Day 51 - Unwinding

We had our regular instructor tonight for Cranial Sacral class. What a treat!
Part of the Cranial Sacral modality is feeling for movement in the head and other parts of the body referred to as "listening stations." These are places where movement happens because of the craniosacral rhythm, and the practioner can feel that rhythm when touching those areas - feet/ankles, thighs, and shoulders - all by touching the "client" with no more than 5 grams of weight - about the weight of a nickel. My partner and I both felt the movement in each other this evening and described it like a VERY subtle circular wave.
When I was the one on the table, my mind wandered back to summer camp one year when I was a "junior counselor." I think I was all of a year older than the campers. I remembered the smells of learning how to make lye soap and do other crafts, canoeing up the Potomac River to Harpers Ferry, and playing silly camp games. Just because that was 28 years ago, well, we won't talk about that. Nice little walk down memory lane. I also felt myself unwinding.
Whether the one on the table or the one doing the "work," doing this modality is very relaxing. I think I shall sleep very well tonight.

Day 10 - Sweet Emotion

Any Arrowsmith fans out there? I'd say that I know their more popular stuff, like the song "Angel" or "Sweet Emotion." I think of the song "Sweet Emotion" when I think about the lecture time of class from last night, as we learned about "Somatic Emotional Release" or SER. The body stores emotional memories and sometimes during a massage therapy session, the body releases those memories and may cause a reaction, such as crying, laughing, sadness, and whatever else.
During the class, I understood why I felt the way I did during a Swedish massage I received while on vacation in Florida this past March. The past year, well, even couple years, have been a draining emotional roller coaster, dealing with illness and deaths in the family, loss of a job, and all the stress that comes along with those life events. While receiving the massage, I didn't start crying, but came very close to it because of all that bottled up emotional energy and baggage I'd been carrying around. It was also after that massage that I became fascinated with the healing and feel-good benefits of massage and what ultimately led me to pursue this mid-life career change and education needed for it.
So, if you're on the table, receiving an awesome massage and all of the sudden you start crying, it's ok. You're not crazy. You're not an emotional mess. You're human.
After the lecture, we learned some more deep-tissue structural techniques, using the fist as our tool of choice. And more practice. :-)
During the practice session, Molly, the instructor, expressed some concern about my body mechanics - the way I hold my body while performing the massage. I will need to concentrate more on making sure to take care of myself while taking care of the person on whom I'm working.
Have I mentioned that I love this class?