The Pause.

Most people arrive at the table carrying more than just tension. A question I frequently ask before we begin a massage:

Do you have words you would like to infuse into your time on the table?

“I don’t really know how to say it in regard to my massage, but, I’ve been working on taking a moment before I respond. To practice taking a breath and checking to make sure I am coming from a place of calm before I take action.”

Herein lies The Pause.

Nodding my head in solidarity, this felt familiar to me. (I’m working a similar practice for myself.) Ideas about the flow of the session popped into my head, and we chatted a little more about how to craft concise phrases that both Massage Mate and I could use to center the session.

The words I suggested:

      ✨ Intention: To move through the world fully embodied and with choices made from my inner knowing

     ✨ Affirmation: Clarity comes to me in The Pause.

     ✨Tactics: To breathe, to wait, to unravel, to yield

I have not yet read any of the books written by Existential Psychologist Rollo May, but I have heard versions of his theory about freedom coming from our capacity to pause. Wellness practitioners of all kinds talk about the sacred space created in stillness that then allows one to deliberately choose the way one proceeds despite all the stimuli coming at you.

Yes, let’s do THIS. Pause. Wait. Get still.

For this massage, I offered many heavy, lingering compressions. I followed Massage Mate’s inhale and exhale, letting up on my pressure as the lungs filled with air, sinking in again when the breath expelled.

Every gliding stroke followed a slow

contemplative pacing that matched the music of Garth Stevenson’s albums Flying and Voyage. It gave me the opportunity to be present with every tissue that asked for attention; although time did not allow every single muscle to be addressed equally, no part felt missed.

We spent an hour prone (face down),  utilizing passive ROM to put arms & legs in various compositions as needed to vary up the sensory input and ensure that the lower back didn’t get cranky from being in the exact same alignment for too long. The next 20 minutes were given to scalp, face, neck, and shoulders. This left the last 10 minutes for all the rest - so I chose to return to those weighted compressions as a way to tie it altogether. Added a little bit of jostling & rocking for freshness, lightness, and ease as part of the transition process to ending a session.

When Massage Mate emerged from the treatment room, I sensed tranquility and serenity, which they gladly confirmed. They had witnessed a hidden tension in their forehead when I worked that area that was now tamed, and they noted how deeply they  valued the new layers they were able to access in their body as a result of our work together.

What words would you like to bring to the table?

You come in carrying a lot. My job is just to help you set some of it down.