sticky stuff

well, i'm back in sedona soaking up more connective tissue information. by "soaking up connective tissue information", i really mean, "OH MY GOSH...THAT is in there???"

i come to these classes to learn and to help make me a better therapist and a better teacher. and that goal invariably gets met...how can it not be met when you are learning things that are true? but what ends up surprising me every single time i take another class is that i have to LOOK INSIDE. i have to FEEL.

ew.

the magic of working with the fascial system is that when your body starts to quiet down and relax, it begins to forge its own path toward healing. the techniques are "listening" techniques instead of "push on through and fix" techniques. and really, who likes to get pushed around? it's totally contrary to our nature--when presented with a "bully" we have the choice to either push back or break under the pressure.

this idea of being met where we are, and "tapped on the shoulder" just enough to elicit a response seems the better choice.

and the proof is in the pudding...during myofascial or craniosacral work, you see the result--the body self-corrects. the emotions and physical and energetic intensities arise. the breathing changes (today i was in an exhale kumbhaka for a really long time during one of the releases!)

bringing yourself to a place of consciousness during bodywork and allowing the body to "speak" is how we get to release old patterns, old energies, old trauma. and because the connective tissue takes a long time to release the collagen fibers, you also have a therapist LISTENING to you and following your lead for a LONG time! how often does that happen? (believe me, i'm a therapist, so i know that, sadly, it doesn't happen very often)

so why the "ew"? well, because the only way that things REALLY move out of your system and body is by FEELING them. so if you were kicked in the spine or if your mother abandoned you or you disclocated your shoulder and had any level of dissociation during those events, the body needs to connect to them and feel them if they stand a chance of leaving. energy requires awareness if it is going to move.

unfortunately, i cannot take credit. these principles have been floating around all over the place, most notably by john barnes, who i am studying with for the next 10 days! (woo hoo!) but i tend to not write about things or "own" them in any way until i get it--until i feel it. so i'm excited and happy to report that this stuff really works!

but don't believe me...feel it for yourself. i urge you to try feeling the sticky stuff and see if it starts to move. and notice how quickly your brain kicks in to think of something else...anything else besides the feeling. bring that intention to your next yoga class, perhaps--at least for 1 pose. or treat yourself to a session of craniosacral or myofascial release and "play" with feeling. it hurts while you are in it, but the time you are there is so short, relatively speaking. and the FREEDOM afterwards....ahhhh.....nothing like it!