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May 21, 2009

Drainers, Zappers and Stonewallers

You know the session has gone well when you sail out of the massage room, on an energized cloud that tells you you've had a good workout. That post-massage state occurs when the client's body responds so well to the massage that the session is almost like a moving meditation. You can tell by the look of you client when they leave that they have awoken from an altered state. You wish every massage went this well. But the reality is that like anything else in life, you have good days and bad days, good sessions and bad sessions, good clients and, well, clients that you don't have such a great rapport with.

I forgot this lesson the other day. I'm working a summer job as a tech at an outpatient PT clinic. I was placing electrodes on a patient's body for electric stimulation treatment, when I was overcome with nausea and dizziness. I finished placing the electrodes and backed up quickly. What just happened here? Was I having a low blood sugar attack? It took a couple of days, but I finally realized what happened. I got zapped.

I've discussed drainers in my post about energy vampires. And I've intimated experiences about stone-wallers, those folks, who no matter how hard you work, their body does not respond to the massage. But getting zapped is a different experience. Rather than slowly draining you of your resources, or depleting yourself by metaphorically banging your head against a brick wall, getting zapped is a thankfully short-lived, though unpleasant, experience.

Rarely do zappers realize what has occurred. They are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet and would be mortified to learn that anything unpleasant occurred as a result of an encounter with them. But you're a caring, compassionate person who genuinely wants to help them, and for whatever reason, their body sees an opportunity to unload some heinous baggage, usually related to pain. Kapow! The only problem with being zapped is if you notice some new pain in your body that does not mimic your usual discomfort patterns. As a bodyworker, you do not want to take on other people's "stuff," which is why it is so crucial to get regular bodywork yourself. An intuitive therapist can tell you if what they're working on is not your "stuff." When you find this therapist, pay them to work on you if you must, because they are valuable.

Again, the way to prevent being zapped or drained or whatever is to be present and clear with personal boundaries. I got zapped because I was not in bodywork "mode." Silly as it may sound, being in PT "mode" has made me forget the vital lessons I learned in years of practical experience about boundaries, presence and intention. It's experiences like these that remind me about knowledge I already have, and how I still need to implement these skills while in a new paradigm of thinking.

tags: massage massagetherapy wellness massage therapy bodywork health

Posted by linda at May 21, 2009 6:39 PM