Performing bodywork based on the needs of the client really sucks.
Wait. Did I just say that? Yep.
For the most part, it’s fabulous. Before I do any therapy, I perform a few tests on the client to be sure that their body is ready for the change. This is great, because things go in order and when all is said and done, the client feels better.
So, then, why do I say it sucks? It’s because we all have our own agenda. You come to me with ankle pain. You want work on your ANKLE. I WANT to work on your ankle. I do a few tests on your nervous system and discover that work on your ankle without work elsewhere could lead to another old injury rearing it’s ugly head, or worse, everything just getting worse overall. (Read my earlier post to see what I’m talking about.)
So, here I am. I have to work harder to find what the priority is. I have methods for finding it, and I’m getting better at it, but sometimes it takes some real searching. Often it’s something I don’t expect, like a childhood trauma, some stomach issue, or that whack on the head you got last New Year’s Eve.
My ultimate goal is for you to feel better in as few sessions as possible. Before I learned about how the nervous system works, I would just massage your ankle. I would massage it every other week for a couple of months and it would gradually start to get better. I would be happy. You would be happy, because this is how it has always worked. It fits our expectations of how a normal therapeutic practice should go.
(This is where the record goes “skreetch!”) Now I end up taking a more holistic approach. I’m finding that if I work on whatever your body tells me is a bigger priority, you start to feel a better overall and when I get to the ankle, it heals a whole lot faster. This blows all preconceived notions out the door. Many of my clients actually understand this and we work together to find problems. It becomes almost fun to peel away the layers, a lifetime worth of injuries, one-by-one. Each time I see them, their eyes shine brighter and bodies move with more ease, until I send them out the door for good, (or until the next time they get a whack on the head, a sprained ankle, etc.)
Why, again, did I say it sucks, when people are getting better? It sucks, because of our agendas and expectations. Every now and then I get those who, (even though they feel better,) complain that I worked on their head, not their ankle.
A part of me wishes that I didn’t have the knowledge that I do. I could keep it old school and just work on your ankle and everybody is happy. Ah, bliss! Unfortunately, there is something in me that drives me to explore, to set a new standard of expectations for what healing can be.
Wait. Did I just say that? Yep.
For the most part, it’s fabulous. Before I do any therapy, I perform a few tests on the client to be sure that their body is ready for the change. This is great, because things go in order and when all is said and done, the client feels better.
So, then, why do I say it sucks? It’s because we all have our own agenda. You come to me with ankle pain. You want work on your ANKLE. I WANT to work on your ankle. I do a few tests on your nervous system and discover that work on your ankle without work elsewhere could lead to another old injury rearing it’s ugly head, or worse, everything just getting worse overall. (Read my earlier post to see what I’m talking about.)
So, here I am. I have to work harder to find what the priority is. I have methods for finding it, and I’m getting better at it, but sometimes it takes some real searching. Often it’s something I don’t expect, like a childhood trauma, some stomach issue, or that whack on the head you got last New Year’s Eve.
My ultimate goal is for you to feel better in as few sessions as possible. Before I learned about how the nervous system works, I would just massage your ankle. I would massage it every other week for a couple of months and it would gradually start to get better. I would be happy. You would be happy, because this is how it has always worked. It fits our expectations of how a normal therapeutic practice should go.
(This is where the record goes “skreetch!”) Now I end up taking a more holistic approach. I’m finding that if I work on whatever your body tells me is a bigger priority, you start to feel a better overall and when I get to the ankle, it heals a whole lot faster. This blows all preconceived notions out the door. Many of my clients actually understand this and we work together to find problems. It becomes almost fun to peel away the layers, a lifetime worth of injuries, one-by-one. Each time I see them, their eyes shine brighter and bodies move with more ease, until I send them out the door for good, (or until the next time they get a whack on the head, a sprained ankle, etc.)
Why, again, did I say it sucks, when people are getting better? It sucks, because of our agendas and expectations. Every now and then I get those who, (even though they feel better,) complain that I worked on their head, not their ankle.
A part of me wishes that I didn’t have the knowledge that I do. I could keep it old school and just work on your ankle and everybody is happy. Ah, bliss! Unfortunately, there is something in me that drives me to explore, to set a new standard of expectations for what healing can be.
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