Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1515580
A B M P m e m b e r s ea r n F R E E C E h o u r s by rea d i n g t h i s i s s u e ! 33 THE SOMATIC EDGE lodged in the body. And I think we have to keep it at that level, in that dimension. TL: But there's something in the probing, or when I'm inviting some sharing about the trauma, that might not be bodywork at that point. PL: That's right. But again, at the same time, when you're with another person, with their body, you are working with the imprint of trauma as it is on the body. I think that's the key. And that's where I am comfortable in teaching both bodyworkers and therapists . . . many people who were bodyworkers after working with me, have decided to get a marriage and family therapist or licensed clinical social worker degree, or a psych degree. When I was starting to teach Somatic Experiencing, one group of my students said it should only be taught to psychotherapists—the psychologists and psychiatrists. I thought that was a mistake, because they're not the only ones who deal with trauma. That was another thing with Ida Rolf. People were scared of her. I think there were two Rolfers in Big Sur at the time—Peter Melchior and Jan Sultan. So, we would buy them beers at the Esalen bar. In exchange, we would prod them: "What does the second hour look like," so that when she said, "Well, what should I do," we'd be ready. So, we came in, and the model stood up and she said, "What do you see?" And some of the people talked about not what they saw, but what they heard from Peter and Jan. TL: How did that go? PL: Well, I'll tell you how it went: poorly. She became more and more impatient, and we were all getting scared. And we said, "Well, we need to work with the internal malleolus and the relationship to the shoulders." And she said, "No, what do you see?" TL: What is actually in front of you now? PL: What's actually in front of you. And that's one of the greatest gifts I got from Dr. Rolf: How do you see it without your filters, without your thoughts, to really go to your inner knowing? TL: Clients come in and want to tell us about their diagnoses, their histories, what other people have told them about their body. And there's such therapeutic value in just asking, "What do you feel? What's happening right now for you?" PL: Yeah, you're right. And how do you actually sense that? How do you know your shoulders are up high, your right shoulder is higher? How do you know that? TL: I think I owe you even more than I realized in my own professional path, and my personal path as well, because everything you're speaking of here was such a key inf luence and formative piece. Of course, I remember being quite disoriented after studying with you at first. What you were saying was a big mismatch from what I'd been hearing and learning elsewhere. And at some point, after about a decade of chewing on that, I didn't feel as jangled by it. I realize now I probably just assimilated it wholesale, and now I may even think it's my own. I say those things too, but I probably got a lot of that from you, and people like Charlotte Selver and the people around, like Jan Sultan, Peter Melchior, and Bill Smythe. PL: I think Ida Rolf left us with this legacy, this legacy to inform bodyworkers, and therapists to some degree, in a way that we all are in debt. I think Ida Rolf left in some ways one of the greatest legacies. TL: I asked my Facebook followers what they wanted us to talk about. One of the things that came out was an enormous amount of appreciation for you and the impact you've had on the world, and our profession in particular. I just want to take a moment here at the end of our conversation to thank you personally, because I knew you were a big inf luence, but now in this conversation, I'm seeing all the ways that, in the 40 years since I first met you, you have planted many seeds. PL: I like seeds, like Johnny Appleseed planting seeds wherever he went. Note 1. This column is an excerpt from Episode 108 of The Thinking Practitioner podcast, bit.ly/TTPEp108. Til Luchau is the author of Advanced Myofascial Techniques (Handspring Publishing), a Certifi ed Advanced Rolfer, and a member of the Advanced-Trainings.com faculty, which offers online learning and in- person seminars throughout the United States and abroad. He and Whitney Lowe cohost the ABMP-sponsored Thinking Practitioner podcast. He invites questions or comments via info@advanced-trainings.com and the Advanced-Trainings.com Facebook page. Learn More • Peter Levine's Somatic Experiencing: somaticexperiencing.com • Preorder Peter Levine's upcoming book An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey at simonandschuster.com/books/ An-Autobiography-of-Trauma/ Peter-A-Levine/9798888500767. WATCH VIDEO: "TRAUMA & BODYWORK WITH PETER LEVINE"