"Ya Gotta Wanna"

     

       "I need you to do whatever it was you did last time." I am a Massage Therapist and Body worker. From a business stand-point, this is great; repeat business!!! I'm not so "giggly".

        It is always so rewarding when a client comes in with an ache or pain that won't quit, and I am able to help their body find its normal resting equilibrium; hence, releasing the pain. Healing, however, should not require the constant input of an extraneous source to make the person "better". The knowledge of a therapist is meant to "assist" the person's body heal, itself. The body WANTS to heal itself. When a good therapist comes in as a Body-worker to figure out why point A isn't working with point B,C or D, and uses physics and other sciences to re-establish the proper balance, that therapist is just being a FACILITATOR to the client's own ability to heal. The problem comes when the client doesn't want to hold up his or her own end of the bargain.

      There are lots of excuses: "...did not have time to do the exercises"; "...forgot to go see the orthotics person"; "...epsom salts rot my bath fixtures"; and my personal favorite, "I don't like water." The list goes on. Now I could write a novel on every excuse I have heard about people not wanting to take responsibility for their own health, and why each excuse is harmful. (I just might.) The point is that miracles only happen when both the healer and the healed are on board with healing as a goal and end-result. When something that is fixable keeps eluding the cure, both parties have to take accountability and work together to find the cause.
      As a therapist, if what I am doing is not working, it is my job to figure out why. If I need to try a different approach in my "methods of madness" to solve a problem, I will. What happens, however, when the therapist's challenge of helping a client overcome obstacles is not met by the client, as well? It is a two-way street.
        A wise scientist and philosopher once said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result." If your shoulders are aching because of crummy posture at the computer, but you don't go back to your office to fix it, what do you think is going to keep happening? If you keep throwing out your back,(shoulder, neck...etc...) because of an off-kilter golf swing, and nobody helps you see what you are doing wrong, what do you think is going to keep happening?
         This is not to say if a person fixes a postural distortion in a daily activity that an injury is not going to happen again. We all have strengths and weaknesses that make us who we are. The weaknesses test our mettle. As we age, some of these weaknesses start to become glaring if we didn't address them earlier. Sometimes brand new weaknesses show up unannounced! ( How rude of them! lol.) This is where Therapists are handy, especially when they are already familiar with your postural challenges.
        It takes a commitment and acceptance of responsibility by the injured, alongside the therapist, for true healing to take place. In the end, it is the body that heals itself. With proper attention to errors that have created an imbalance in the first place, a person CAN take control over the discomfort being faced. Taking initiative and responsibility to make good choices in the face of prior mistakes will make the road to health an abundant one.

       Food for thought. Your comments are most welcome!  Namaste.