When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.
Vietnamese Proverb
—My Papy + Gail for recognizing this was the perfect line of work for an odd rebel kid who couldn’t sit still and for showing me the massage school flyer that made my ears perk up. And here we are 🙂
—All the strong women who gave me my hands, descansando en paz: My great-grandmother: Doña Teresa García Aveiga de Velásquez. My grandmothers: Eudoxia Velásquez-Ochoa , Aida Maria Díaz-Fernandez. My mother: Aida Maria Velásquez-Díaz.
—Sabumnim Master Herbert for both pushing me and lifting me
—Diane Jacobs, my DNM sensei, for all the guidance and totally changing the manual therapy game against the grain to light the way forward
—Rose Pekrul, my very first extremely encouraging massage teacher circa 1994!
—Anasia A for taking me under her wing, teaching me how to work with unconditionality, and exemplifying what a fulfilling practice looks like
—Reverend White Owl + Amber for embodying sacred trust and safety
—Richard Kim, Funda Gül, and Bill Hedberg for teaching me all about contact improvisation
—Dr. Luella Toni Lewis for being a visionary unicorn and always reminding me of who I am
—BJ Handal for helping me structure my crazy ideas
—Kiera Nagle for being an example of grace and a model educator + leader
— My clients and students for the all the inspiration, constructive feedback, challenges, questions, and lessons
— Rajam Roose for showing us what a massage therapist is capable of bringing into the world
—Dr. H for the legit, gentle Tui Na
—Father Doctor Shivago Komarpaj for the unique bodywork art of Nuad Bo-rarn. This is the form that gave me room to be playful and the Four Immeasurables continue to guide my practice.
—The group mods and admins at Exploring Pain on FB. You all give so much of your time to teach so many the ropes of pain science. Thanks to you we have less and less nonsense in the world and I have learned so much 🙂
—Ronald Melzack and Dr.Wall RIP… never met them, but thanks to them for bringing us out of the Stone Ages and blasting the doors open to an accurate understanding of pain
—All the great yoga masters: there’s too many lineages to list, but thanks to them there are tools I like using to access better versions of myself in life + work
— My dog Nulla, my cat Tito, and my turtle Speedy for everything they teach me about communication, harmony, unconditional love, social grooming, true intelligence, presence, patience, honesty, connection, and instinct.
