PROFESSIONAL REPRESENTATION IN THE HEALING ARTS OF MASSAGE AND YOGA

PROFESSIONAL REPRESENTATION IN THE HEALING ARTS

THERE ARE DELICATE MATTERS EMBODIED WITHIN THE QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL REPRESENTATION.

There are many delicate concerns inherent within the subject of professional therapeutic representation.

Within authentic Yoga Massage Therapy, issues such as teacher inexperience, inadequate education, disingenuous character, and inappropriate motivation are all significant considerations to resolve.

Before certifying anyone as a professional representative of yoga massage therapy, these important concerns, and others, such as the imposition of a teacher’s false ego [ahamkara] or their predominant desire for money overriding the natural purity inherent in the Art, need to be brought into the light of peer examination.

As we are each at a critical juncture with our spiritual evolution as well as within global consciousness, it is my effort here to eliminate the compromising, watering down, impeding upon, contorting, convoluting, and over-simplifying, even ‘in-authenticating’, the customary shamanistic vehicles of yoga massage therapy.

As is well documented in my travel schedule, I have had the wondrous privilege, almost every weekend for the past twenty years, of circulating freely within many New Age healing facilities and yoga centers. Thus, I have unwittingly become a sort of sentinel.

I have become fortified against anything that is not professionally effective for the Art of mature Vedic Bodywork and Yoga Massage therapy.

IDENTIFYING THE BEST PROFESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Please consider the following recommendations for securing the best possible learning environments and genuine teachers.

This formula is an effective process for eliminating the fraudulent representations that are spoiling the sincere attempts of those persons desiring professional qualifications for their physical, emotional, and spiritual dharmas.

Before enrolling in any presentation, course, lecture, kirtan, or class, etc., be certain to have communication with at least three students from the presenter/instructor’s most recent course..

Inquire from these students about the quality of, and their personal feelings about, the teacher and the content. This may sound too simple and even ineffective, yet please estimate this directive as positive. It is an effort to procure the best possible experience and qualitative learning.

We can be here and now put on notice that there is no shortage of data on the subject of false ‘medical professionals’ and fraudulent teachers.

Within the educational arts, misrepresentation and inadequate instructional ability sometimes seem more the norm than the unique. It has been my experience that there are individuals within the transformational healing folk arts who are claiming to be Doctors…and they are not! These individuals are masquerading as true, yet are in fact anything but, and quite the contrary!

WE DESERVE THE BEST!

There are individuals whose purpose and charisma have long ago waned, even expired. These weakened souls, supposedly representing leadership and instruction, have become tired and uninspired, yet sadly remain representing their art in their dharma with suspect and unqualified motivations such as just earning money, sentimentality, or even fear of spiritual growth.

Again, to provide an example, there are so-called leaders of Kirtan [the yogic tradition of congregational singing and dancing of sacred mantras] who claim to possess the qualities of ecstatic Bhakti devotional Yoga, yet whose vows obviously and unfortunately seem to only include personal comfort and an easy lifestyle.

Aside from unfortunate examples in the yoga teacher and massage instructor communities, I have seen another example in India where some so-called leaders in Kirtan singing and dancing are described as emotional sentimentalists possessing no substantive commitment. These individuals are termed Sahadjias or fake ecstatics.

To defend and to fortify professional integrity within all the healing Arts, including yoga and massage, the Vedic Culture, for example, has established the four sacred columns of integrity known as Kama [material integrity], Moksha [spiritual liberation], Dharma [occupational inclination], and Artha [economic fulfillment].

From these sacred customs, an authentic and confidence-inducing professional representation of therapeutic integrity naturally emerges to safeguard all the genuine noble folk arts.

Misleading credentials, false certifications, unfulfilled expectations, and thwarted intentions from individuals who are shallow, inexperienced, and unqualified need to be identified and removed from the noble arts of education and healing.

Earnest individuals, serious seekers, honest endeavorers, and sincere persons must not exchange these fine qualities and their hard-earned money for anything but authentic, dedicated teachers and lessons that have been tempered by the fires of time, devotion, and expertise.

“It is better to be a sincere street sweeper than a charlatan guru [teacher]”

Srila Prabhupada