Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72121
EMOTIONAL FREEDOM Emotional Type: The Empath Judith Orloff, MD, says many massage therapists and psychotherapists are empaths. With that comes a need to manage the openness an empathic person embodies. "If you're an empath, you're an emotional sponge—open, intuitive, and sensitive," Orloff says. To understand the significance of this emotional type and ways to work with your sensitivity in your practice, Orloff suggests massage therapists consider the following questions to assess the degree to which they might be an empath. • Am I afraid of becoming engulfed by intimate relationships? • Am I emotionally drained by crowds and do I require time alone to revive? • Are my feelings easily hurt? • Do my nerves get frayed by noise, smells, or excessive talk? • Do I prefer taking my own car places so that I can leave when I please? • Do I overeat to cope with emotional stress? • Have I been labeled too emotional or overly sensitive? • If a friend is distraught, do I start feeling it, too? If you answer yes to between one and three of these questions, you're at least partially an empath. Responding yes to more than three indicates that you've found your emotional type. "Some empaths avoid love relationships because they're afraid of being engulfed by someone else's energy," Orloff says. "The traditional living situation may not suit empaths in terms of being in the same space all the time with another person—they may need a separate bed, room, or even separate houses. A lot of negotiation has to go on so empaths can feel comfortable." And yet, this self-understanding, along with self-acceptance and negotiation with others, can contribute greatly to the ability of the therapist to stay grounded and fresh in their work, she says. (Excerpted from Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life.) feels warm in your chest—your heart opens, your body softens, and your mind quiets down. This energy, she says, feels nourishing. "It generates a palpably positive connection to others and spirit, unconditionally loving, intuitively on center, physically and emotionally cocooning and healing." Recognizing anger's initial signs gives you the opportunity to transform it and move toward kindness. "Catch anger in the early stages, de-escalate it by working the perspective of compassion—train yourself to do this by becoming familiar with how the first energetic flickers of anger and compassion register in your body," Orloff says. "Even though anger is loud and imposing, the quiet, calm energy of compassion, when focused, can override it." Working with these tools leads to what Orloff calls emotional freedom: "increasing your ability to love by cultivating positive emotions and being able to compassionately witness and transform negative ones, whether they're yours or another's." Orloff says "achieving emotional freedom doesn't mean becoming bland, numbing our feelings, or spewing them indiscriminately toward others. It entails striving to develop everything that is positive within us, as well as being accountable for our full spectrum of feelings, mastering them, and realizing we're so much larger than they are." ENGAGE IN SELF-HEALING Being a healthy, grounded therapist also means practicing self-healing, Orloff says. "Learn to work with your own difficult emotions so they don't clog you up. It is a life-long practice." "Consider life as a healing laboratory—part of that is healing emotions. It starts with committing to being aware of your emotions and your body. Then meditate. I am a big believer in meditation as a way Celebrate ABMP's 25th anniversary and you may win a refund on your membership. ABMP.com. 91