Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1481961
⟩ 56 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k n ove m b e r/d e ce m b e r 2 0 2 2 These questions help you check in with all of you—body, brain, and breath—as you work. • Observe your whole body as you massage. Can your upper body do less? Can your lower body do more? • Check in with your feet. Are your feet pointed in the same direction your hands are going? • Check in with your knees. Are your knees bent slightly instead of locked? • Check in with your hips. Are your hips pliable, able to move back and forth and side to side to help you pour your body weight into the stroke? • Check in with your spine. Is your spine long and loose, stacked and supported? • Check in with your muscles. Are they doing just the minimum amount necessary to create the stroke? the direction of your feet causes you to change the position and vice versa. WORKING FROM YOUR FEET It should be clear by now that focusing on our feet allows us to get away from our damaging reliance on our upper body, and instead to develop the ability to massage from our entire body. And as you have probably already sensed, my preoccupation with the feet is not really about the feet themselves, but rather, I see an awareness of the feet as a gateway—a small detail that can make you more aware of other, bigger details. By focusing our awareness on this one small part of our body, we have the potential to make big changes in our work— and in turn, in the happiness of our bodies. The broad impacts of this feet-first principle are numerous. In a typical session, I start the client prone, and I begin by standing at the head of the table, my fingertips resting softly on the client's scalp. But I begin not by paying attention to their scalp, but rather—you guessed it—by paying attention to my feet. I work barefoot, so I feel the underside of my feet against the wood planks of my office f loor. With that grounded contact, I bend my knees slightly and lengthen my spine; I feel supported by my lower body and long and loose through my upper body. I slow my exhalation and follow it all the way down to empty, feeling my body calm and ready to work. This moment lasts just 10 seconds or so, but that initial awareness of my feet sets the stage for the whole session to come. A minute or two later, let's say I have undraped and applied oil to the client's back. I make a long eff leurage stroke down their erector muscles. I am in a horse-riding stance, leaning my body weight to create the pressure. My feet are pointing toward their hips, parallel to their spine, just as my hands are moving down either side of their spine. As I get to their sacrum, I notice more tension in the lumbar musculature of Check in with Your Body