Peace & Oil

Hello there, biches, Empathy. In today's world, since the dawn of time, and since man is man, the possibility for empathy has been central to some people sometimes. It's with this lame introduction that I would like to add my little contribution to our modern society's rediscovered interest in empathy. Needless to say that I am regularly tearing my hair out when I see all the Mind and Life Institute 's, or Mathieu Ricard's efforts to discuss empathy and meditation in a constructive, scientific, rational way. Not that what they say is not relevant or well-put, because it is, but OMG. I'm always wondering how on Earth have we become so completely dispassionate and mediated that we need to politely describe how a world of altruism, cooperation, renunciation to privileges maintained through violence, etc., would probably be best for everyone. OF COURSE! Stating the obvious has never required that many PhDs and/or footnotes. Fortunately, I hereby propose t...

Dear all, That's it, I'm switching languages for my (huge) international audience. Giving my first massage class this week end has reminded me why I chose to do that in the first place. The kindness, the intensity, how time flies when you do something you love. Also, I was extremely grateful to be able to show some of what I've learned over the years to others who, quite legitimately, did other things. That's something that I usually forget. That not everyone knows all the things that have occurred to me these years - about the deepest aspects of massage that go into some of the greatest paradoxes of life. Yes. I know. Quite logically, today's topic is humility . Knowing that you don't know is the basis of any meaningful activity, and, of course, a cliché. Yet, the depth of this truth has emerged for me as one of the essential aspects of a good massage. Of course you know some stuff about physiology, about the massage techniques you might use, etc. Yo...