Do you ever find yourself wishing I had appointments on Saturday?
Tomorrow, April 11, I do!
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Friday, April 10, 2015
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Approaching Anger Like A Body Part
You may know (or not) that anger is my go-to place when I am past my limits, stressed, overworked, overtired, over-anything. Sometimes that anger become a rage that feels like my mind has been taken over by Godzilla. I spend a lot of time reflecting on and trying to respect the role of anger in my life.
Today I listened to a meditation focused on anger. How to approach it with compassion and softness. Not thinking of it as "wrong" or "broken" or "a problem". It hit me: anger is just like that crazy tight resistant thick-as-a-brick muscle that I often find in a client's body (and quite possibly mine as well). Why not approach my anger like I do that muscle?
First: Presume it's the way it is for a perfectly good reason. Presume it is filling a need. Perhaps that need is for stability or protection. Perhaps that need has simply been to work long past healthy limits.
Second: Remember that the body is always -- always -- working towards balance, harmony, and health. Remember that it has complex processes already in place and working to try to get to a place of balance, harmony, and health at this very minute.
Third: Don't fight it, respect it. Do not try to power through. That's just going to make everything tighter. Put my hands on it and listen. What do I learn from my hands?
Fourth: Ask for permission to be its partner. I can't waltz in like "I'm here and I'm in charge now". I can certainly try that approach but many years of experience suggests it's a stupid way to move forward.
Fifth: With love and compassion, apply whatever pressure, direction, or tool I believe will help the body in its efforts to achieve balance, harmony, and health. That pressure may be firm but it's more likely to be soft. The direction might be direct but it's more likely to be oblique. The tool may be blunt but its more likely to be gentle.
I love a good metaphor and the human body seems to provide an endless supply of them for life's challenges and conundrums. I am grateful for the 15 years I've been able to practice massage for so many things, not the least of which is what it has taught me about the body, life, and the human spirit.
May you be gentle and compassionate with all parts of yourself today as well.
Today I listened to a meditation focused on anger. How to approach it with compassion and softness. Not thinking of it as "wrong" or "broken" or "a problem". It hit me: anger is just like that crazy tight resistant thick-as-a-brick muscle that I often find in a client's body (and quite possibly mine as well). Why not approach my anger like I do that muscle?
First: Presume it's the way it is for a perfectly good reason. Presume it is filling a need. Perhaps that need is for stability or protection. Perhaps that need has simply been to work long past healthy limits.
Second: Remember that the body is always -- always -- working towards balance, harmony, and health. Remember that it has complex processes already in place and working to try to get to a place of balance, harmony, and health at this very minute.
Third: Don't fight it, respect it. Do not try to power through. That's just going to make everything tighter. Put my hands on it and listen. What do I learn from my hands?
Fourth: Ask for permission to be its partner. I can't waltz in like "I'm here and I'm in charge now". I can certainly try that approach but many years of experience suggests it's a stupid way to move forward.
Fifth: With love and compassion, apply whatever pressure, direction, or tool I believe will help the body in its efforts to achieve balance, harmony, and health. That pressure may be firm but it's more likely to be soft. The direction might be direct but it's more likely to be oblique. The tool may be blunt but its more likely to be gentle.
I love a good metaphor and the human body seems to provide an endless supply of them for life's challenges and conundrums. I am grateful for the 15 years I've been able to practice massage for so many things, not the least of which is what it has taught me about the body, life, and the human spirit.
May you be gentle and compassionate with all parts of yourself today as well.
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