Untouchable...

 Have you ever felt "untouchable?" There is a HUGE difference between not wanting to be touched (e.g., when you have a migraine headache, have experienced trauma, or are angry at someone) versus feeling no one wants to touch you. The latter emotional experience that some people have of feeling “untouchable” is of particular interest to me—both as a psychologist and now also as a massage therapist/bodyworker.

You may be familiar with the Indian social caste system, which assigned the “lowest status” to that of the Dalits, also called the “Untouchables.” The resource, Wikipedia, states the following about the “Untouchables:”

  

“ [they have been] historically associated with occupations regarded as ritually impure, such as any involving leatherwork, butchering, or removal of rubbish, animal carcasses, and waste. Dalits worked as manual labourers cleaning streets, latrines, and sewers. Engaging in these activities was considered to be polluting to the individual, and this pollution was considered contagious. As a result, Dalits werecommonly segregated, and banned from full participation in Hindu social life. For example, they could not enter a temple nor a school, and were required to stay outside the village.”

Powerful words….impure… polluting…considered contagious… segregated… banned…outside the village…Hmmm. People can feel psychologically like this. They may feel shame about their actual Self….feel impure, polluted, ...that there is something wrong with them—something toxic about themselves. And as a result, they may shy away from personal contact—actual physical contact, and even social contact in general, for fear that they are in some way “contagious” to others.

As you can imagine, bodywork by a gentle, sensitive practitioner is a powerful intervention to “dilute” and reverse this sense of toxicity that people may carry with them. In bodywork, you have the opportunity to change someone’s thoughts (in this case particularly negative ones) by working on their person. Touch the surface…you touch the depths. And physiologically, one reason this occurs, is because the brain and the skin are part of the same sensory/perception system.

When someone who experiences themselves as "untouchable" experiences loving, nurturing, caring touch--it has the potential to reverse the negative messages about the self—and one can begin to experience themselves instead as Touchable, Lovable, Pure, Clean, and Whole. Touch the surface...touch the depths.

Being a Bodyworker (Part 1)

What is it like to be a Bodyworker? To be honest, it is a lot like being a psychotherapist. I am amazed how much they parallel each other! But I will focus on bodywork in this post: the two words that come to my mind are sacred and sublime.

Sacred  because the desire for healing and wholeness--whether it be body, soul, or spirit--is a sacred enterprise. Whenever people come to me (whether for therapeutic bodywork or counseling) there is a sense of being on sacred ground. One walks with reverence and respect for those who come, for they are willing to bring their vulnerability, hurt, injury and need to the presence of another.. Vulnerability in others has always drawn out my own desire to tend and care--to be present and utilize all the skills I possess to serve and help. So whether the injury or pain is from neglect, accident, trauma, illness, or even self-injury, being present to help in a broken place has always been my passion and calling.

In our culture, people are often embarrassed or ashamed of their bodies, or certain parts of their body. This is maximized by the media--to make people constantly dissatisfied with their own body...in order to sell various products. I like to be a part of righting this wrong. To me, being a bodyworker is a lot like being an artist--who paints or sculpts the human form in order to highlight its sacredness. Christianity teaches that we are created in the image of God. To me, this means that there is an intrinsic beauty that the body possesses--and as a massage therapist, I have the opportunity to bless and bring out the best of a person's being through my work with the body.

The word sublime comes to mind, because a healing space is not something you "drum up" or can in any way "make happen." Preparing a place for others to receive healing is a humbling experience. The most important part is as a practitioner, you must  make room....which usually means being fully present but getting out of the way of what God wants to do! Your own Ego has to be checked at the door when you enter sacred space, for you are there to serve--not be served. Being a bodyworker is sublime because it is an honor to serve others in this way, and a privilege to be allowed to witness the healing that takes place.

Here is a friend's description of my work: Body & Being

How Does it Work???

Bodywork....how does it work? How does it cause or facilitate change? Truth is, a lot of it is Mystery--beyond our cognition--that is part of its gift. In the West, we practically worship our brains. Now don't get me wrong--I'm all for the brain. I would not have gone to school as much as I have if I didn't believe we can learn by use of our brain. But in our society (and even the Church at times...) we treat our minds as if it is the only portal to learning. WRONG!!!!

Deanne Juhan writes:

    "When the conceptions of reality that we maintain do not square with the things we are experiencing insert.... thinking, feeling, sensing, etc] it is not because we are flawed or because our experiences are wrong, but because our conceptions cannot contain all the facts as we perceive them. And there is no constructive way out of this crisis but to enlarge our sense of reality to include our actual experiences." (from Job's Body: A Handbook for Bodywork).

So what I experience shapes reality? Of course it does! This is known as subjective experience. The "hard" sciences have traditionally "poo-pooed" subjective experience--as being biased (read: flawed). But that does not discount it at all! One's experience, in fact--is the "meat and potatoes" of psychological work, spiritual growth and personal awareness. Hence the of quoted question of counselors, "How do you feel?"

Not only do we often limit our awareness and learning to only what our brains take in, it is more insidious than that. There is a tendency in human nature to only take in what already agrees with what we know or believe--and do discredit, discount, deny any input that does not already square with what I already 'know." In some way, it is so we can feel more secure or in control of our lives and "destiny." We are so stubborn sometimes!

What does this have to do with Bodywork? Oh boy---hang on!

Deane Juhan shares:

      "No matter how much I move myself around, my strongest tendency is to move in the same ways I  have always moved, guided by the same deeply seated postural habits, sensory cues, and mental images of my  body; but if I can succeed in surrendering to the movements that another person [bodyworker] imposes on my body, without my own system of cues and responses interfering, it is possible to treat my mind to a flood of sensations that are novel in important ways...this moment of surrender and new sensation can demonstrate to me that I am not permanently obliged to continue acting out a habitual compulsion. I can see that the habit is a habit...And if I can drop a compulsive behavior or attitude for a moment without causing a crisis, then perhaps I can dispense with it altogether."  (Juhan, p. xxvi).

So one powerful opportunity that bodywork affords is the opportunity to experience myself in ways that are different than my own self-generated limitations--and physical often translates into emotional and spiritual realms. Bodywork, like psychotherapy, offers the support and experience of an Other--that has the potential to expand my own being into more abundant life.

Bring on the growth! Bring on the Bodywork!  :)