Community Service

Touch Lifting Community

I helped develop a community service program called the Touch Lifting Community Program or TLC Program in 2001 at Novella Day Spa. When I moved on to focus on my own business I adopted the Program into my private practice.

Each week during the school year I make a  draw for a San Francisco school teacher  and give them a complimentary massage. There are 12 schools currently benefiting and my invitation is extended to others to contact me if they would like to participate. The TLC program was officially expanded in 2005 to include any individual who is doing exceptional work in the world and whom I feel deserves to be “Pampurred”!

C-elder-bration

C-elder-bration is a massage program I co-developed with my Aunt, Carolyn Marchand, at Wilson House in 2003 to show respect to our Elders. Family and friends honored the residents including my grandmother, Gladys MacEachern, by presenting a living tribute, recounting their lives and accomplishments. Each Elder was invited to share their wisdom with those gathered at the celebration and given a chair massage afterwards.

_________________Art by Agoya_______________

Season for Non-Violence

The Season for Nonviolence (SNV) was co-created in 1997 by Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Arun and his wife, Sunanda, founders of The M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence, The Association for Global New Thought (AGNT) and The Martin Luther King Social Action training programs. I was so inspired by the CDROM that contains the programs, exercises and educational materials that I decided to record the Public Service Announcements on our local radio station KPOO in San Francisco and now every year the station plays the PSAs from January to April.

The CDROM contains an incredible amount of material including:

• Endorsements from the United Nations, Nobel Laureates, The Dalai Lama
• Principles and Quotes from King and Gandhi plus a 7-week study series on Gandhi’s spiritual practice, guiding principles of Spiritual Activism
  
• Stories of famous heroes, prayer circles, prayers and sermons
• Writings from Riane Eisler: Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence, (SAIV)
• Non-violent parenting and Third Side approach for resolving conflicts
• Teacher lesson plans
• Pledge of Non-violence
• Forgiveness works
• 64 ways and spiritual practices
• Press, media support, PSA’s and letters to sponsors
  

The Season is the 64 days from January 31 to April 4, the anniversaries of the assassination of each of these peacemakers. Over 20 cities, 40 states and 10 countries have declared the Season since it’s inception. Hundreds of unique events and programs continue to be carried out at the local level, achieving wide coverage in print and broadcast media. Over 400 major Peace organizations, religious, business, arts, and learning institutions have elected themselves as official co-sponsors of the Season for Nonviolence.

"The primary objective of A Season for Nonviolence is to create an awareness of nonviolent principles and practice as a powerful way to heal, transform and empower our lives and communities. Through an educational and community action campaign, we honor those who are using nonviolence to build a community that honors the dignity and worth of every human being. By identifying “what works” in these new models for reconciliation and human harmony, we demonstrate that every person can move the world in the direction of peace through their daily nonviolent choice and action."

I am not an official member of any of the 3 groups who merged to create this body of work but I share their goal, each of us taking responsibility to create a peaceful world starting with ourselves ... one which is inclusive rather than divisive. World Peace Starts Here!

I feel like a farmer planting seeds so I am hopeful that these PSAs will blossom and grow!

Association for Global New Thought

Email: snv@agnt.org or 805-563-7343

Massage For Peace

In 2009 I started a new program called Massage for Peace at Thrive House in the Fillmore Neighborhood in San Francisco. Thrive House hosts  an after school program for  youth and they invited me to teach them seated  chair massage.

I have adopted a similar program to the one started in Sweden many years ago in which students learn to give one another safe touch and massage starting in kindergarten. In that program every morning there is time allocated for a massage exchange between pairs of students who would like to participate. They are fully clothed and sit at their desk leaning forward with their head resting on their arms. Teachers report that the level of aggression and  violence substantially decreases and  empathy and compassion are increased.

We  have found similar results here where the youth often start out  stressed and hyperactive but settle down to a very relaxed, calm  state after they massage one another with "peaceful touch".

Vision: Peace through Touch

I believe in the Ripple Effect. When people are relaxed, feeling safe and peaceful, that has a positive effect on everyone they encounter.

My gift of touch has helped me see how vital it is in facilitating peace in the world. When someone comes to me who is stressed, angry and upset I see the positive transformation that occurs during the massage. Soothing, nurturing touch calms the person and helps break the negative emotional cycle. When we are stressed, our bodies catapult into the "Fight or Flight" mode of the Sympathetic Nervous System producing norepinepherine and cortisol.

When a person receives a massage their body enters the "Rest and Digest: mode or Parasympathetic Nervous System in which our natural morphine like substances, the endorphins, and oxytocin are produced. The Touch Research Institute at The University of Miami has discovered that this beneficial effect happens not only in the person getting the massage but in the person giving the massage as well!

I see my role as a facilitator in your healing. Our bodies are inherently self-healing and it is my goal to help you discover how to create balance in your life. I wrote this little poem that I feel is true.

"Pain is your teacher...

First it will whisper,

Then it will shout,

Then it will hold you hostage

Until you figure it out !!!"

We can create imbalances physically when we strengthen our muscles more than we stretch them or vice versa. When we are not being true to ourselves emotionally or spiritually it can also manifest as muscle tension and pain in our bodies. "Acid thoughts" are as debilitating as lactic acid in the muscles! When we receive a massage we have an opportunity to sink into our mind, body and soul and listen deeply to what they are saying.

I like to encourage people to follow their heart and share their special gifts with the world. I am blessed to be able to do work that I love… it’s been said if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life!!!

I hold a larger vision that I share with many touch practitioners, that is to see everyone on the planet receiving and giving nurturing touch on a daily basis. People in our society are touch deprived which can lead to depression, alienation, loneliness, promiscuity and even aggression.