Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/82405
LIFE AFTER KATRINA What is Relational Somatics? Relational Somatics, the deeper vein of my work, which was used extensively in the post-Katrina reality here in New Orleans, is a combined approach using the body as matrix, sacred psychology as the vessel, and the relationship between bodyworker and client as the central healing tool. Diana Panara, MT apply though, and I'd try to keep a healthy balance in the practice. After the levees broke, it was impossible to name a price. How do you assess the effect of this catastrophe on each individual struggling through it? Did they flood? What about their families? Did they still have a job? Where did they have to travel to find housing, to get their kids to school, to get groceries, to get grandpa to the hospital for his treatment? Or perhaps they didn't flood and still had a job, but they have 17 family members living with them and a FEMA trailer in their driveway with another family in it. Impossible situations, calling for difficult decisions that alter life in ways never imagined ... and they ask, "What do you charge for a session?" I developed an explanation that went like this: "There's no way I can even guess your stress. All of our lives are so altered now. In this strange new world we find ourselves in, I ask New Orleans's musicians have helped inspire the area's rebirth. that you approach my normal rates in whatever way you can." What happened was truly amazing. Though there were folks who could pay only $20–$30, and some less than that, many of those who still had a house and a job, and virtually every person who came to work in the recovery, all routinely dropped an extra $50–$100 to help pay for the next person. One of the clients I worked with was battling cancer. At first, he was brought to see me by his caregivers, and they handled the fee. As he went into a remission and gained strength, he wanted to take over more of his life, and that included paying me. So he asked about my fee. I gave him my explanation. He said, "No, really. How much is it?" I said, "Really, whatever you have will be fine." From that day on, as he left his session, he would reach deep into his pocket and give me whatever he had. One week it would be $17.50, and the next would be $68.13. It was beyond grace. THE JOURNEY CONTINUES There is more work to be done here in New Orleans, more wounds that need to be healed, and certainly more bodies that need to be touched. There remain many stories to be told and heard. I continue to be a witness to the journeys my clients have undertaken as they persist on the road back, and I remain mindful that I am on my own healing journey, as well. earned her master's degree in social work from Tulane University in New Orleans, and her holistic health practitioner designation from the International Professional School of Bodywork in San Diego, California, where she also teaches. She has also taught at the Costa Rica School of Massage Therapy, the Big Sky Somatic Institute, and the Reidman College of Complimentary Medicine. Email her at dpanara@gmail.com. Diana Panara, MSW, HHP, NCBTMB, Boost your practice with ABMP's Website Builder—free for members on ABMP.com 59