Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1402696
84 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k s e p te m b e r/o c to b e r 2 0 2 1 "Feelization" Connect with Clients on a Deeper Level By Allison Denney technique | THE REBEL MT Feelization. It's the word everyone is talking about. Except not really. Because I just made it up. But think about it for a second. Have you ever had one of those moments when you felt something so deeply it made you realize an eye-opening truth about life? Like, the first time you worked out really hard and understood what a love-hate relationship meant. That's feelization—a feeling that leads to a realization, otherwise known as an emothought, but with a much better ring to it. As a massage therapist, you probably learned at one point or another that if you are really present when you work, if you are really there in the moment, you will notice things that are happening under the skin and your work will be worlds better. But being present isn't the easiest thing to do, even though it sounds simple enough. BE PRESENT Be present. It's just two words. It can't be that hard to be in the moment, right? Well, it turns out that being present is about as easy as riding a unicycle on a tightrope while juggling, texting, hula-hooping, and playing the harmonica. It makes tapping your head while rubbing your belly look like child's play! That said, there are some amazing tricks to letting go of all the thought clutter so you can truly be present in a session. Meditation and grounding exercises are probably two of the most popular, which some of us were lucky enough to have learned as a part of our curriculum in school. (But, then again, most of us struggle with implementing a lot of what we learned. I mean, I have meditated thousands of times in my life and yet I still find myself questioning where all that deep peace resides in my brain when it feels like the cacophony of irritation and frustration drowns everything else out.) So how do we get more feelization moments with our clients? How do we put the chaos of the chatter aside and stay truly present with a muscle? Peaceful walks, more moments with some tea, and a good book are helpful, but I suspect there's another approach. What if we come at