Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/70551
life they want by facilitating their body to heal both physically and mentally through your massage. Keep in mind that you must remain emotionally detached. Intention is powerful when you can be completely nonjudgmental and let go of emotional attachment to the outcome. For example, your client may express a strong desire to have a better relationship with her children because when they are around she feels stressed. Acknowledging her desires and letting go of your obligation to do something about this situation—fix it, understand it, or change it—will allow your massage to address what the body needs in order to release the relevant emotional or energetic barriers to her success. You might be surprised to find that acknowledging and aligning with her intention, letting go, and then proceeding with your therapy as usual will facilitate releases needed for her to achieve her personal goal. When your clients are clear about what they want, the body follows. Your job is simply to facilitate release by getting out of the way (not judging, adding to, or changing clients' intentions) and doing what you do best—massage. PAINFUL MEMORIES AND EMOTIONS As a massage therapist, you have an extraordinary ability to access triggers to emotional releases. Pain in the muscle tissue can be an indicator of where emotion may have built up in the body. These triggers may or may not be the direct site of emotional or energetic storage, but they will most likely be the doorways to release. You can promote release by imagining healing energy coming from the center of the Earth, through your feet and body, out of your hands, and into your clients' bodies. When you begin work on these sites, ask your clients to share any emotions or memories that may come up. If your clients are not comfortable doing this, just ask them to process their emotions or memories in their own way. Let them know these emotions are simply old energy being released. They can work through feelings by deep breathing and reminding themselves that it is only energy in motion, or "e-motion," leaving the body. Clients may have an emotional release or they may not. You may even experience their emotions for them. If you do, simply allow the feelings to pass through. Do not hang onto the feelings or analyze them. Notice them and move on. Your clients may also experience a simple energy release in the form of heat, buzzing sensations, or slight vibrations felt in the body or in your hands. Again, just note these sensations and allow them to pass. In many cases, there will be no notable release, yet something Common Path to Progress One way to make it easy for clients to return and continue their progress is to create and offer discount packages. For example, you can sell a discount coupon for an up-front cost equaling two to three sessions and then give them a discount of 30–40 percent off every six or 12 sessions. They won't save money until about halfway through their session package, but once they complete all 12 sessions they will have saved anywhere from $100 to $300. This incentive keeps them coming back and invested in their progress. This scenario allows you both to see results over a reasonable period of time. Not only will your clients be physically and emotionally better off, but also you can be confident in your ability to make a difference with clients who are willing to commit to their physical and emotional well-being. Celebrate ABMP's 25th anniversary and you may win a refund on your membership. ABMP.com. 83