Well, school is up and running again, but I am still in "vacation mode" I think... Anatomy exam on Monday and I have barely studied! I just wanted to write a quick blog to comment on how COOL my school is.

My last 2 classes today were Art & Practice followed by Soft Tissue Manipulation. Art & Practice will begin each week with a DRAWING exercise. Today's was to draw ourselves with our greatest problem. Then to draw ourselves WITHOUT our greatest problem. Then to draw what would get us from the first to the second... This was surprisingly hard (and emotional for many). Assignments in this class include: Drawing and presenting our "social atom": ourselves at the centre and rings of people around us as our supporters, stressors, whatever. Creating a visual "life map" of major events/influencers in our lives AND drawing our vision for our futures. Going on a contemplative (all day suggested) "nature walk" and journalling about the experience. The whole class is focused on personal development, learning listening skills/compassion, and generally becoming great healers. THIS IS WHAT SCHOOL SHOULD BE FOR!!!

Following that class I have 4 hours of Soft Tissue Manipulation. This is the class in which we learn basic massage techniques. It is 7 weeks long and consists mostly of practical sessions in which students learn and practice massage on one another. Today we had a little "intro" class in which 50 of us in my section went around the room and introduced ourselves and discussed a bit about why we are becoming NDs, our experience with massage, and any other interesting stuff. For this many people it took a long time, but was FASCINATING! Then we ended the class by learning and giving each other a shoulder/head massage! Sooooo good. And I get to do this every week.

By no means is my program at school easy, affordable, or stress-free, but it is more enjoyable than any other schooling I've ever had. It goes far beyond the purely academic to reach physical, emotional, and spiritual levels.