Cathy Thompson - The Thompson Method of Bodywork: Structural Alignment, Core Strength, and Emotional Release

THE Thompson Method
OF Bodywork

Cathy Thompson had the rarest combination of experience, knowledge, and pure instinct. I only had to walk in the door for her to understand where I was at physically and emotionally. And the results were as unorthodox and surprising as her methods. She was one of a kind.

HUGH JACKMAN, ACTOR AND PRODUCER

Cathys extraordinary gift began in her brain, traveled to her heart, and continued through the tips of her fingers.

KATHIE LEE GIFFORD, TV PERSONALITY AND AUTHOR

Throughout my professional operatic and teaching careers, I have been blessed with many who have supported and enabled my vocal strength and health. Cathy Thompson and now Tara Thompson Lewis have been instrumental in my success as a singer and teacher. Specializing in physical manipulation for professional singers, actors, and dancers, they are able to relieve pain, tension, and realign the body to achieve optimal health and performance. Here in New York City in my own professional voice studio, I am able to utilize their techniques to help my students understand the importance of proper physical organization as it applies especially to singing. I urge anyone who wants to be a better, healthier performer to read this book. I enthusiastically recommend their techniques, and I continue to be a delighted and grateful client.

CANDACE GOETZ, OPERA SINGER AND FOUNDER OF THE CANDACE GOETZ VOICE STUDIO

Tara Thompson Lewis has done a masterful job in completing this ambitious book begun by her late mentor and mother, Cathy Thompson, thus making these brilliant teachings available to anyone. The Thompson Method of Bodywork presents mountains of useful information (much of it drawn from Zen Shiatsu) and offers a banquet of exercises for healing the kyo/jitsu relationship within ourselves, whether the triggers happen to be physical injury, structural misalignment, or psychological, spiritual, or emotional pain.

KATHLEEN PORTER, AUTHOR OF NATURAL POSTURE FOR PAIN-FREE LIVING AND HEALTHY POSTURE FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN

I spent many years working with Cathy Thompson (and then with Tara), and reading this material reminded me of Cathys very specific genius: her profound understanding of the body and, may I say, much more. Working with both of them had a profound effect on my singing, and indeed my life, and its a great pleasure to be able to reconnect with Cathys way of thinking and working while reading this book. I recommend it highly for anyone interested in changing, improving, and enriching their lives. It certainly did mine.

STEVEN LUTVAK, SINGER-SONGWRITER AND COMPOSER AND LYRICIST OF THE TONY AWARDWINNING BROADWAY MUSICAL A GENTLEMANS GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER

I first began seeing Cathy Thompson in my 20s, while starting on Broadway. Both my physical life and emotional life were quite demanding, and I needed all around custom-tailored care. After each and every session Ive had, Ive walked out feeling calmer, yet more energized, as well as open. As a vocalist and performer, being a clear channel is of the utmost importance.

DEBBIE GIBSON, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER, RECORD PRODUCER, AND ACTRESS

I began working with Cathy Thompson over 20 years ago, as a young singer with chronic throat tension. At the time, I thought her work was magical, her intuition uncanny. Over the years, I began to understand how the Thompson Method works and what Cathy was doing when she worked on my body and encouraged me to explore on my own. Now, two decades later, I am thrilled that Cathys work is available to everyone who is interested in learning about how to take care of their bodies, voices, and minds. In addition to singing, I teach voice to a wide range of students. Access to the Thompson Method will add a great deal of value to their practice routines. In each chapter, Cathy explores and explains possible reasons for tension or lack of strength and mobility and then offers well-explained and illustrated exercises to address each of these aspects. Twenty plus years after being introduced to it, I am still reaping benefits from and learning about the Thompson Method, and I am grateful for it.

JAMIE LEONHART, SINGER, SONGWRITER, AND VOICE TEACHER

Acknowledgments

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK Suzan Postel, who worked closely for years with Cathy and me, for her dedicated help and support with the entire writing process. Special thanks also to Joan Lader, Candace Goetz, Jamie Leonhart, Judith Clurman, Trebbe Johnson, Carrie Jacquith, Chris Simpson, Darren Aronofsky, Megan Frummer, Steven Lutvak, Ruth Williams Hennessy, Elissa Lewis, and Ohashi. I would also like to thank Mike Saijo, Michelle Joo, and Miguel (the three Ms!) for their dedication to creating the essential and beautiful illustrations to complement my mothers text, and all of our clients who have provided themselves for the development of the material. Thank you to everyone at Inner Traditions/Healing Arts Press for making the publishing process a pleasure. Id also like to thank my husband, Brandon Lewis, for always supporting and motivating me and patiently helping me bring this project to you. I would like to thank my daughter, Adela, for giving me motivation and her wonderful nanny, Ariane, who made it possible.

T.T.L.

Foreword

WHEN TARA ASKED ME to write a foreword to her book, written with her mother, I did not hesitate. I have known both authors for a very long time; in fact, Tara was conceived in my apartment! Her mother, Cathy Thompson, studied Ohashiatsu with me at the Ohashi Institute, which at that time, in 1982, was called the Shiatsu Education Center of America, at 52 West 55th Street, in Manhattan. I remember Cathy well for the intensity of her study. She always sat in the very front, staring at me with her piercing eyes. While at the institute she began dating Taras father, Michal Pober, from the former Czechoslovakia, who was also my student. One summer we went up to our vacation house in Kinderhook, New York, and they asked to stay in our Upper West Side apartment. Nine months later, Tara was born. So I have known her since she was in the womb.

Tara began studying with me herself in the fall of 2012 and has been studying with me ever since. So the book that you have in front of you is the result of two generations of commitment and study. You will find many exercises within. In my own many years of practice I have found that treatment is exercise given by the therapist; exercise is self-treatment. The Thompson Method gives you tools you can use to give your own treatment to yourself. Please approach the exercises the way that you would want a therapist to approach you, with openness and compassion..

I am so happy to see my students publishing with Inner Traditions, which has a long history of publishing excellent books, especially in the field of holistic health. Mr. Ehud Sperling, the owner, started at the Samuel Weiser bookstore in Greenwich Village and has dedicated his entire life to publishing.

I heartily recommend this work to those who work with the body or who are interested in healing and caring for themselves. It is a pleasure to see my students grow and expand the world of bodywork.

OHASHI

In Japanese, the name Ohashi means big bridge, the perfect name for someone who has devoted his life to bringing Eastern modes of healing to the West. Ohashi lectures and teaches internationally and is the author of six books, which have been translated into eight languages, and eleven videos on his technique. In 2007, he was honored with a Cultural Bridge Award in recognition of popularizing the Japanese therapy of shiatsu in the United States and Europe.