EarthTouch Shiatsu

11/13/2025

Under Maryland laws and regulations pertaining to massage therapy, "[a] license holder or registration holder may not...[d]iscriminate against a client...based on race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or disability[.]" The NCBTMB Code of Ethics requires that therapists they certify "[r]efuse to unjustly discriminate against clients and/or health professionals," while the NCCAOM code of ethics requires Diplomates to "[a]ssist those seeking my services in a fair, nondiscriminatory and unbiased manner." (I let my NCBTMB certification lapse long ago, while maintaining my NCCAOM Diplomate in Asian Bodywork Therapy, but I'm citing them both for context.)

A massage or bodywork therapist who discriminates against entire classes of people in this manner is in grave violation of professional ethics, and depending on the state, of regulatory law.

Now, I will absolutely discriminate against individual clients who do not behave properly! And I've encountered that a few times over the years. But I have zero tolerance for unprofessional LMTs who discriminate based on these sort of classes. That includes racist, religiously bigoted, or homophobic therapists, but it also includes LMTs who refuse to treat male clients.

If you encounter such a bodywork therapist, I encourage you to report them to the appropriate regulatory and/or certification authority.

10/21/2025

New client today, 60-something gentleman referred by his wife, walked in with a bad limp, walked out without one saying "I haven't been able to do that in three weeks."

08/08/2025

To the Maryland Department of Health and the Board of Massage Therapy Examiners:

I am extremely concerned to learn that the Department of Health
and the Board of Massage Therapy Examiners are proposing new
burdensome, culturally insensitive regulations regarding a topic they do not understand.

Gua sha is a method of Asian bodywork which has been in use as both a professional treatment by bodywork therapists and acupuncturists, and a folk treatment, for thousands of years. It is sometimes called "coining" or "spooning" from the use of these items as tools for self or family care.

I was trained in gua sha in my studies in the Baltimore School
of Massage's Shiatsu and Asian Bodywork program more than 20 years ago, and have taken several continuing education classes using it since then.

In recent years, some enterprising teachers have repackaged this ancient treatment under names like "Graston technique" or
"instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization", but it is nothing new.

However it seems that some of these entrepreneurs have bamboozeled Maryland regulators into proposing that massage therapists in Maryland who wish to use this ancient technique -- and in some cases have been using it for decades -- must take their specific class and pay additional fees to the board.

Besides being a corrupt, expensive, and burdensome regulation
places on Maryland massage therapists, already dealing with hostile economic conditions, this proposed regulation is rooted in cultural ignorance about the origin of this therapy. In the past gua sha occasionally led to confusion among culturally ignorant teachers who wrongly believed the marks it leaves were evidence of child abuse. I thought that we were past the point were it was viewed as something dangerous, but this proposal to regulate it even more strongly than massage shows that ignorance abides. This is not a new therapy, we have been practicing it for centuries.

Even more stunning is the fact the Board made no mention of
this proposal to therapists! No notification was sent to us. We found
out about it only via social media.

This proposal is one of the worst regulatory ideas I have ever
heard proposed, and I cannot urge you strongly enough to abandon it.

Thank you.

Tom Swiss
Dipl. ABT (NCCAOM), CP (AOBTA), LMT (Maryland)

07/31/2025

Tui Na class with CEUSeminars.org in Olympia WA last weekend.

07/31/2025

One of the nice things about massage/Asian Bodywork therapy continuing education is that we learn by practicing on each other. So while I did several hours of bodywork last weekend in CEUSeminars.org's great tui na (Chinese medical massage) class in Olympia WA , I also *received* several hours of bodywork last weekend.

06/28/2025

Chance of a thunderstorm but otherwise should be good weather for KarmaFest this weekend. I'll be set up to do shiatsu and also teaching a free workshop Saturday evening.

06/19/2025

Dear shiatsu and massage clients and friends,

Karmafest

For 20 years, KarmaFest has been the "ultimate Holistic/Psychic/Yoga festival", with numerous events in the area. The final KarmaFest event -- "KarmaFest UNITY – The Big Show, LAST CHANCE, LAST DANCE!" will be held at Steppingstone Museum on June 28th and 29th, with music performances, numerous workshops, and many wonderful vendors. I will be set up to do shiatsu and massage both days, and doing a free workshop on self-care with shiatsu on Saturday the 28th at 5:45pm. https://karmafest.com/

Summer Sale

Now through September 22nd, take $10 off one session or $15 off a two-session package when you mention our summer sale.

As always, thank you for your support and patronage!

Beloved KarmaFest Friends ~ We are currently heading into our 20th and Final Year for KarmaFest. Our “Big Show” UNITY at Steppingstone will be the last KarmaFest Ever. Last Chance, Last Dance KARMAFEST UNITY is happening at Steppingstone in Havre de Grace, MD June 28th and 29th, 2025. Do mark yo...

06/15/2025

Spent today teaching shiatsu to massage therapy students at Potomac Massage Training Institute PMTI. One student: "I didn't think I'd like shiatsu but I do!" Not sure why she picked this elective then, but glad to havr a convert. Find out why she changed her mind, schedule your appointment today! (LMTs: I hope to be able to offer this class for CE later this year. Contact me for more information.)

06/06/2025

Had a new shiatsu client today who paid me a great compliment: "I may send my mom."

05/16/2025

I am stunned to learn that the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine is considering a name change which would both 1. abandon its role in traditional East Asian ("Oriental") medicine outside of acupuncture and herbalism, and 2.claim a role over Western herbalism that it has never possessed.

1. For 20 year, my Asian Bodywork Therapy diplomate has been my proudest professional credential, meaning more to me than the M.S. in Computer Science I earned. While we ABT Diplomates are a small group practicing a branch of TCM distinct from acupuncture or herbalism, and NCCAOM no longer offers the exam, I have always tried to emphasize the unity of practice when speaking to the public or educating massage therapists about ABT. What is to become of us ABT Diplomates under this plan?

2. NCCAOM does not have recognized authority over Western traditions of herbal medicine. It would therefore be deeply inappropriate for it to adopt a name which suggests that it does.

04/17/2025

Dear shiatsu and massage clients and friends:

- Self Care for Stressful Times

I wanted to let you know about this self-care class I am teaching on April 19:
Acupressure for the Spring
Saturday April 19, 2025 2-4pm (Eastern time)
The Catonsville Dojo, 6159-B Edmondson Avenue; or on-line on Zoom.

Learn self-acupressure techniques with a focus on the spring season, focusing on the Liver and Gall Bladder meridians and the Wood phase of the Five Phases. As the energy of spring rises, it's important to free the flow and direct it along lines of growth and development. To be a seed below the ground, pushing upward into the sunlight, can be a frustrating experience; we need to channel those emotions.

Pay what you will; the suggested donation for this two hour class, available in person (at the Catonsville Dojo, 6159-B Edmondson Avenue) or on-line via Zoom, is $35. (You can pay or donate here but no payment is needed to participate.)

Class size is limited, reserve your space now! https://earthtouchshiatsu.com/events/2025/Acupressure-For-Spring-Apr/

- Karmafest I'll also be teaching and vending at KarmaFest, Steppingstone in Havre de Grace, MD June 28th and 29th.

As always, thank you for your support and patronage!

Acupressure for the Spring: Apr 19, 2pm. Learn self-acupressure techniques with a focus on the spring season, focusing on the Liver and Gall Bladder meridians and the Wood phase of the Five Phases.