Get in Touch with Your Healing Energy in
Beautiful Taos, New Mexico!
650-hour course
registered with the NM State Board of Massage Therapy
Graduates are qualified
to take the NM State License Exam
The following is
a reprint of an article by J.F. Ritchie from a recent issue
of Tantra magazine:
The use of BodyMind Clearing Techniques for
awareness, wellness, alleviation of chronic pain, and sports
injury rehabilitation
The appreciation
of the relationship between the body and mind is rapidly
growing,
and is now
acknowledged within traditional medicine, as well as within
alternative and
non-western
systems of healing. It is more than just a fad; it is an
awareness and
acknowledgement
that the body and mind cannot be separated.
There are many
books on the body-mind connection which provide a
good
starting point
for a person interested in discovering what their
body-mind
is expressing.
Beyond the theories and information, growth comes from
practice,
or, using the
information experiencially. For a unique, hands-on
experience
of the body-mind
connection and to learn powerful self-enhancement
techniques,
there is
available a series of classes called BodyMind Clearing
(BMC).
These classes are
a springboard for self-discovery.
BodyMind Clearing
is based on the principle that the body and mind are
deeply
interrelated. Patterns of fear and stress exist as muscular
tensions locked
within the body
and contribute to the vicious cycle of non-productive habits
and
patterns in one's
life. Have you ever had an insight of a need to change
patterns
in your
lifestyle? And yet find yourself maybe even more frustrated
because your
body just can't
seem to get up to speed? Your mind/psyche is racing
ahead
while your
body/soma is dragging behind, caught in repetitious patterns
of
old (outgrown)
habits. Through BMC, the body is freed up from these
patterns
and new
possibilities are introduced as responses.
BMC is a
synthesis of muscle testing, acupressure, deep-muscle
(connective tissue)
massage
techniques, corrective exercises, breath practices, guided
visualization,
communication,
and facilitation skills. All these techniques work to
re-educate a
person on
psychological and physical levels, which facilitates
structural and
emotional
changes. BMC is a unique way of reducing stress and
increasing
flexibility and
strength on a mental, emotional, physical and energetic
level, whether a
personal goal is increased health and wellness, or
rehabilitation to
maximize physical functioning after an injury.
With treatment
and rehabilitation of injuries, there are many aspects of
deep muscle
massage which facilitate recovery. First, because many
muscles
around a joint
work together to perform an action, all of the muscles
around
the involved area
are treated -- not just those at the site of pain.
The point of
complaint may occur as a result of an accumulation of
the
factors and force
vectors involved, and may not necessarily be the source
of
the pain
experienced. When all of the muscles around the injured
joint are
treated, and not
just those at the site of pain, a more complete recovery
occurs.
Another aspect of
this type of massage which facilitates healing is the use
of
active motion by
the patient, combined with the use of pressure by the
therapist.
Working the
muscle under a controlled pressure assists the client to
reset
the muscle back
to optimum tonus, the muscle's natural, present, and ready
state.
This ultimately
results in the restoration of proper functioning, clearing
pain
from the
muscle(s), allowing for the painless and proper
biomechanical
full range of
motion in that joint. What's different about this aspect is
the
active
participation of the patient/client in their own
rehabilitation process.
Specificity is a
vital component in proper rehabilitation. BMC
techniques
of soft-tissue
therapy use all planes of movement in working an affected
muscle,
because there
will generally be limiting factors (areas of adhesions
or
adaptive
shortening) in each plane. With BMC techniques, it becomes
possible
to select and
treat the limiting factors one by one until there are none
left.
Metaforms
represent self-expression, an underlying aspect of BodyMind
Clearing.
Metaforms are a
system for understanding the relationship between
physical
expression and
the underlying mental/emotional belief system which
influences that
expression. Areas of the body (and their functions)
represent
mental/emotional
attitudes and beliefs. For example, the thighs support the
torso,
so support is
related to the thighs and can be an underlying factor when a
muscle
injury occurs in
that area of the body. The neck contains the voice box from
which
we speak, so
symptoms involving the neck are often related to
expression.
Interpretation of
metaforms is based on cultural imagery and idiom; when we
say
"I see what you
mean" we are demonstrating our cultural assoctiation of the
eyes
with vision and
understanding. "I hear what you are saying," demonstrates an
auditory
association with
understanding. Yet metaforms are also very personal. Most
body
parts have many
functions, and often there are two or more functions of the
same
part which can't
be done at the same time. For example, the hands can grasp,
drop,
"get a hold of,"
"let go of," massage, punch, reach out, push away, and
handle details.
They are related
to dexterity and control (example: typing into a
computer).
Different people
may have different words and concepts associated with
the
same body part,
reflecting individual (and different) mental
associations.
Therefore, a
person having some trouble with their hands might need
to
"drop something"
or the opposite, "to get a hold of something."
As therapists,
where do we fit in? We are in a position to know many things
about
our clients. We
feel them when they are tensing; we listen to them as they
are speaking,
and we see them
expressing many different emotions. Sometimes this can
happen all in
one session. How
do we use metaforms as facilitators/therapists to help our
clients?
Let's say our
client comes in with chronic neck pain. The neck is
representative of
expression -- they may either be expressing too much
(too
detailed) or not
enough (holding back/too nebulous). The therapist may
discover what
possibilities are most valid for the client, through
watching
how he/she moves,
listening to what the client has to say about their
neck,
listening to
generalizations, etc. The therapist needs to be aware of
the
problem of bias
(in terms of knowing and not projecting his/her own
belief
system) and
remain conscious of the importance of listening more
than
talking. The
client knows what he or she needs; the therapist helps
them
to get there. If
I listen well, they'll hear themselves.
It is important
that I respect the fact that the resources are in the
clients.
A therapist is a
facilitator. To facilitate is to assist natural processes
to
occur with more
ease and grace. Often, the biggest challenge for the
therapist
is to get out of
the way of the natural healing process. An effective
visualization
which reminds me
of this is the growth of a flower. If I pour water on the
flower
and allow it to
have sunlight, it will grow and open. If I try to force it
open myself,
or to pull on the
leaves to open it, I could destroy the flower with my "good
intentions."
When using BMC
techniques I begin with listening. I listen to a description
of
symptoms, to the
story of their physical experience prior to the injury, I
listen
to their
daydreams. If they speak about something, I assume that it
might be related
somehow to the
person and their condition. I continue to encourage them
to
listen to
themselves. As I learn more about the client, I use the BMC
skills to
work on the
person as a whole person, not just a body, or a part of a
body...
or a knee problem
in room three, or a shoulder problem in room two,
etc.
Fred Ritchie was
a Trainer with the Institute of Total Person Facilitation
from
1983 to 1988. He
received his BS/BA from Creighton University in 1970 and
has
done graduate
work in family therapy with Virginia Satir at the University
of Utah.
He has been
studying with Larry Short since 1980 and is trained in
acupressure,
shiatsu, massage,
reflexoloty, kinesiology, yoga, T'ai Chi, Aikido, Karate,
Mediation,
Meditation,
Feldenkreis movement and BodyMind Clearing. Fred's major
focus is working
with people in a
transformational BodyMind context, presenting seminars and
workshops
as well as
working in private practice with clients. For information on
workshops or
private sessions,
contact Fred at (505) 758-2725. TAOS SCHOOL OF
MASSAGE
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