spreading nina.
Several months ago, the third edition of The Educated Heart: Professional Boundaries for Massage Therapists and Bodyworkers was published. Written by my friend Nina (rhymes with China), she told me when the first box of books arrived from the publisher that it was the thing she was most proud of in her life. She was dying of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) when she made those edits and when that box arrived, a box that is now in my dining room, having been left to me after Nina died on July 18th.
Used by massage schools and bodyworkers across the U.S., The Educated Heart is about professional boundaries and ethics for massage therapists, bodyworkers and movement teachers. I would like to spread Nina's words by giving away these copies to readers who are in those professional fields.
After Nina died, I sent two books from her shelves, "The Diary of a Worm" and "How to Massage a Cat," to two friends, Kathy and Amy, who had helped me through the months of caring for Nina and during that weekend in which she died. Amy mentioned that sending those books was like spreading Nina's ashes. And so it is. I'm spreading Nina.
If you are in one of those professional fields (massage, bodywork, movement) and would like to be entered in a drawing for a copy of Nina's book, please email your mailing address (to patti AT pattidigh DOT com) with the subject line (very important): NINA RHYMES WITH CHINA. I'll do a drawing in a week or so.
