Day 178 - Ring That Bell! (34 Days Left)

In the school's lobby is a foot tall Asian style bell with a mallot. The first thing people want to do when they walk through the lobby door is ring the bell.
C'mon. It's human nature.
Everybody wants to. I know I wanted to the first time I visited.
That bell is special to every student in the school because on the last day of class, the graduating students get to say a few words and ring the bell.
Exactly five weeks from tonight, I will be doing just that.
However, several in our class got to ring the bell tonight after our practice job interviews for class (basically the only thing class-like that we did*) and our potluck feast to celebrate with the graduates.
Some classmates gave inspirational words, some cried, and some just seemed happy that they can get their lives back after tonight.
I will miss them in our class, and wish them the best in their careers in massage.

*I ended up getting an "A" in Professional Development. Yay!

Day 78 - Blinded

Tonight's class theme centered on "intuition." I think of it more as "just knowing something." First, we had a brief lecture about what intuition is. Next up, we began a guided meditation that didn't work out as well as it was supposed to.
Our teacher had us form two circles, one on the outside and one on the inside, each facing in opposite directions and walking - with our eyes closed. Unfortunately, with my class, just because our eyes are closed doesn't mean our mouths are...or at least some of the classmates. There was too much talking and bumping into things to finish the walking around in circles meditation. After that, with our eyes still closed, our teacher went around and paired us up to determine who we were to work with this evening - the goal being that we have not worked with this person yet. I had worked with this young lady before, but it had been just after we had started the program, so it had definitely been awhile.
Next on our intuition theme: blindfolded massage. The student-therapists would be blindfolded and work on the student-clients...while the student-clients and teacher and teacher's assistant would be able to see. I went first as the client and despite not knowing the time and not being able to see, my partner did a great job. She dropped the lotion bottle once, but that's ok. After that, it was my turn. I think I did a pretty good job, all things considered. I still fumbled around with my draping, but I think I actually did a better job without seeing it - at least on one anterior leg.
I don't know how much I believe in this intuition stuff, but I feel like there are some instincts that kick in when one sense is lost.
Maybe it's a matter of semantics.

Day 27 - The Temporal Lobe and the Space-Time Continuum

We had yet ANOTHER night of lecture tonight and by the third night of no bodywork, my eyes are glazing over a bit and my head just may explode. Well, would it be my brain instead? Along with its cerebellum, front lobe, parietal lobe, and my favorite part of the space/time continuum, the temporal lobe.

Ooops, sorry. My geekness seeped out again. I may have admitted previously to being a bit of a geek. Possibly.
Why is it that learning anatomy makes me think about Star Trek?
Anyway, we delved into the brain, spinal cord, and some of the parts of the Peripheral Nervous System, like the Dorsal and Ventral Roots and the Dorsal Ramus and Ventral Ramus. Wasn't Harold Ramus in the Ghostbusters movies? Are Dorsal and Ventral his kids?
On another note, my class is becoming a pretty tight group, even with its many personalities, diversity, and humor. One of my classmates mentioned this evening that I'm shy! I guess I don't think of myself that way, and find it interesting that somebody else does.
Anyway, I am really punchy right now and must seriously go to inspect the inside of my eyelids.