Day 22 - Sometimes, It's Not Just About the Books

To be an excellent massage therapist, you have to know the strokes and the HOW to give a good massage, but even more importantly, is for your clients to know that you are with THEM, and focusing on THEM, making sure that they feel secure, safe, and above all, cared for because this may be the only real TOUCH they get.
This evening, we found a partner with whom we had never worked. Once that assignment was complete, we did an exercise in which we faced each other, seated, holding hands, and one partner looking at the other. And I mean LOOKING at the other.
I was the first to be looked at. We were told to look at the eyes, the nose, the cheek bones, basically, our whole face, all in a non-judgemental way - to notice the perfection of the way we were created. It was all about being "present" with our partner. While the teacher was describing how to look at the partner, my eyes started watering and I got a little choked up. I laughed at my silliness of getting emotional over something like this, but I wasn't terribly embarassed by it...not like I could have been. My partner was so sweet, and truly loving, she even wiped away a couple of the tears that had rolled down my cheek.
Why the emotion? Was I the only one?
I could chalk it up to just being a weepy female, but that may not be the case. The exercise had us go outside our comfort zone, to have somebody in our space, holding our hands, looking into our eyes, and examining our faces. I would say that I'm an outgoing person and I don't mind getting up in front of people to talk or play an instrument, but to be one on one with a person like that can be incredibly uncomfortable, possibly even with a spouse.
Even if that's just part of the reason, with all that's happened in the last two years or so, I definitely learned what it meant to really leave judgment and distraction at the door, and pick up being a caring bodyworker, focusing on my client's needs.
For the rest of the time, we did bodywork, giving and receiving, focusing on working the legs with the client/partner lying on her back. We gave and received feedback, learned how to "drape" a client, and how to handle "things" that may happen during a massage session.
Of all the things that happened in class tonight, I think the most memorable to me will be my partner wiping a tear from my cheek and what a loving gesture that was.