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June 12, 2007

When You Hit The Wall

It's happened to all of us. You're twenty minutes into a massage and a wave of weakness washes over you. Your arms feel like rubber, or worse, lead. You can feel sweat popping out on your upper lip. You may feel dizzy or slightly nauseous. You hear buzzing in your ears. You've hit the wall.

For whatever reason, you've run out of resources and you still have 10 minutes, half an hour, or forty minutes of massage left to deliver. What do you do? Generally, I keep food at work in my desk so I can anticipate when I may be at risk for running out of energy. Dried fruit, nuts, granola bars and even chocolate occupy my bottom drawer care package.

But when I've been caught unaware, I use breath work to get me through. Massage and Bodywork Magazine has an article this month on breath that covers the history of breath and its modern day scientific use for healing. However, it does not cover the use of breath to assist the practitioner with the massage. For me, a slow deep steady breath pulled as deeply into the body as possible (I think in through the scalp and down to the pubic bone) and released in a relaxed way is most beneficial. This helps oxygenate the cells which the mitochondria need to help the body make ATP. Too much deep breathing too quickly will serve to make you dizzy, so practice when you're not in crisis and learn what works for you.

It's important to note that lack of food is not the only reason we hit the wall. Over the years I have learned that many other situations can put you at the edge of your energy reserves. As part of the therapeutic process, some clients talk out their trauma. One client, whose spouse ended up in the hospital bleeding uncontrollably, related their tale of fear and horror. Maybe it was because I had not maintained my boundaries or maybe it's because I don't like blood, but I found myself fighting a dizzy spell. Breath brought me out of that one.

Another situation occurred the winter I decided I to use a zinc supplement to boost my immune system. I was trying to prevent getting sick and losing work time but instead made myself ill by taking it in the morning. I've also found that taking an antibiotic such as that prescribed for treatment of my rosacea can have a similar effect on me. If I can breathe through the nausea, it will pass and I can continue working the rest of the day without incident.

Don't forget that some clients who are not a good fit for us can drain us of our energetic resources, whether intentionally or not. These people can sometimes be referred to as energy vampires, but I don't think that term is completely fair. Again, breath work and clear boundaries is needed here. It may be necessary to gently refer these clients to another practitioner who may not have a vulnerability to the issues a given client may conjure up in a therapist.

And finally, there is the grief. I did not realize how vulnerable I was the going back to work following my father's funeral. I learned to recognize that sensations similar to an anxiety attack were signs that I needed to set aside time alone to grieve my loss. Breath work held me steady until I could find time to be alone and process my grief appropriately.

tags: massage massagetherapy wellness massage therapy bodywork health

Posted by linda at June 12, 2007 7:02 AM