Yoga: A Path to Healing

Yoga has been a part of my life since elementary school when I would watch the PBS show in the mornings and follow along.  Since then I have had an on again off again practice spanning 30 years and have gained two certifications, one in Kundalini yoga and one in Hatha yoga.  When I became a massage therapist, as I began to understand the relationship between bad posture, destructive movement habits and pain I looked for ways to teach my clients how to move in a way that was more supportive of their health.   It was a natural fit to begin teaching yoga to my clients to support the structurally oriented work we were doing together.  

In October of 2000 I was to have an opportunity to experience the healing benefits of yoga in a way I had never anticipated.  A car accident left me with whiplash and a herniated disc in my already vulnerable lumbar spine.  I was in great pain and had lost strength in my hands and legs.  Numbness and tingling accompanied by sharp, shooting pain severely limited my activity.  I couldn't stand, walk, sit or even sleep for long without demoralizing pain.  Chiropractic and massage therapy helped relieve my symptoms temporarily but it always came back.  I began doing research into MacKenzie exercises that physical therapists sometimes prescribe to their patients.  I was shocked to find that they were essentially yoga postures that I had been doing for much of my life.  I began a daily practice of these particular postures and reached a point that when the pain and tingling became distracting, wherever I was I got down on the floor and did my yoga.  Fortunately, when you work in a massage school no one thinks anything of the teacher spontaneously moving into asanas!  As time went on, the pain centralized so I no longer felt it down my leg and eventually it left me completely.  

This was a powerful lesson.  First, to viscerally understand the psychological as well as physical impact of chronic pain really deepened my compassion for my clients who live with their pain day in and day out, in some cases for years.  Second, it was exciting and humbling to discover that while bodywork was indeed helpful, the most powerful healing tool I had at my disposal was a daily practice of yoga.  I began to think of yoga as much more than a way to exercise, relax or even as a moving meditation.  It dawned on me that it was also powerful medicine.  

Therapist, Care for Thyself

In preparing for my latest workshop, TLC Massage Therapist Retreat, I've been pondering my own relationship with self care. Something I have observed in myself and other therapists is that we are very adept at caring for others but have a tendency to ignore our own needs. One perspective that I have used to keep myself mindful of my own needs and on the straight and narrow as far as doing what I know I should is to recall what my stage movement professor at U of H said. "Your body is your instrument and you must care for that instrument so that it will be there for you." This is just as true of massage therapists as it is for performers.

For performers, he meant receiving bodywork. Ironically, that is what led me to my true love, massage therapy. For massage therapists, that does mean receiving bodywork but it also involves the daily habits of caring for our bodies - diet, exercise, etc. - and specifically caring for our hands. So many careers in body work have been shortened by poor biomechanics and hand care. It can be difficult to remember to take the time to do a few simple stretches between clients or to use a different tool (fingers, supported knuckle) when your thumbs are feeling worn out but these are the things that mark the difference between a career in massage that lasts 10 years and a career that lasts a lifetime.

In the Massage Therapist Retreat, I intend to explore simple solutions to the biomechanical problems that plague our profession. One thing I have learned in offering home programs to my clients is that if a program is too complex or takes too long, folks just won't do it. I'm no different. So I hope to send people home with some ideas for a short routine they can do between clients. One of the benefits of being a massage therapist is that we know all sorts of wonderful tricks to relieve muscle pain like hydrotherapy and massage itself. I frequently laugh at myself when I realize I could be using these things on myself but haven't! This workshop will explore how we can use the tools of our trade for our own benefit. We will play with hydrotherapy, self massage and, of course, a massage routine for arms and hands that can be used with other therapists or on clients.

Throughout my career, each time I've sustained an injury it has been almost like gaining a new specialty. I have shared the methods that assisted my recovery with my clients with great confidence because I know how effective they are. The ergonomics of massage therapy leave us vulnerable to many of the same repetitive use injuries that people who work with computers fall prey to. Our explorations of self care offer us the opportunity to help our clients in their own search for wellness. They look to us not only as facilitators of their own healing but as examples for healthy living. So take care of yourself!