CHAPTER 1
Health, Healing, and the Power of Touch
When discussing health and healing, it may first be helpful to define disease. Basically, a person with a disease is without ease (dis-eased), meaning the body is not functioning effortlessly, as it should. Disease can also be seen as an imbalance or lack of harmony within the body system, which is an interconnected whole in which a problem in any part affects all parts and can show up anywhere in the body with the indicators we call symptoms. Some say that disease is hereditary and caused by particular genetic codes found in our DNA. External factors such as viruses, bacteria, toxins, infectious substances, electromagnetic disturbances, chemicals, pollution, and bad weather have been posited as its origin; however, in these cases, the real cause is often the body's inability to muster its defenses against these invaders. Disease may be linked to internal blockages created by injuries, traumatic events, inappropriate beliefs, disturbing emotions, disappointments, and the stresses of modern life that have become locked in our bodies. These obstructions can prevent the free flow of natural healing energy and play havoc with our body's ability to respond in a healthy way.
Health is really an ongoing process as we strive to attain the highest level of functioning and our full potential as human beings. Unfortunately, it sometimes seems like this kind of life is unattainable. We settle for thinking that we are "just fine," especially in comparison with others who obviously are not. But if we open our eyes and see the unlimited possibilities in front of us, we realize that no matter how together we might seem, there is always more that could be changed and improved. Each of us has the ability at any time to make choices that bring positive change and the opportunity to break free of limitations, but we may not always believe it. And that's where healing comes in.
So what then is healing? At first glance, the word seems to imply that something is wrong with us, that we need fixing. Although this may indeed be the case if there are specific physical or emotional manifestations of inner disturbances to the healthy functioning of the body or mind, this notion can diminish our self-image and even increase our resistance to improving ourselves. Healing can more properly be thought of as something that helps us improve our health, actualize our full potential, and expand our inner and outer horizons. Healing can change the heart and inspire joy. It is the love of truth and the truth of love in our lives. Indeed, in some situations where people cannot be cured, they can nevertheless be healed. Healing can address problems that arise from subtle shifts, dramatic changes, or traumatic events that occur in our lives and eventually show up in some part of the body; if left uncorrected, they can lead to further dysfunction, disease, a chronic condition, or even death. But if these disturbances are caught early, healing can be preventive rather requiring us to take on the heavy restorative work that will be necessary later. Like health, healing is not a destination but an ongoing process that involves ups and downs and the daily death of that which does not lead to well-being.
True healing may involve a series of changes that at first don't appear to resolve the issue in a straightforward way. A problem may actually seem to get worse, or the symptoms can change or move to another area of the body. The course that healing takes may force a person to face issues that she wasn't aware of and that weren't immediately apparent. And beliefs, predispositions, and the degree of readiness for healing can be why people with the same symptoms experience different results from the same practice. Indeed, the path to true healing may have more to do with the personal work done between treatments than on the effectiveness of a particular modality.
The role of the mind in healing may be somewhat analogous to the placebo effect. Scientific researchers have undertaken experiments in which a simple glass of water is given to patients who believe they are receiving a golden elixir that will truly take care of their problem. These experiments frequently yield positive healing results that are very perplexing to the researchers. What these studies really reveal is that what enables healing is often the patient's mental and emotional state. The effectiveness of a particular practitioner or modality may depend on the client's belief that the treatment will be successful. It's also a fact that healing may be happening even if it seems that nothing remarkable has occurred; the benefits may not be apparent until much later. Healing can be very obvious or very subtle and mystifying, and often the recipient becomes aware of any changes only through her own interactions with her world.
Becoming More Embodied
The body could be said to have a mind of its own, full of wisdom. It is not a frozen anatomical structure but a river of energy, with messages from each system flowing out to all the others all the time without our conscious direction. Knowledge and memory, both physical and emotional, reside in the body itself, often deep within the layers of each of our organs, right down to the cellular level. Our cells are constantly being spoken to by this flow of energetic intelligence, and in response, they offer their own wisdom. If we allow it, even every cell can become a little powerhouse of healing.
