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 Hi,
I've started a new program to wellness using a Fitbit One. It logs my movement and sleep patterns and helps me keep track of calories burned and food intake. I have a goal of losing 30 pounds by July 29th (when I leave on my trip to Peru). Follow along and I will post updates on my progress!

- Lee Blank. 9:14:43 PM

The Rockville Chamber of Commerce held a Mix and Mingle at Massuage last Friday. More than 20 people came and enjoyed free massages and great food provided by the Bean Bag on Gude Drive. Thanks to Andrea Jolly, Director of the Chamber, for all her help and to everyone who stopped by.

Massuage will be helping out at the Chamber booth at Hometown Holidays on Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend from 3-6 pm. Come out and support the Taste of Rockville and Hometown Holidays!!

- Lee Blank. 10:22:23 PM

  A little background in how I came to apply for the Tim Bresenden scholarship:

I have been interested in Mana Lomi for about a year now, ever since I stumbled across the website of Barbara Helynn. She lives in Seattle Washington and was a student of Dr. Maka’ala Yates, like Jeana. Barbara talks about how discovering Mana Lomi was life changing for her. The concept of a healing traditional style of massage combined with orthopedic concepts seemed like a wonderful blend.

One day this last August I was thinking about Lomi Lomi again and I googled it and up popped the website of a school called Diamond Light. They had a page about a Lomi Lomi Scholarship for a week of training on Maui. It didn’t have a deadline date but I assumed the deadline had passed so I didn’t reply. Then, later that week, I received a facebook post from PMTI, the massage school I attended, saying that Hale Ho’omana was still accepting entries. I had a client cancel that very day so I sat right down and typed up my entry and submitted it. I didn’t know much about Tim, other that what the announcement said – that he was a peacemaker and bridge-builder. I did, however, know immediately that my office partner Sarah had been the healing presence in my life. I laughed and cried as I wrote about her. That alone would have been enough joy but a few weeks later I received the email saying I had won the scholarship.

I opened that email on Saturday morning, September 17^th, 2011 and proceeded to spend the next four hours finding out more about Tim, and his family. It is amazing what you can learn about someone on the web. I watched videos of Tim, himself, speaking about his journey. I watched tribute and memorial videos. I read family websites. To me it felt like Tim and Sarah had conspired to bring me something so special that I was afraid I might not live up to it. Then I watched the videos and read the information on Jeana’s website and I knew that she was the teacher for me and that all of this was not just a coincidence. As Jared Enyart said “One person’s story has the power to affect a million others� and this special new relationship will continue to honor Tim in ways I can only begin to suspect.

My experience on Maui:

Once the reality sunk in that I would be heading to Maui in a month I was floating on air. I began to busily rearrange my practice and obligations so I could focus on preparing myself to learn. I really had no idea how profound the experience would be. It took me fifteen hours to reach Maui from home and I savored that time to read and listen to music on my ipod. I was picked up at the airport and once I arrived at Hale Ho’omana I was so happy to know I would be staying with five classmates in the big house. We would share kitchen space and cook together and have evenings to get to know one another. The group included Heather and Amanda from Tucson, Kara from Saskatchewan, Vilma from Hawaii (my roommate) and Ana from California – originally from Brazil.

The Lomi Lomi class work was so valuable but I believe the community formed by our large class group of 25 was equally valuable. We shared so much about our personal journeys and learned about the spiritual values and history of the Hawaiian culture. The practice of Ho’oponopono was new to me and really calls to me as a personal practice. I learned the sequence of Lomi by practicing and experiencing it and also by visualization. Jeana’s repetition and her informal teaching style really helped me to integrate the process.

The sacred sites tour was a wonderful part of the journey. After visiting the valley to hear Jeana talk about medicinal plants and history we floated in a mountain stream and later dipped in the ocean. Then I stood on the sacred space overlooking the ocean and suddenly felt as if I could fly. I envisioned myself as a Thunderbird poised atop a totem pole. I can honestly say I have carried that sensation into the treatment room with me every day since. My work is energized and my appreciation of my clients as whole beings has grown.

Later in the week we visited Waimea Bay and I had the most profound experience of the trip. I had taken some of Sarah’s hot stones back to Hawaii with me. After talking with Bush, who owns the land where we were helping to clear a taro patch, I returned Sarah’s stones to the sea, one by one. The wind was blowing and the sea was crashing and at that point I felt so strongly that Sarah and Tim were with me on the shore. The class circled up to chant as a group and the words of the chant seemed to come to me, even though I had never heard it before. I only took three stones that day, one that Sarah led me to and one that Tim led me to and a third that was sitting right where the river met the sea.

One of the many surprises of the trip happened on the last day, as we were preparing for the graduation ceremony. Standing in the kitchen, talking to Jeana was Barbara, the person who had drawn me to Mana Lomi in the first place. She had just arrived to participate in a class with Kapua the following day, and ended up being my roommate for the night. It was an amazing closing of a bigger circle to have her there to participate in our closing circle.

The aftermath – what comes now

Since returning home I have made great progress on my goals. I completed my 15 Lomi Lomi sessions and wrote the reports to send to Jeana for my certification. I donated the revenue from the sessions by having my clients make their checks out to Manna Food Bank or Montgomery Hospice. In all $870 in money was donated and lots of food was donated as well.

I met with Lauren from Healwell.org to discuss collaborating on massage classes for caregivers of people living with cancer. I started a $1000 per year scholarship fund in Tim and Sarah's name to support Healwell's Hospital Massage Stewardship Program at Virginia Hospital Center.

I recruited three therapist friends and we have organized a class to be presented at Hope Connections for Cancer , Living with Cancer and other supportive organizations in the area. The class features the DVD program, Touch, Caring and Cancer, which was developed using a grant from the National Cancer Institute. We will offer the class here at my classroom space and at hospices and hospitals in the region. I created two annual scholarships for Healwell in memory of Tim and Sarah. Each year $500 will be awarded to one man and one woman to be used toward the

I plan to continue studying Mana Lomi and Ho’oponopono and hope to have Jeana come and teach in my space. I would also like to meet and learn from Maka’ala Yates. I will begin offering Mana Lomi and integrating the Aloha spirit into all my sessions. I’m sure this is just the beginning of great things to come.

- Lee Blank. 10:17:28 PM