Massage & Bodywork

SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017

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80 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k s e p t e m b e r / o c t o b e r 2 0 1 7 the client becomes the teacher Early in my bodywork journey, I met Vered, a Jewish student born into a family of nine children in the 1950s—a very difficult time for Jews in Morocco. At 18 months old, Vered contracted polio, a disease that was ravaging the region. Some of the infected died, while others were left paralyzed. Vered was left with partial paralysis and weakness, especially in her right leg. That afflicted leg caused shortening of her abdomen, in the space between the lower rib and the hip. The quadratus lumborum, transverse abdominis, and part of her low-back muscles were tight and pulling on the hip, drawing it to the ribs and shortening the waist. This tightening severely affected digestion. As a young girl, she would lie in bed for days upon days dealing with digestive problems. She also suffered from continuous headaches. In the mind of Vered's physicians at the time, this girl's continuing decline in health was inevitable. When I met Vered in Israel, I was 19 and she was 23. Having just been through my own health transformation (see "Self- Preservation," Massage & Bodywork, May/ June 2017, page 60), I was so enthusiastic that I came to believe anything was possible—and that meant I believed Vered could improve with therapeutic bodywork. Because her right leg was weak and immobile on land, we utilized her bathtub and had her bend and straighten her leg in the water, where she had much more mobility. I also took her to the Mediterranean Sea so she could lift her legs up and down in the water as I held her hands for stability. Sometimes she lost her balance, but imagine her feeling of triumph when she could lift her legs in the water. The waves and tides made it more difficult to stand, and that was a great exercise for her. She learned she could lift her leg backward when she put her hands against a wall in a swimming pool. Each new limit Vered surpassed was empowering for her. As a teenager, Vered underwent five surgeries to repair open fractures she suffered in two separate falls. Unfortunately, these surgeries were less than successful. In one, they replaced the bone of her right big toe with concrete. Their intention was to eventually cut the toe off completely. And, since her knee was unstable due to the effects of the polio, they wanted to immobilize the knee joint as well. Vered, feeling hopeless, experiencing excruciating pain, and having great difficulty moving, was on the verge of agreeing to the knee surgery. But, after starting her bodywork with me, she was convinced to decline the invasive knee surgery. Initially, touching those postsurgical scars from Vered's teenage years was next to impossible. The best I could do was put my hands near the surgery site to soothe the area. After the first three months, I could touch her surgical areas with oil and gentle massage; by the time we had been working together for a year, the sites weren't sensitive anymore. We worked with many different movements and pushed as far as we possibly could. For example, I would take the leg and rotate it, then I would shake it—like in sports massage. I would shake the foot as well. The massage and movement made a big difference to her. I would tap on the bones Vered enjoyed her therapeutic work with Meir Schneider, often in the Mediterranean Sea, as the movement challenged her body beyond expectation. Vered and the author still work together today.

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