True healing can be difficult if we avoid the physical and emotional pains in life, but if we meet them head-on, we may discover the truth about their causes. Symptoms are the body's way of telling the mind that it's time to get help. However, many forms of dysfunction or disease, especially in their early stages, may not present serious symptoms. It is important to go inward and listen to what the body tells us about the cause and true location of the pain. It might even say that it's time to see a medical doctor. But if the body is led by a mind that does not listen to it, then dysfunctions can arise that are beyond the body's ability to control or heal. The more we can be a witness to subtle patterns of behavior and become aware of the internal processes occurring in the body, the better chance we have of preventing a problem from arising or healing an existing one. We can develop an inner sense of who we are and what we need by listening to the body's wisdom as the body speaks its truth and gives us the right feedback. When the inner doors of perception open, we can experience a flood of information and energy rising to the surface.
We all have a natural desire for optimal functioning and an instinctual drive toward wholeness, and we each have within a great potential for awareness, especially awareness of both the body and the spiritual dimensions underlying it. When we wake up and allow awareness to speak to us, we can tap into wisdom and become our own healers. Each of us is the expert on our physical and mental health. When we don't acknowledge this, we are less than we can be, but when we dive into the vast ocean of awareness inside us, we evoke the potential to melt away many of the troubling issues we encounter in life.
The time has come for each of us to be overwhelmed by the magic of our bodies and our own power to heal. It's all a matter of becoming more embodied, more connected to all the sensations, energies, and subtle vibrations within our physical form. It means becoming truly alive. The body's wisdom, supported by a caring and intuitive bodyworker, can be your ally on the path toward healing. And by becoming friends with your body through bodywork, you can give it that extra loving support that is so important when it just can't cope alone with some of the more overwhelming life situations that cause dysfunctions to occur.
The Role of Bodywork
Expanded self-awareness and healing can come spontaneously through some event, as if life experiences are our teachers. But the path to good health has many pitfalls. Life's changes and tragedies can sometimes throw us out of balance and wholeness. A lost job, the death (or birth) of a relationship, an accident, the passing of a dear friend, the sinking of a ship—their effects can be detrimental in many ways and, if not cared for, remain dormant as self-limiting factors for many years. It is wise to find solutions early on before the trauma becomes ingrained in the body on a cellular level as a chronic problem. Even if we've let things go on a little too long, the natural impulse to make a change for the better can work to our advantage. Many of us need a helping hand at different times through our lives, and bodywork is just that.
Bodywork, as it is used in this guidebook, has a very broad definition. Human beings are not a collection of different unrelated parts, but a complex of totally interconnected and interdependent elements—physical body, mind, energy, and spirit. So bodywork means any form of healing therapy that improves health, performance, quality of life, and well-being. Though touch or some form of physical manipulation by a skilled practitioner is often involved, bodywork treatments sometimes depend instead on healing energy directed by various means to the recipient. In some cases, healing is possible just by being close to energies that vibrate at a higher frequency. Bodywork also includes the self-care practices in which people take personal action to change or maintain their states of health. Most modalities of bodywork have a primary area of focus, but many have the potential to affect all areas of the body and all levels of being to some degree because of the interconnections among all parts of the body. Although some are scientifically based and work primarily to treat symptoms that show up in the body, many are more holistic and recognize the need to integrate the physical with the mental, emotional, etheric, and metaphysical.
Touch is a major part of most forms of practitioner-applied bodywork and can range from light, exploratory palpations to pressure applied to progressively deeper layers of the body. From the time we are born, touch is one of the simplest ways of connecting with another person; it is the oldest form of communication. Touching, caressing, and stroking the body is vital to our physiological and emotional well-being. When done in a sensitive and tender manner, as can be the case in bodywork, touch can fill our fundamental need to be loved and accepted and can awaken our own ability to love. It can warm our hearts. This is powerful medicine, especially for those who need support. Of course, we all know that touch is involved in physical lovemaking. Through bodywork, we can experience the nurturing and energizing rewards of physical love without the sexual act. Touch can also be therapeutic: releasing tension, relieving pain, and stimulating the flow of energy. The skin is our largest organ and has millions of tiny receptors. It keeps us in constant contact with our surroundings and sends a multitude of sensations via the nervous system to the brain. The brain can then signal a response that can affect any other part of the body. All this from a pair of skilled and loving hands!
