The 'Zone' in Bodywork Therapy

You, as a bodywork practitioner and healer, have just completed a session. You walk into your private office and say to yourself "Whoa! I really applied too strong of intention in that treatment."

Then in that same moment...into your office comes your client who just received your treatment and whose comment is diametrically the opposite: "you really went very gentle today".

IT IS ALL RELATIVE

For practitioners during a treatment's session, a reoccurring concern will naturally emerge.

This concern is perhaps best described as considerations about procuring a successful and effective treatment.

"Am I being too strong, am I being too weak...am I going too fast, am I going to slow...am I being too hard, am I being too soft...am I being too clinical or am I being too sensual? etc etc.

All of us therapists want to give the best treatment possible and we certainly never want to cause any harm also.

Personally, I learned to deal with these valuable internal questions by coming to terms with the understanding that there truly is no fast or slow, weak or strong, on or off...etc.

ITS ALL RELATIVE

What is a strong application for some is a weak experience for others. What is hard pressure for some is a soft influence for others. What is a gentle sensation for some is an aggressive or vigorous feeling for others, what are nerve strokes for some are scratchy and abrasive for others.

Is it not?

Being Present Be Yourself

Providing a practitioner has love and good intention and also that the practitioner is inextricably being attendant and carefully channeling quality accompaniment and professional representation, go forth with confidence!

THERE IS ONLY THE ART

With sports it is called The Zone spirit.

We hear The Zone being achieved and commented upon frequently by various athletes.

Athletes express that, in a moment and in an instant, all of a sudden, all the egos disappear along with all focus upon salaries, prestige, talents, environments, self consciousness and fans and, as a result of this miraculous and unexpected intervention, what remains is the pure essence of the art i.e. the essential tennis, the pure and essential basketball, pure baseball, pure wrestling, pure soccer etc etc.

Painting, sculpting, music, writing may all also claim potential possession of this coveted Zone spirit.

A True Story

Living in New Jersey during the 1980's as a full time massage therapist, I had the privilege of treating a client twice a week for nearly a dozen years. Six am till eight am, monday and friday, twice a week for twelve years.

This client was the wife of a mafia king pin. I know that is hard to believe. New Jersey and Mafia. But trust me please.

At some point during a treatment she suggested that I arrange to schedule a treatment for her husband! I paused and, to be honest, I mustn't deny the slight tremble too.

So I scheduled him. His session was to be the following month. I guess he needed time to make concrete shoes for any flakey massage therapists?

Anyway, what I had a month's time to deal with was...am i going to be too light, too strong, too fast, too slow, too feeble, too faint, too tender, too epicene [its means too feminine!]

After all...my life depended on it.

Embarrassingly, I was worried and concerned that those concrete shoes were being made for fluffy massage therapists!

So the day arrived and I had to walk by a few black limos with a few, shall we say, attendants  menacingly hanging around.

My massage table in hand along with my bag of linens, creams and oils and cosmic music, I was praying that my swagger demonstrated at least a few molecules of masculinity?

Long Story Short...

Despite all my worry and sweat for a full month previous to the session about not being masculine enough and not representing more yang than yin, this mafia king pin, during the treatment, asked me out for dinner!

So...point of the story...Be Yourself!

In another essay we will discuss Therapeutic Velocity during compressions and stretch release assists. Therapeutic Velocity is a subject that we address in all the Vedic Yoga Massage courses.