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?
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