beauty will come out of it in the years ahead?

Now my next questions: If being a healer does not mean being “perfect”, what does it mean? If a healer dies of a disease did they fail – or did the medicine fail?
I sincerely believe that the tone of failure due to the act of dying needs to be changed. A new tone needs to be set. Let’s ring the bell and set a new tone – one of gratitude for the many lives that were touched, one of the perfectness of things that happen we will never understand but choose to accept, and one of allowing a spirit to transition to another level when it is time – no matter the circumstances within which that happens. There is something greater at work than we comprehend.

I thank her spirit for all she did for me, and the role she personally played in the path I’m on today.

New National Emergency: Fear of Flu Weakens Americans!

What has been happening to us lately – us being Americans – has finally reached a point of ridiculousness! Today our local newspaper provided a beautiful color pamphlet insert called “Flu Guide” (Fight the Flu – It Starts With You), published by our city government.

This pamphlet contains a well organized chart of symptoms and actions to take when you have them, a list of helpful supplies to have on hand (7 out of 19 listed are medications), flu facts, phone numbers for various health centers, and a fold out of 5 major ways to fight the flu:

#1: Get the H1N1 vaccine
#2: Cover your coughs or sneezes
#3: Wash your hands
#4: Don’t touch your face
#5: Stay home if you are sick

NOWHERE in this information, or anywhere else that supplies public information, are we being given direct and reinforced directions on how to boost our own immune systems and prevent or lessen the impact of the flu. It’s like there’s nothing proactive we can do – we’re going to get it - OH NO – so we better get vaccinated because it’s the only thing that’s going to save us.

PLEASE! I don’t care if you get the vaccine or not. Get it if it makes you feel better, but don’t think it’s the only choice you have!

If the government can tell the herd of sheep that the best way to protect yourself from the flu is a vaccine and we believe it, then we deserve to be sheep.

What would happen if our caring government actually gave some empowering advice such as “The Top 5 Ways to Pump Up Your Immune System and Avoid the Flu” and strongly promoted it along with the vaccine information? For example:

#1: Decrease your stress levels however possible, since stress greatly harms your immune system: Get a massage, meditate, practice yoga or tai chi, do something kind, forgive someone.

#2: Get enough rest: Its flu season so you need to take extra good care of yourself. Try to go to bed at least one hour earlier for the next 2 months. Take a quick nap whenever you can.

#3: Watch your nutrition: Remember during cold & flu season to cut down on the junk and increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables.

#4: Vitamin Supplements: This is a great season to supplement your Vitamin D (Cod liver oil is a great choice) and take an extra Vitamin C. Remember that Vitamin D needs fat in order to be used, so don’t rely on low fat milk as your only source.

#5: Take time to feel happy: Laughing heartily and taking a few minutes each day to feel happy about something is a very powerful and fun way to boost your immune system.

What’s the worst that could happen if we heard this message over and over and over again – on the TV news, on the radio, in the newspaper? We might become strong and healthy?

To your health,
Cynthia

The Yin and Yang of Your Dark Side

First I’m going to provide several beliefs from Taoist Philosophy that need to be considered:

#1: The nature of the Universe is Yin and Yang.
These opposing forces cannot exist without each other. For simplicity right now, I’ll call Yin bad and Yang good. If there were no good, only bad would exist and we wouldn’t know it was bad because there would be nothing else to compare it to. Same thing for good – if there were no bad, only good would exist and we wouldn’t know it because there would be nothing to compare it to. In order to understand something, you must be able to compare it to something else that you already know.

#2: All Yin has a little Yang in it, and all Yang has a little Yin in it.
If you look at the Taoist Yin/Yang symbol, you see a swirl of white with a little black circle in it, and a swirl of black with a little white circle in it. This has a very deep meaning to it. In terms of the opposites good and bad, it means that everything good has a little bit of bad in it, and everything bad has a little bit of good in it. There is no linear time or space involved in this, so sometimes it can be difficult to see. I’ll give some basic examples:

~~~ You are in a very bad relationship that finally ends. 10 years later, you are stronger, fulfilling your passions and desires, and very clear about relationship boundaries in life – all because you had that “bad relationship”.

