After taking a bit of a summer hiatus, Mickey and I are diving back in to teaching partner massage online. This time we decided to offer the classes as a series which will allow the instruction to build on itself week to week. The series format will also allow us to get to know you better, which will allow for more personalized feedback on technique, and the ability to troubleshoot specific aches, pains, and tension patterns. To that end, this is what we are offering:

• a 4 week series of two-hour long classes in which both people will receive a 30-45 min treatment
• Sunday nights, 6-8pm
• August 16th, 23rd, 30th, and Sept 6th
• $200 per couple for the series, which breaks down to $25/person/class
• A day-after email including a write up of the techniques you learned and a private video of the class in case you missed it or want to review it in your own time

You will be learning simple and accessible Thai massage techniques, which take place fully clothed on the floor, so all you will need to do this course is:

• Floor space
• A "massage nest"--can be a floor pad if you have it, or two blankets folded on top of a yoga mat
• Some extra pillows to bolster limbs, and an extra blanket in case the recipient gets cold
• The ability to get up or down off the floor with relative ease, kneel and lunge for a sustained period of time, and bear weight on your hands
• A massage partner! They can be romantic, platonic, or familial

The benefits of learning to give and receive massage with your partner are immeasurable and can include:

• Deeper sense of connection to and appreciate of your partner
• Creation of new lines of physical communication and reopening of old ones
• The ability to help your partner when they are stressed or in pain. This also means they gain the ability to help you too
• The ability to read your partner's non-verbal cues and body language
• A practical knowledge of anatomy that can enhance everything you do that involves moving your body

While you are learning a new skill, you will also be receiving almost an hour of body work. The class is relaxing, nourishing, and an excellent decompression from other time you spend on your computer.

Attached is a youtube playlist of a simple, safe and accessible yoga sequence that should be appropriate for most bodies. Whether you are stiff and looking to become more mobile or you are flexible and looking to become stronger, moving actively from your "core" to positionally engage and lengthen muscles without creating undue tension will improve your movement practice and relax your breathing. 

Principles of movement:

• Move from the "Core"- the indefinable space between your navel and pubic bone, central between the posterior (back) and anterior (front) surfaces of your body. Can also be thought of as the anterior Lumbar spine.
• Breathe naturally- Breathe through the nose and into the abdomen. Let your body take the air that it needs at the rate it is asking for it. Controlling the breath is very advanced and tends to cause hyperventilation which can cause dizziness, tension and inhibit healthy circulation.
• Relax your muscles, allow the movements themselves to create engagement in the tissue. Voluntary activation of muscles, especially abdominal muscles, can lead to tension and difficulty breathing or circulating energy.

This sequence and the principles guiding it are derived from the Yoga Synergy system, which fuses physical therapy with traditional yoga. Appropriate for prenatal yoga, elderly yoga, beginner yoga, stiff yoga, yoga with wrist injuries, low back pain, muscular tension. 
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