In the year 2008 I have been 58 years on this planet, with this body. I find that interesting! I feel pretty good for this age. My body can still do many things I have enjoyed since my youth. I know I am here at this time to assist others and myself, to experience a more rewarding and fulfilling interaction between all of our expressions.

One thing that may help you to understand my views and where I come from is my background. I was born in Bronxville, New York and, as an adult, later worked in the dietary department of the hospital in which I was born. I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. It was not easy to study alternative medicine or other health-related studies then. Traditional health practices dominated the scene.

In high school I was fascinated by science and yearned to someday be involved with research that would discover cures for new or rare diseases. I had two microscopes and a telescope. My basement was filled with a variety of anything from a sophisticated chemistry laboratory to a photography laboratory as well.  I had interests in geology, botany and biology and collected all sorts of slides and rocks. I loved gardening. I also had a natural curiosity regarding space, stars and the goings on out there. It took me a while to realize that, if it is going on out there, it is going on inside of us, as well.

I was always searching to learn what I did not know; so, in high school, I majored in mathematics, to prepare for a degree in business management in college. Although I loved biology and history in high school, I also loved music, drama and singing. I received special achievement awards for singing while in high school, and was elected treasurer of the Westchester County Library Assistant's Association.

I was on the gymnastics team in junior high school; however, a bicycle racing accident cut short my gymnastics participation in high school.

My high school councilors described me as, "a young man of good character and pleasing, if retiring, personality who has tried hard in a very demanding academic program, He has a great deal of determination...and he has a degree of intellectual curiosity and independence of thought." They also described me as consistently trustworthy and well-balanced. My high school record showed that I was on the General Organization of the Student Council's Junior Prom Committee as well as the Library Squad.

As a member of the Boy Scouts of America, I traveled to Boston and saw all the historic sites there. We also visited Washington, D. C., where we visited all the prominent buildings The National Achieves where we saw the United States Constitution and The Declaration of Independence and museums along with the White House and sat in on a session of Congress. We even journeyed south to Virginia to visit Arlington Cemetery and George Washington's home in Mount Vernon. The last trip I made with my troop was to Expo '67 in Montreal, Canada.

In college, I studied science, biology, mathematics, and data processing (an early course in what we now call Computer Science). Hard to believe, there was no degree in those days for computer science. Many of the business courses were interesting and I graduated with an Associate's Degree in Business Marketing. I also played tennis and was involved in archery. I was also singing and skiing in college. I was elected president of the Westchester Singers.

The main reason I found it hard to continue studies in medicine, at that time, was my extreme allergic reaction to formaldehyde. Oh, well, on to some other plane of endeavor.

I tried to continue with my studies after I was accepted by Iona College, except I found myself writing music and poetry in every class and left in my third year to work. This short period was filled with all kinds of studies in scientific health and various groups that supported alternate ways of looking at life, processing through to a clearer view of ourselves, and meditations that could keep one in control of body, mind and emotions.

During the 1980's and 1990's my next course of action took me to work with computers where I was working at 7 World trade Center in New York City until 1997 writing instructional manuals and implementing them and coordinating four data centers for a large brokerage firm. While accomplishing this I studied healing techniques. The range of study was wide. Some of these included Alexander Technique, Heller Work, Tai-Chi, Crystal Therapy, astrology, numerology, Tarot, palmistry, I-Ching, Dream Therapy, Feldencrest Work, Herbology and natural medicines along with Chinese Medicine, Reiki, The Radiance Technique, massage therapy, Shiatsu, Reflexology and courses in nutrition, natural whole foods and vitamins, just to name a few.

I am a graduate of The Swedish Institute in New York City, and I am a New York State Licensed Massage Therapist and Shiatsu Practitioner since 1990. I have been initiated as a Reiki Master and have completed a Masters Program of Spiritual Science at Santa Fe College in New Mexico in coordination with Peace Theological Seminary & College of Philosophy in Santa Monica, California. Another journey took me to participate and receive the Kalachakra Initiation from the Dalai Lama.

I retired from Wall Street in 1997 and legally changed my name to Michael Manion. There were several reasons for this change. I was living a new life. My father who had died of gun shot in 1974 in the town I grew up in and I had the same name. I needed my own identity and Michael had been my mother's favorite name and fit me better for the work I was doing at the time. Manion was a name that had spiritual connotations for me personally. 1997 was one interesting year. I did a lot of traveling. Traveling across the United States several times and to Monterrey, Merida and Mexico City, Mexico. I visited Mayan and Aztec ruins. In the fall of that same year bought 40 acres in Arizona and planned to build a home. I've moved a few times since then.

1999 made a trip to Europe and visited Denmark, France which included Paris, Netherlands which included Amsterdam, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy which included Rome and Greece which included Athens.

On 15 June 2000 I became a Universal Life Minister. The same year was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Surprise, AZ.

In 2003 encouraged by family and friends I returned to academic pursuits at the college level. In 2005  I graduated at Glendale Community College with associate degrees in General studies and another associates degree in Arts while being on the Presidents Honor list. Then onto a four year degree. I graduated Arizona State University with a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in Human Physiology in 2007. This also completed my pre-med requirements for entering medical school.

In May 2007 my family and I took a cruise from Florida and visited Grand Cayman, The coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico - Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Belize. Once again visiting many Mayan ruins which included Tulum.

I currently live in Mesa, Arizona, where I am practicing as a Massage Therapist, Shiatsu Practitioner and an ONA Instructor and Practitioner as well as all the rest of my craft.

©1997-2008 Michael Manion
All Rights Reserved