~~~ Someone you love dies and you look at the earth and the sky and deeply appreciate the beauty of what you are surrounded in and the friends and family you have. Usually you take these things for granted, but today they have an awe that pierces your heart.

~~~You want to purchase a piece of furniture and when you go to the store there is one problem after another – the sales computer breaks down, there is confusion about the sale, the clerk gets angry and frustrated giving you a bad feeling. You leave, disappointed, then next week you spontaneously walk into a store that has an even better piece of furniture – better than you imagined! – and it’s on sale for the exact amount of money you still have to spend on it.

Get the idea?

#3: Everything in nature that exists has a purpose.
If something exists, it has a purpose. We may not always be able to see or understand that purpose, but it is there. Bad things exist and part of their purpose is to make us appreciate good things. If we go back to the nature of Yin and Yang, even evil has a purpose – without evil there would be no love to the highest degree. The last time you were sick with a cold or the flu, didn’t you appreciate health and feeling good during that time?

#4: We are mind-body-spirit beings with a potential for enlightenment.
According to Taoist philosophy, each of our physical internal organs is strongly affected by a specific emotion, and each organ also has a spiritual aspect called a “Potential”. Potentials (inner strength and insight, benevolence to ourselves and others, unconditional love, compassion, courage and honor) are aspects of humanity that, in order to achieve, require

insight
self-reflection
purpose
value
dedicated work
and intention.

These might be considered attributes one strives to attain along your personal spiritual path. The difficulties that you must overcome, experience, and understand in order to reach your Potential are the things that lead to enlightenment.

Now I’m going to discuss my personal thoughts, experience, and understanding of how to apply these Taoist principles to the nature of our Dark Side. During a previous cleansing fast, I meditated strongly on the nature of good and bad and how to incorporate both sides into my being. I gained personal valuable insight from doing this, and I hope it can benefit others.

Most of us will admit to having a Dark Side, and we all have one whether or not we acknowledge it. I consider myself a “good person”, so what about my own Dark Side? I know that it is fun, adventurous, and morally uninhibited. It likes to have its cake and eat it too, regardless of who is hurt. It will lie, cheat, and steal under the right circumstances. It even has the ability to maim and kill without remorse.

So what do I do about this part of myself that exists? I can’t deny it – it’s there, and I know it’s there because I must have an opposite of my goodness. I can’t hate it because when you hate something it will always rebel and work against you. I do, however, contain it with what I would like to think is a high degree of appropriateness. But I started to wonder.....

“WHAT IS OR CAN BE BENEFICIAL ABOUT MY DARK SIDE?”

Some people’s Dark Side shows up as low self-esteem, self-abuse on a physical and emotional level, denial of joy in life, depression, uncontrollable anger, violence towards others, drug and alcohol abuse, and more on this line.

One of my favorite authors, Stephen Buhner, says “When you love something enough, it will show you its secrets.” Let’s look into this more deeply because it is extremely important.

WHAT IF you say “Ok, my Dark Side. I acknowledge you, I accept you, and I’m even going to love you. I love myself, and I know that hating any part of myself would be devastating to my health and my spirit, so I’m going to go ahead and love you too.” (Note: If you happen to not like yourself, this is part of your Dark Side so you’re going to have to get over it for a little while in order to do this.)

WHAT IF you decide to believe that your Dark Side contains a secret – a secret of unimagined goodness and beauty, and the only reason it hides this secret is because your Dark Side is so misunderstood and hated that it is constantly surrounded in the energy of guilt, shame, and negativity.

Now, you start a daily affirmation, “My Dark Side, I accept you and I love you.” At first, this may be extremely difficult, especially if your Dark Side is vile and at the bottom of social hatred. Keep doing it anyway. Loving your Dark Side DOES NOT mean acting on it! It is the kind of unconditional love where a mother still loves her son that violently killed someone. You love it because it is of you.

Over time, the feeling of this affirmation will begin to change and a spark of sincerity will ignite. Keep doing it until you feel this, because the sincerity in your love is the key to unlocking the secret.

If you’ve ever seen a movie where you end up liking the bad guy, this is how it feels to transform your Dark Side. Your Dark Side holds something in it that makes it beneficial on some level. It has a code of honor that you consciously and courageously stand by – the line you won’t cross because you’ve decided not to under any circumstance.

The cable TV series “Dexter” gives a great example of this. Dexter is a born serial killer. His adoptive father recognizes this in him at a very early age and raises him to live by a special code. His father does not deny his nature (his Dark Side), but allows it to exist under specific circumstances. Dexter kills, but ONLY when someone meets the criteria established by his code of honor. He does not kill or hurt innocent people. You end up loving the serial killer! I call this “The Dexter Code” and it can be applied to even the most vile Dark Sides.

For a vile example, take someone that likes to kill, or the person that molests or abuses innocent children. Loving your Dark Side again DOES NOT mean acting on these urges. Remember if you have this and you hate it, it will always work against you. If you learn to love it unconditionally, as you would your child, you can transform it and allow it to exist within an established code of honor.

Imagine that you have the mind of a killer, rapist, or abuser. If you acknowledge that you have the ability to think this way, and you know that this is something deep in your heart you don’t want to do, you can use this knowledge as a way to identify the minds of others that would hurt innocent people. Volunteer at a police department to assist them, and don’t accept money for it. Write a book about how to protect people from someone like yourself. There are many, many ways of using your dark mind in benevolent ways. If it comes down to it, there is also an industry of consenting adults who will accept payment for acting out your fantasy in a way that no one is actually hurt. But you have to make yourself an honorable code and then live by it no matter what. This is a conscious decision made with sincerity for the benefit of others because something inside you cares.

The above paragraph is only a brief example, and does not provide the beauty of the secret inside. To understand the secret, YOU have to sincerely love it enough that it tells YOU, and others that don’t love it probably won’t understand. This happens deep inside your heart and is a KNOWING experience on a very deep spiritual level that will change you forever.

When you sincerely love something enough that it shows you its secret, you will understand the beauty in what you hate and it will then work for you, not against you. By the way, I had to have the faith, belief, desire, and respect to work with this for about 2 years before something I hated trusted me enough to tell me its incredible secret, and yes, I am deeply changed by it. I share these thoughts with the hope that you, too, can experience what I did, and together the beautiful secret within my Dark Side and your Dark Side can make the world a better place.