Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/434495
In fact, we can often apply more pressure—we can more effectively put the "deep" in a deep-tissue massage— when we massage mindfully. A MINDFUL MASSAGE So, how can I help my client if I am not trying to accomplish anything? Here is the key: I recognize that my client is already complete. Yes, she has aches and pains, and yes, there is that recurring spasm in her right gluteus medius, and yes, she gets that piercing headache behind the eyes when she sits at the computer for too long. All of these problems—all of the specific reasons why a client seeks massage—are real, and I take all of them seriously. It's just that these problems are ultimately just a part— and I would argue, a very small part—of who we are. Just as the vast expanse of our mental life is often hijacked by fears and frustrations, our particular ailments distort our own awareness of our bodies. We become the sum of our issues. As therapists, we unintentionally encourage this problem-centered story. In our effort to ascertain the necessary medical details (and in the inevitable rush to get the client on the table), our intake questions focus on the problems. How often do we ask our clients to describe the parts of their body that feel good, as opposed to the parts that are in pain? Pain is real. Everything our clients tell us is important. And yet, there is always more to the story. Mindfulness reveals the gap between the story we create about our reality and the much larger reality of life itself. When we massage mindfully, we are expanding the boundaries of that narrative—both physically and mentally, both for ourselves and our clients. The flutter of thoughts and hopes and worries don't disappear, but when we simply acknowledge them, without judgment, and return our focus to our breath, the flutter of our mind loses its disruptive power. Our mindful capacity blooms beyond our mindless tendencies. Similarly, we are reminding our clients (and ourselves) that we don't need to be held hostage by our aches and pains and worries. We are enhancing an awareness of the whole body, from head to toe, from muscles to mind, from body to breath. The irony is that such expansion is only possible when we don't force it. Just as a muscle fiber will involuntarily contract if it is stretched too far or too fast, I find that the greatest change only comes when I don't try to make that change happen. By not trying to F r e e m u s i c d o w n l o a d s f o r C e r t i f i e d m e m b e r s : w w w. a b m p . c o m / g o / c e r t i f i e d c e n t r a l 67 Mindfulness reveals the gap between the story we create about our reality and the much larger reality of life itself.