Today I received this voicemail reference from a client that I treated yesterday. My first client since the lockdown. He left the message on my husbands phone as they are longtime friends. He has not had a treatment from me before and possibly not from any other therapist either. It made me laugh so I thought I would share it with you.
As a little background. The chap in question had been suffering from gout. The issues with seeing a GP during these covid times had led to him having more medication than ever before which had triggered an allergic reaction and pain in the foot, ankle and knee. When I saw him he looked like a man who had survived a particularly rough stag weekend. His skin was grey, he was clearly in pain, he had a limp and he looked very tired.
I used a combination of light Massage, Polarity holds over the knee, Off body aura work on the ankle and toes & cranio-sacral work on the spine. After treatment he was light headed at first but looked a bit better. 20 hours later he left this message.
“Please would you pass on this message to your good lady. 300 years ago an angry mob would have thrown her in the village pond. If she floated they would have set fire to her. She is surely a practitioner of witchcraft. I am skipping about like a bunny today, so please pass on my thanks to her”.
This isn’t the first time that I have been called a witch and I do hope it won’t be the last. Some of the techniques I use I cannot fully explain, but I take the comparison to witchcraft to mean that there has been an unexpectedly quick change to one or more symptoms, pains or aches. Many more techniques I can analytically explain to the extent of my training, experience and extended reading habits, but do we really know how the body responds to anything ? Massage has benefits that were originally documented at the time of the gladiators, so that should be clear, measurable and predictable, but is it ?. Are the body changes experienced after a massage due to the physical movement of the tissue (muscles, fascia etc etc) or a profound relaxation from the touch of the therapists hands smoothing the stress away and expressing care in a world where non-sexual tenderness is a rarity. Are the documented changes in a body after a reflexology treatment due to contact with many of the 7000+ nerve endings in the feet in a rhythmic manner or it a therapeutic, energy led transmission effected when the therapist works the diaphragm line under the balls of the feet ? and most of all does it matter ?. A benefit is a benefit, why do we need to always look for scientific evidence of measurable, predictable change ? Every person reacts differently. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in any way a supporter of snake oil salesmen or charlatans, promising a result to the gullible or vulnerable in our society. There are thousands of therapists in the UK who are well trained, experienced and committed to delivering a quality service. They offer clients a wealth of talent and the time that clients need to feel heard about their pain and their stress.
As far as the healing part of my work is concerned, in all honesty, I have no idea why my hands get so hot during treatments. I have no idea why I can sometimes tell if a person is unwell (with no symptoms). I really have no idea why placing my fingers on a clients toes can help with a bunch of stuff. What is it about the belly button that seems to generate an energetic impulse to other areas ? and why does placing the hands above and below an area promote such ease in the fascia ? I can tell you what the ancient practices used it for. I can describe the holds and teach the techniques, but do I really really know what it is ?. No ! But they do say that we only use a small part of our brains so maybe the bit we don’t use has some explanations. I do know that the more subtle parts of our body are still being discovered. I do know that 2 people with similar injuries will repair in different ways. I do know that everyone one of us is a unique combination of genetics, experience and exposure to our environment and I do know that over 2000 years of medical practices must have something to say for itself when held up against the last 200 (ish) years of scientific theories and evidence gathering. “One size treatments will never suit all”, so its ok to suggest that I might be doing something akin to witchcraft because it often works, and if it doesn’t, I am confident that my clients will feel that it was an hour honestly spent with a trained, insured, experienced and caring therapist, working within the structure of recognised training from many notable experts over a 30 year period.
It feels so so good to be back to work again. Now about that cauldron………lol.