The work done by these hands is what we call bodywork. Some bodywork is done simply to provide a relaxing, pleasurable experience. Other modalities work with movement and manipulations to reeducate and expand a person's functioning. Some deal therapeutically with specific problems or dysfunctions. Others focus on a certain area of the body such as the feet, spine, head, or abdomen. Many are directed at working with physiological components and systems, such as the skin, fascia, muscles, joints, bones, organs, and nerves. Some forms of bodywork provide ways of processing emotions or dealing with trauma, detrimental attitudes, or limiting belief systems. Bodywork can also focus on the energy in our body or on the etheric or spiritual realms. Hands convey the loving intention of the heart.
The various forms of bodywork approach healing from many different perspectives; they can therefore help us deal with the vast array of physical, mental, and emotional disruptions we face every day and help prevent us from slipping into conditions that are unhealthy. When our bodies, minds, and emotions are in a balanced state of good health, the effects can spill over to promote the health of our family and community. Alternative healing therapies, many of which have been practiced for thousands of years in cultures that understand the spiritual connectedness between our inner nature and the nature of the universe, can smooth our paths.
Bodywork can be said to have two distinct purposes—prevention and correction—but each recognize the importance of addressing the underlying cause of a problem and supporting the recipient's innate capacity to heal. The key to prevention is disarming potential problems before they can cause trouble. In this case, bodywork is often part of a regular maintenance program. We can cooperate with this effort by maintaining a lifestyle that minimizes stress and includes a good diet, proper energetic exercise, heartfelt exchange, and a balanced symbiotic relationship with our natural environment. The second approach is to correct an existing problem as soon as possible so that its effects won't become entrenched in the cells and systems of the body. Holistic therapies will address the underlying cause, the root problem, rather than simply relieving symptoms. It might be necessary to employ a therapeutic modality that targets the problem in a very direct manner, and if a chronic condition has developed, more extensive intervention may be necessary. When the causes of the problem are not clear, we may need the assistance of a professional who can guide us and help determine the form of therapy that is most appropriate for resolving the issue. A psychiatrist will probably not have much luck correcting spinal misalignment. A Swedish massage will not be able to alleviate the effects of a major trauma, nor will a foot massage change core beliefs.
The list of potential physical benefits of bodywork is long and varied: reducing stress, relaxing and calming the body and mind, improving the functioning of the body systems and internal organs, stimulating tissue, removing metabolic waste, correcting structural imbalances and increasing flexibility, improving muscle tone and range of motion, alleviating sensitivities and anxieties, removing soreness or pain, promoting better circulation of body fluids and energy, balancing the nervous system, stimulating the immune system, and providing a stronger sense of whole-body awareness and well-being. A multitude of techniques can be directed to treating the skin, muscle tension, sports injuries, spinal problems, structural imbalances, and the digestive system. Many of the different modalities not only focus on apparent dysfunctions, but work to improve the condition and potential within every body system, whether it be lymphatic, circulatory, respiratory, nervous, glandular, digestive, skeletal, muscular, or energetic. And through work on the physical body, healing on a more subtle level can also be initiated—clearing emotional trauma or altering limiting core beliefs and habitual patterns.
By approaching the healing process from the energetic dimension, bodywork can have a wide range of effects that provide changes not only in the physical body but also in the emotions, mind, and spirit. Ancient holistic medical systems, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda from India that concentrate on the invisible vital life-force energy that is the basis of all physical matter have recently gained much attention, and recent studies and research, especially within the realm of quantum physics, are proving the interconnection between the cellular and the cosmic. Energy therapies work with pressure points, meridians (pathways of energy), energy centers or vortices (such as chakras), the surrounding auric energy biofields, or other universal spiritual realms. The key premise of energetic forms of bodywork is that removing any existing energy blockages and balancing the flow of energy both within and around a person can enhance overall health.
