Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72121
EMOTIONAL FREEDOM Yet, this intimate work that touches the psyche can create problems for the therapist. How does one not only separate from the experience of the client, but also refrain from bringing negative emotions or conflicts into the work? Orloff says components of this journey toward balance include working with the energy, understanding oneself and one's emotional life, mastering emotion, and self-healing. HOW TO GROUND AND CENTER Massage therapists, more than most, understand the intimate connection between the physical and emotional, and are aware that emotional experiences are stored in the body. Some feel exhausted after working with clients and attribute their fatigue to pain and trauma held within clients' bodies that the therapist is exposed to as she works. And yet, understanding this connection doesn't alleviate the dilemma: the energetic exchange is tricky territory, and negotiating it, Orloff says, takes knowledge and practice. Massage is a powerful vehicle for exchange of energy between therapist and client, and therapists need to learn to center and clear themselves in the midst of their work, Orloff says. "Massage therapists have to be sensitive, but they do not want to take on the energies and emotions of their clients. It's not healthy. It is very important not to take on what isn't your own. I want to underline the fact that you don't want to do that; it doesn't make you a better therapist," she says. The very sensitivity massage therapists bring to their work makes it more likely they will become overwhelmed by negative emotions and energy, pain, or struggle that their work alleviates in others. "Separating from the client's energy involves 'Life 101' skills, particularly if you work closely with others," Orloff says. "Massage therapists and yoga teachers can absorb what is going on in others because energy fields overlap. Some practitioners get headaches and anxiety— empaths in particular will become exhausted." Orloff says massage therapists have to go into each session with the attitude that it's not their business to take on other people's stuff. "Some therapists feel they have to do that. A good example of that belief is that of faith healers at the turn of the century; many were obese, and they claimed they had to be fat so they didn't take on their clients' pain. Fat works, it buffers symptoms, but there are healthier ways to deal with the energies." These healthier ways, Orloff says, start with meditating and centering before and between seeing clients. She offers a quick, three-minute meditation: Sit in a comfortable, quiet place. Focus on your breath to quiet your thoughts. Breathe in calm. Breathe out stress. "It's important to completely detach when a client leaves," Orloff says. "Don't let them linger. Learn to move forward, to ground and center yourself between clients." Another helpful technique is to visualize an energy shield around you keeping negative energy out. In addition, she says, consciously think about how to prepare for a session, how to have your head in the right place, Judith Orloff, MD, author of Emotional Freedom, says meditation and centering are both ways MTs can protect themselves energetically in the treatment room. 88 massage & bodywork january/february 2012