A study sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that the Chinese practice of tai chi helped patients recover quicker from chronic heart failure than those who received standard drug therapy, exercise, and diet counseling. Patients who performed the ancient meditative/movement practice twice a week for 12 weeks were able to walk farther than the control group and even outdistanced themselves, compared to their abilities before treatment began. Researchers point to how beneficial low-impact exercise can be for chronic heart failure patients.

Some of the most rewarding work for massage therapists and bodyworkers is interacting with people afflicted with dementia. What makes it so rewarding is how beneficial it is to the clients.

Massage training typically gives considerably more focus to learning about muscles and bones than it does to the skin. But skin is not just a surface envelope for the really important functions within. It is a complex physiological system that affects every other system in the body. This integumentary system protects, contains, feels, communicates, absorbs, digests, filters, secretes, excretes, heats, cools, and breathes. Skin is what massage therapists most directly contact, and it is important to realize our impact both on it and the whole person.

Pain in the back — primarily the low back — is the source of great suffering and disability for a large number of Americans. Each year, it accounts for more than 70 million visits to doctors. For such a prevalent complaint, low-back pain remains remarkably difficult to explain and treat. Many people claim to understand the root causes, but in my view the real reasons remain a mystery. A number of experts say low-back pain is strictly a mechanical phenomenon, i.e., just fatigue and strain of muscles, tendons, or ligaments.