It is officially soup season, so here’s my contribution to your fall soup pleasure. I had a great crop of organic white acorn squash this year, so my current favorite recipe follows. You can certainly substitute your favorite squash. Don’t be fooled by it’s simplicity. It translates to simply delicious! Simple Delicious Acorn Squash Soup Ingredients 3-4 cups squash (I...

10/21/14 Thanks James I’ve seen several Facebook friends posting things for which they are thankful. I expect it’s the impending Thanksgiving holiday that is putting people into the spirit. It’s good inspiration for this post. I’ll focus on thanking the person who taught me shiatsu. A client noticed I’d been practicing massage therapy since 1997 and thought that was a long time to be...

10/15/14 Trigger Points and Headaches Trigger points are often a common cause of headaches. Trigger points responsible for headache pain can be found in the neck and shoulders, and of course the head and face. Massaging trigger points can be enormously helpful in relieving referred headache pain. A trigger point is a tender point in the muscle or soft tissue that refers pain to some other...

10/7/14 Massage Therapy for Carpal Tunnel Pain Pain from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is caused by pressure on the Median Nerve as it passes through the narrow carpal tunnel formed by the bones the wrist. Surgery to relieve this pain involves cutting the Flexor Retinaculum (Transverse Carpal Ligament) which holds the nerve and nine flexor tendons in place. Be advised of your options before having...

10/3/14 The Urge To Create And when I put it off things go haywire. If I’m engaged in a creative endeavor, time disappears, I get lost in making something. I learned photography from Mr. Schaffer in 9th grade, was on the Jr. High newspaper, and then my favorite class in high school was photography. I continued journalistic photography for the high school yearbook, but was really excited by Mr....

9/26/14 Bring Chair Massage To Your Employees Chair massage has been an integral part of my practice since 1997. Fortunately, my teacher included a decent Stronglite chair in my tuition at The Shiatsu Clinic & School. I’ve provided chair massage in a number of locations over the years: local businesses, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, various health and business fairs,...

9/23/14 My Versions of Mindfulness Mindfulness is integral to Buddhist practice. I’m not sure when it became a hot and trendy topic in America. We now have a magazine called Mindful. I think it’s likely that thoughtful people have always been mindful. I grew up in a Christian family and I’d say both my parents modeled Mindfulness. I try to be mindful. An important part for me is an...

9/17/14 Blog Massage Therapy is Poetry I began writing poetry in high school. It was a creative outlet and I had dreams of becoming a rock star. Forget that I’d never learned to play a guitar or drum kit; I’d be the lead singer. You can do that when you’re introverted, right? I wrote imaginary songs. Soon enough I realized I’d not be a rock star, but I could keep writing poetry, right? So...

The Yin and Yang of Your Massage Therapy Session I stopped teaching middle school for several reasons, one of which was politics. Thank goodness that was just a part of it. Everything is partly politics. Massage Therapy is partly politics if I let it be, particularly when it comes to education and continuing education. I thought I’d not teach again after my middle school experience, but I do; I...

9/1/14 About Martin Gibbens I’ve been a Licensed Massage Therapist in Iowa City since 1997. Before that I taught middle school language arts in Wichita and Iowa City. I was an English major and earned my B.A. in 1985 at the University of Nebraska. Then, I earned my M.Ed at Wichita State University. My wife and I came to Iowa City in 1996, which was when I began training at the Shiatsu Clinic...