Massage therapist’s secret: You can learn the techniques, and do it yourself. Discover pain areas of back, for example, a tennis ball and yoga matt; by laying down a yoga matt, place a tennis ball upon it, then lay your back down, and roll around discovering pain areas and trigger points. Further, use a basketball for yet a different pressure of discovery or for use in massage itself. Dr. Cassar and Justin Avery suggested this technique to me during my 3 week stay at the retreat April 2015. I had multiple areas in the upper back, neck and jaw, with a right leg pain left over from a surgery in that one by one they would join into the “cramp” that contorted my whole body to be stiff and rigid and painful. So, massaging one of the cramped muscle helped, but the cramp would come right back. The discovery was, that all of the areas required “kneading” or pressure stroking during the same session, to eliminate the stress from one, affecting or “pulling” on another area. For example, my jaw muscle on one side would cramp, and cause my C4 neck vertibrae to slip forward. Or, it would begin in my back below the shoulder blade, and cause tension on another area. Even during yoga, my jaw muscle would be “tight”, even when I thought I was relaxed. As I was taking notice of the eight areas of tension in my body, well, it seemed at any given moment of the day or night, I would have a tension … sort of like if you held a cup of water in your hand, a slight pressure to actually hold the cup, but felt normal. However, at any given moment, one of these “trigger” areas would transcend into another area and when all your tensed, I had debilitating pain. Now, I notice when I am “holding a cup” of tension anywhere, and begin massaging the area before the greater multi area cramping begins. I had this kind of combinations of pain since 1991 after an auto accident and just got used to it. Attending the Hawwaiin Retreat allowed me to take a look at my body and how it works with professional guidance and diet and massage techniques that resulted in me being totally pain free on or about the second week into the “fast”. Justin Avery, a massage therapist extraordaire came to the retreat every few days, and gave me and others a full body message, and discovered many tense areas. He further suggestted techniques of “shaking it out, get the blood flowing” and to find a Reflexology Diagram and book on Shiatzu. My pain is not gone, but it is manageable . . . I had just given into the pain before. Thank you Dr. Cassar, Dr. Mari and Justin Avery! You may contact Justin the message therapist (he lives in Hawaii of course) by email: JustinAvery@gmail.com