Jason Alan Griffin, teacher of Nia, Yoga Tune Up®, Strength and Toning, actor and model, shares another observation from his current apprenticeship with me.
There is a man, who I see regularly in Shmuel’s office (let’s call him Martin). I couldn’t tell what his complaint was from his posture or his gait or even from his experiences in the treatment room. So I asked him. And he told me that he has no problems. Just a bit of tightness that recurs if he doesn’t come to see Shmuel once a week.
It reminded me of that old ad for dandruff shampoo. One person is shocked to learn that the other uses this dandruff shampoo and says, “But you don’t have dandruff.” To which the response is, “Yes, exactly!” The implication being that if they didn’t use the stuff then they would have dandruff so the stuff must work.
Martin told me that he first came to see Shmuel about 25 years ago. He had been in an accident and hurt his knee. He had surgery on the knee and was debilitated and in pain. Martin’s wife had been to see Shmuel and she said he made her feel completely better, so she strongly recommended that Martin see him as well. He did, and Shmuel’s Body Tuning work helped his knee immediately. Martin was so thrilled to be without pain and so impressed by Body Tuning, that he has been back to see Dr Tatz weekly ever since.
Martin is a perfect example of someone who recognizes the value of proper, regular maintenance. He doesn’t come to the Tatz Studio for knee issues any longer. “It’s preventative,” he says. “I do it because if I don’t come back, I know my back will start to get tight.”
Shmuel says, “Yes. I am doing something that he could be doing for himself, but he doesn’t want to do it for himself, so I am doing it.” If you use your body, you need to tune it. If you use it a lot, you need to get more tuning. Shmuel’s ’rule of thumb’ is that for every week of daily, vigorous activity, you should get an hour of Body Tuning.
However, that applies to people who don’t have pain or discomfort. If you find that something has gone wrong in your body, you should see a professional Body Tuner to get you back in tune. The work of Body Tuning is so naturally good for the body, that it gets results in chronic cases (like from years of bad posture or misuse) or acute cases (like accidents). But it also serves as a way to keep the body running smoothly.
Martin has the luxury of not needing to do the work on himself because he can see Shmuel weekly. But the truth is that if we all take good care of our bodies, doing the exercises and movements that Shmuel Tatz teaches in his office, not only will our bodies be in better condition, but we will be preventing pain and injury from occurring.