Change Starts with Awareness
Bodywork can have a profoundly dramatic impact on ones life! I learned this directly when I received my first professional “massage”, which was a Structural session from Edward Maupin. Meeting Him and James Stewart, 2 of the founding fathers of IPSB(International Professional School of Bodywork), I knew that IPSB was the massage school for me, should I decide to take that path. I knew that mentoring with them and the other pioneering masters of massage and bodywork that taught at IPSB would change my life. Two years later, after my 8 & 1/2 month Journey traveling around Mexico and South American, I became a student and joined the incredible IPSB community. I was drawn to the Somatic Path offered at IPSB and after completing the massage therapy program, I went on to specialize in all 4 of the Somatic modalities…Structural Organization, Sensory Re-Patterning, Somato-Emotional Integration, and Relational Somatics.
We often feel completely different in our body after receiving a great massage … perhaps taller, looser, more balanced, lighter in our step… more “connected” to the ground beneath us! I felt all of these sensations after that first session with Ed but even more remarkable was that my posture was changed and I knew that I would carry myself differently in the world from here on out. I will forever be grateful for the subtle yet profound shifts in my awareness that Ed inspired that day by bringing my attention to how I was standing in my body and how this related to my relationship with the earth. It seems so simple but it really is true that “Awareness Makes the Change”… a foundational principle that Ed leads with as a teacher and as a structural bodyworker.
When receiving Structural Integration or Rolfing, it is common to begin the session by standing in front of your therapist without many clothes on(usually just underwear and bra) so that He/She can assess you structurally from a distance, looking at how you are standing in gravity and what structural imbalances are obvious. As I stood there I was aware of how vulnerable and self conscious I felt but also completely safe and curious. After a few quiet moments of observation, Ed instructed me to bring my feet a little closer together so that they were “more under me”, more in line with my hips…. then he asked me to bend, ever so slightly, through my knees, which immediately had a softening effect on my hips and pelvis making me feel more fluid and connected throughout my feet, legs and hips. Then he asked me to soften through my shoulders and rib cage while at the same time lengthening up through the back of the neck and crown of my head as I pressed into the earth. I felt my belly engage as my pelvis lengthened downward, my chin naturally soften towards the front of my throat and my shoulders relax as I made these subtle adjustments. I was amazed at how different I felt! Until this moment I had never realized what a strong “military” like stance I usually stood in… with my wide and strongly planted feet , legs stiff, hips strong, and most notably my shoulders squared and back creating a puffed out chest and strong jaw. It was a posture that communicated “I am ready for anything!”…”Bring it on!”…..”I am a strong and independent woman!”….. “I’m not scared of anything!”….. But, this strength I was communicating through my posture, that I perhaps had learned as a way to meet the world or that I had always felt was a “graceful” and “confident” posture to emulate, had a major weakness built into it. This “Bravado Stance” was blocking me from feeling more connected to the ground and therefore would eventually create tension patterns that would, most likely, make me fall flat on my face!
With the awareness of “softening” all the muscles and tissues of my body while rooting more comfortably through my bones into the earth, I felt suddenly like I could breath deeper. I marveled in the sensation of ease I felt as I let go of “holding myself up.” I felt open and receptive and naturally “lifted up” by the ground as I Stood down into it. I realized that in this experience of fluidity and flexibility I was “stronger” then ever! I was more like a willow tree, which is not easy to break because it is so bendy and therefore strong. I felt so much more “alive”! This life changing shift took place before I even experienced any hands on bodywork by Ed…. I was amazed!
This kind of profound impact that bodywork can have in one’s life is the reason I am so jazzed to be a massage therapist! I invite you today to bring your attention to how you are feeling in your body as you move through your day. Without judgement, let your breath be a guiding tool of awareness into the body. Are there ways that you can soften through your feet, legs, hips, torso, shoulders and neck? How about your face…. perhaps around your mouth or the muscles behind your eyes ? Can you feel the counter force from the ground pushing you forward as you take a step? Pressing down into the ground, the ground sends a force back that lifts you up. You can feel the extension of this “lifting” up through your whole body. Allow tension to fall away as you re-settle yourself into more ease and alignment. Play with this! What feels lighter, softer, more playful and dancelike…. Be patient with yourself and with the process…
