The Basics
Every now and again, we enjoy a renewed light in our periphery, and today I had that shine and rejuvenate my love for the basics behind working on our bodies.
Occasionally I get the opportunity to work with a friend on my fascia. As he likes to remind our sessions at the start, “I am your hands”. And he is much more than that and I remind him of that, but it is with grace that he checks his professional ego at the door, and allows me to be the therapist using his hands to go where I cannot - today was deep in the fascia of my left upper arm. It wasn’t deep pressure, but mind numbing and intense, following a deep snag in my fascia encasing my biceps and unraveling into a filet of tissue across the center of my arm. As I turned my arm to guide the release deeper, the claustrum tissue in my brain shivers free, undulating a release across my brain. A headache of recovery sets in immediately. This is what I’ve been needing for some time. Not just any therapist can do what the two of us just worked on. It takes trust, leaning into something very uncomfortable, and remaining steady.
Although I can scan a body and feel so much, I always ask for my client’s verbal input at the onset of our sessions. The reason is not because I rely on you to guide the sessions like I do with my peer in my own personal sessions, it’s because there is truth in what you need, disguised in how you perceive what is going on and where it is impacting you. You are not the professional bodyworker. That’s my job. But you are the professional living in your body. It’s up to me to make sense of what you are feeling and what is off on the body, and work to bridge the disconnect, so, you feel more unified, more centered when we are done.
Things can often be so much simpler than we recognize. Often things like brain fog, can be as basic as tension gripping the body somewhere that you don’t even feel. I once worked with a gentleman in his late thirties who had undergone six cranial surgeries by the time he was age six. As he entered my office the first time, intense cranial pressure as his constant, I noticed a drag across his body. I showed him how to do a deep lunge to target scar tissue in his brain. The headache calmed immediately following the lunge. That empowered him and it removed unnecessary drag on the brain, so, we could get to the more intricate and helpful work in his neuroanatomy.
The beautiful thing about good bodywork? You don’t have to wait for something to feel off. Preferably you come in regularly to upgrade your life and longevity. I’ll find the snags, so, they don’t hold you back later. Today’s simple, yet necessary work on my arm, reminded me of the incredible healing power of our tissue body. It’s basic. It’s trust. It’s always my honor. Thank you!