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Daniel Tsukayama, LMT 12532 Hawai'i Instructor Website: StructuralBodyworkHawaii.com Email: Dan@SargaBodywork.com |
Born and raised in Hawai’i, as a kid I discovered a connection to the island ecology that remains my most reliable reference to basic sanity. Building on this relationship, I spent the first several years of my adult life living and working in some of Hawai’i’s most remote places, including the uninhabited islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian archipelago. My experiences as a field biologist in these places have helped to form my understanding of the endless beauty that arises from healthy ecosystems. While my appreciation of ecological patterns continues to inform my life, my undying intrigue with our species’ tenuous reputation on the planet has incurably blurred the margin between the observer and the observed. The endless source of inspiration emerging from these margins has most effectively made me a student of the human body, and I have come to fancy it as both hologram and metaphor of the cosmos at large.
My interest in bodywork began in 2009 with Hawaiian Lomilomi, which emphasizes practitioners' cultivation of awareness as precedent to manual manipulation. With this basic approach I have been given the creative ability to call from a variety of tools, including use of the feet to boldly transfer gravitational force.
It is with a natural faith in our collective spirit and a keen curiosity about the experience of being human that I hope to inspire health and creativity in others.
There are many ways to access the multi-dimensional Self. In a society that is often distanced from a sensational experience of our bodies, a somatic approach to healing is increasingly vital.
Born and raised in Hawai’i, as a kid I discovered a connection to the island ecology that remains my most reliable reference to basic sanity. Building on this relationship, I spent the first several years of my adult life living and working in some of Hawai’i’s most remote places, including the uninhabited islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian archipelago. My experiences as a field biologist in these places have helped to form my understanding of the endless beauty that arises from healthy ecosystems. While my appreciation of ecological patterns continues to inform my life, my undying intrigue with our species’ tenuous reputation on the planet has incurably blurred the margin between the observer and the observed. The endless source of inspiration emerging from these margins has most effectively made me a student of the human body, and I have come to fancy it as both hologram and metaphor of the cosmos at large.
My interest in bodywork began in 2009 with Hawaiian Lomilomi, which emphasizes practitioners' cultivation of awareness as precedent to manual manipulation. With this basic approach I have been given the creative ability to call from a variety of tools, including use of the feet to boldly transfer gravitational force.
It is with a natural faith in our collective spirit and a keen curiosity about the experience of being human that I hope to inspire health and creativity in others.
There are many ways to access the multi-dimensional Self. In a society that is often distanced from a sensational experience of our bodies, a somatic approach to healing is increasingly vital.
Q & A:
What motivated/inspired/led you to become a professional massage therapist, and where did you go to massage therapy school? As the son of a carpenter I grew up working with my hands a lot. In my teens I fancied myself as an artist. In my 20s I considered myself a biologist. Now in my 30s I've combined all my interests into a bodywork practice! I received my massage training from Ko’olau Massage.
If you had another job/career prior to becoming a massage therapist, how does that life experience contribute to the work you do now? I spent most of my 20s in remote field locations collecting data for biological conservation groups such as The Nature Conservancy, The Fish & Wildlife Service and the American Bird Conservancy. I saw how crucial the efforts of these organizations are to understanding natural systems, but I also craved an ecological paradigm that integrated a more humanistic approach. I turned my attention towards permaculture models and eventually towards the mechanisms of health and disease within the human psyche. I feel like my life experience has given me a knack for whole systems thinking, which is always useful and entertaining for a career in the healing arts.
How long have you been licensed and practicing as an LMT? I have been licensed in the state of Hawaii as a massage therapist since 2011. I have been certified in Structural Integration since 2015.
What kind of approach do you bring to your bodywork, and what massage techniques do you specialize in? I am fascinated by how the manipulation of fasica as both structural scaffolding and sensory organ can change a person’s experience of themselves. My practice is about 80% Structural Integration and 20% Sarga Bodywork.
What kind of marketing do you use to find new clients, as well as keep current clients coming back to you? I believe that the best way to fill the books is to provide a service that cannot be replicated. While many practitioners might be trained in the same method, we all know that it is largely the practitioner, and less her/his education or technical skills that makes a therapy more or less effective. I think that as practitioners, our own unique authenticity, our ability to listen, and the compassionate support that we offer, are the most valuable skills that we bring to the table, and the more that we trust and have confidence in these unique aspects, the more that our service has efficacy.
When you are not working or in the office... I like to surf shoulder-high point breaks, grow vegetables, and hunt for good coffee in foreign cities.
