Massage and Movement

Remember to Breathe! Here's a great tip I learned from Thich Nhat Hahn, Zen Monk and teacher extraordinaire: next time your phone rings, instead of answering it right away, take a breath in and out. Then answer your call on your next exhalation. Use your phone ringing as an Awareness reminder. Be Present. Take that moment to breathe, and you may find that you have a little more space to bring to that phone conversation.

Twice in the last week I have had clients comment with excited discovery, how beneficial regular massage is.

Both women, in their 40's and 50's,  came in to see me originally for injuries. The first is a corporate woman turned dog walker with a shoulder injury, the second had a bad back. Both came in to see me last week for the third or fourth time, and remarked at how, now that their injuries are healing, they are experiencing other benefits. 

Coming in regularly, once a week or every other week, has helped them become aware of other body issues before they became difficult to treat. Plus they just feel better overall.

This painting is from Janet Morgan's Healer Series (www.JanetMorgan.net), it's hanging just outside the door to my office right now. The serenity and peace in this healer's face, is the perfect image for my clients to to see as they walk out of the studio, after a session. I've been working with energy in my sessions for many years, but one in particular this past year stand out.

One man, who has had trouble sitting for 2 years, comes in for treatment. He is unhappy, not sleeping well, uncomfortable for most of the day. I treat the muscles of his legs and suggest he see a chiropractor, as his legs splay out. He comes back one week later, with a hopeful diagnosis, from the chiropractor. The chiropractor believes it will take a year for him to get better. But with each weekly massage session, this man changes profoundly. His discomfort lessons, his attitude changes, his posture improves, and he comes to the door a friendly upbeat human vs the grumbling man who first came to the door. There is light in his face.

Last June I left New York City for the Berkshires, for 12 days, for a 'leg' of the Somatic Education program that I am in. I was so looking forward to being in the country--to sitting in the sun on my friend Deborah and Davio's deck in between classes, to visiting local nature spots, and to enjoying the light streaming in through the floor to ceiling windows of the dance studios at Earthdance.

It rained almost every day.

 (forest illustration: painting by Heidi Smith:"Spring Runoff in Santa Barbara Forest", http://heidismithartist.com/)

My mother is German, and on a recent visit to me in Brooklyn, we were talking about a law in Berlin that just changed. Before, if children were loud, anyone could call the Police. Imagine! Even laughter, children playing too loudly, were warrant for this call. It was common for pre-schools and Kindergartens to get shut down because of this law. My mother grew up with this law in the 40's, and until 2009, I believe, it stood.

I think children learn through making sounds. What kind of repression or developmental delay, or non-development happens when children are not allowed to make noise? During my Mom's visit, I went to my developmental movement class, and my teacher shared, (unprompted I think, it came up in conversation separate from news of my mom's visit) that when she teaches in Germany, she has to be really careful in the public pools. Here in the US, people have an awareness in the space of the pool. Folks stick to their lanes, and when in the open pool, people have a sense of the space around them. But not in Germany! My teacher explained. In public pools she has to watch out for her safety, and often gets hit. It seems adults there, and this may be a generalization, but its my teacher's experience, do have less of a proprioceptive awareness, of what is outside of their bodies.

I find this incredibly interesting. Is sound expression as children and babies part of what grows our awareness of what is outside of ourselves, and our awareness of where we are in relation to what is outside of our own skin. It makes sense to me. Don't bats use sound to 'see' in the dark...their sound bounces of the walls, giving them information as to where they are in space.

I've been doing energywork for over twenty years ( I just thought back to my first class, and realized its been that long, wow.)  It's a part of every session I do and every class that I teach. But I don't always talk about it. Its simply part of how I work. Some people do not understand it, or are unsure that it exists. Even so, it is an important part of every session. When a client brings up the subject, it is always nice for me, to be able to talk openly about energy--discuss it, answer questions about it, etc. 

Especially in NYC, when your bag, is, often literally, your trunk--what bag do we wear?

  Sometimes a backpack will do--the equal force of weight coming down through the body, ensured by the straps being on either shoulder, can make it the more comfortable choice. But a backpack is cumbersome, especially if one has a big coat on. It is difficult to reach wallet and metro card when doing errands and public transporting. Also, it makes you sweat!

Then there are courier wear/biker bags. These bags are easy to wear, easy to gain access to, and its nice to be able to shift them around to different positions. I've used one of these on and off since 1998, but if I wear it across my body, as it is meant to be worn, I usually get sciatica, or some other kind of back pain, or shoulder ache. It's asymmetrical wear, means your muscles and other tissues will respond asymmetrically. Your whole alignment (level of hip etc) will respond in an unbalanced way. Depending on who you are, this may not matter so much in the moment. But my body responds fairly quickly with signals of pain.

Just a quick thought here, on the connection between Authentic and Jung. I guess one  of the main reasons why it is so easy to jump to Jung when doing Authentic Movement, is that we do the movement in a dreamstate. Movement is usually done with eyes closed, and after a few minutes, if not immediately, most practitioners have moved into an altered state. The focus that is active in Authentic Movement, like the focus required in meditation, changes the physiology of the body, bringing one into this trance state.  So naturally, after moving, then writing or drawing, thoughts often go to symbols, to interpretation  of this movement time/this trance, as if looking at a dream.

Go to the Rubin. Museum that is, in Chelsea, here in the city. The exhibit on Carl Jung's Red Book is there for a bit longer, and it is special. For me,  the connection between Jung's work and Authentic Movement is imprinted yet again. In seeing the exhibit I am reminded of how related the two are, and am newly inspired to dive into moving/dancing, with Jung's drawings and work with the unconscious, in conscious mind.

Just to see that book, in the glass case, is worth the trip to the Museum. This large (1 and 1/2 by 2 feet?) leather bound book is nearly 100 years old, and full of what many say are the richest words and images in the history of psychology. It has been locked away in a vault in Switzerland by Jung's family, for decades, and was just unveiled, for the first time ever in public, at the Museum, this past Fall. I was there, and it was a momentous occasion.

This is a book Jung wrote, in 2 hour periods if I remember correctly, in the privacy of his office, during a period, when he was in crisis. Some would say he was going crazy. This is what his family was afraid of, and thus the lock and key. But what Jung was doing, brilliantly, was documenting his process. In large, colorfully illustrated drawings he shows us what he experienced in the journey into his shadow side/the unconscious/the underworld/the rabbit hole. The drawings are amazing. 

A new client, a dancer, just asked me today, "How is a Thai Massage different than a regular Massage?".  We talked about the differences, and the similarities, for awhile, and it strikes me as a totally relevant topic to blog on to you now. 

Thai is different in that it is a three dimensional massage. As you receive you are being moved, turned, and stretched. As the receiver you are feeling many of the ways your body can move. During a regular Swedish table massage you are still/passive as you receive the massage strokes, kneading, and pointwork. Both treatments leave you feeling relaxed and refreshed. The Thai also energizes you. Thai is especially good for the joints, as it mobilizes each one, getting the synovial fluids going. Table very thoroughly moves your lymph and your blood--this is especially good if you are achey before the massage. Of course, then there is that you are fully clothed during a Thai, whereas you are unclothed during a Table massage, covered by a sheet for your privacy.

A Thai massage is a cultural experience that goes back literally 2,000 years to its inventor, the Buddha's doctor.  Swedish Massage, like allopathic medicine, is a more modern field in Western culture, though it also has roots going way back in countries like India.