Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/135515
The notion of focus, by contrast, allows us to see our careers in all their complexity, to acknowledge the joys of our work alongside the frustrations. While burnout, by definition, is negative, focus is both good and bad, positive and negative, productive and counterproductive. When we take a coffee break in midstroke, it is easy to see that we have too little focus, that our focus is frayed. But it is just as important to acknowledge those moments when we have too much focus—like my Rambo colleague—when we are so convinced that we know what to do to help that we stop listening to clients. We stop listening to what they tell us verbally, or what changes in their breathing patterns tell us, or what their body language tells us, or what the musculature response to our touch tells us. In these moments, our focus is faulty, creating an illusion that we know what's best and an illusion that a good massage means giving of ourselves completely. While too much focus is a less obvious problem than too little, both extremes often lead to the same negative conclusion. Learning to Exhale No one starts massage school feeling unfocused, detached, or disenchanted with the profession. With our first job, too, we are excited and full of focus. We rush to get the client a glass of water after the session. We dutifully write SOAP notes. (How many of us today write as much about our clients as we did when we first started?) We really, really, really want to help our clients. That passion is inspiring, and a wonderful aspect of working with new students and new practitioners, but it carries hidden challenges. Many of my best students literally throw themselves into the work. So eager to do good, they don't cultivate that crucial boundary between themselves and their clients. With their laserlike focus, they don't hold anything back. Such dedication is at first beautiful to see; teachers (me included) and peers rightly praise these efforts. But we must also counsel these wonderful students on skills that are equally difficult: how to hold back, how not to become enmeshed in your client's pain, how to commit to the body on your table, and how to let go of that client afterward. When your focus is faulty • ecome aware of your breath. B Practice lengthening your exhalation as a way to slow down your body and slow down your work. Focusing on the passive exhalation, rather than the active inhalation, will remind you to focus on doing less and feeling more. • ecome aware of your B client's breath. Let the breath shape the speed and pressure of your strokes. • ork without a goal. W • hink of yourself as a T facilitator. You are not healing your clients—rather, you are facilitating their ability to heal themselves. www.abmp.com. See what benefits await you. 63