Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/530196
Energy is information that vibrates, and there are two basic types of energy. The standard issue is sensory or physical energy, which comprises the appearance of reality. Subtle energy is the hidden stuff. It flows under the surface, but votes on what will emerge or disappear in physical reality. If we can stimulate the subtle energy of love, which exists no matter how rough life appears, we exponentially increase the potential for ease and healing. THE BODY'S FORCES Love is the most powerful antidote in the world. It can positively alter our approach, behavior, and perception, and alleviate situations that are difficult or negative. It can lift our mood, better our health, and even decrease pain. Although I recognize that love is emotional, conceptual, and spiritual, the most effective way to perceive it as a medicine is to acknowledge it as electromagnetic and chemical. The newly defined discipline of neurocardiology, which treats love as an electromagnetic force, focuses on the power of the physical heart to transform the body. Neurocardiology appoints the heart with the function of a "love ambassador" or a sort of "love brain" that communicates to the brain through a complex electromagnetic field. This electromagnetic field has an amplitude about 60 times greater than that produced by the brain, permeates every cell in the body, and produces a magnetic field that can be detected several feet away from the body. 104 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k j u l y / a u g u s t 2 0 1 5 When we hold positive emotions such as gratitude or compassion in our heart, our heart patterns encourage healthy responses within our body, brain, and emotions, accomplishing everything from lowering our blood pressure to improving our mental function. The opposite is also true: negative perceptions increase stress. 1 The heart is also one of the two main producers of the chemicals of love (e.g., oxytocin, a hormone produced by the brain and heart when we're exposed to affection). Oxytocin stimulates what is called the dopamine reward system, which enables us to feel pleasure. Increased oxytocin makes us feel good, but also lowers stress hormones, reduces blood pressure, improves mood, enables pain tolerance, and can even speed up wound healing. 2 Thus, we can see why we want to bathe our clients with love and encourage them to do the same for themselves. REFRAMING NEGATIVITY As a bodyworker, your touch is one of your main mirroring tools. You obviously don't want to send pain back to a client in pain. You want to resonate love, which could be packaged as affection, care, acceptance, compassion, friendliness, or any other uplifting sensation. This activity is more powerful than you might think. Consider that when two people touch, the "heartwave" of one registers in the brainwave of the other. 3 As a bodyworker, the subtle energy enfolded within your touch can shift your client's heart rhythm into a coherent, and subsequently, healing state, as long as you are mirroring or reflecting love. Even if you're standing 8–10 feet away from a client, your heart's energetic field shares blessings. 4 All you have to do is concentrate on a loving sensation, image, or thought within your heart area to mirror or transfer love to your client. Of course, if your client makes a comment, she wants a verbal response. If the statement is negative, we're now provided the opportunity to act as an energetic guide. We want to be smarter than the mirror on the queen's wall and avoid causing an adverse reaction. We want to guide the client toward love and, specifically, self-compassion. Think about it: most of a client's negative comments are actually directed toward themselves. "I can't handle pain"; "No one understands what I'm Love is the most powerful antidote in the world. It can positively alter our approach, behavior, and perception, and alleviate situations that are difficult or negative.