bodylistening.com - who benefits
 

"Your hands give me the comfort I want to give myself when I’m in pain and can’t. By the end of the session the pain loses dominance, remembering I’m the ocean and not the struggling wave."— Virginia T.

Photo of tree bark by Sarah PuyansThere’s something that happens to us internally when we receive touch that connects with us, accepting and allowing what is underneath to come up, come forward. As we hear our own voice speak of our deepest longings, fears, a new understanding, clarity comes in. Instead of fighting discomfort, whether physical or emotional, we can begin to turn towards it. Being able to be present, if only for a moment, is the beginning of a new relationship not only with the cause of our constriction, tension, but also with our life, opening up a whole new way of being.

The specific benefits include:

  • Greater sensory awareness and knowing of what you feel and want,

  • Understanding your patterns of reactivity, distraction,

  • Increased intimacy, connecting with yourself and others,

  • Feeling more energized, alive, creative, spontaneous,

  • Different way of relating to pain, discomfort, both physical and emotional,

  • Reframing of old emotional wounds, places of separation,

  • Developing a new place of trust, a different kind of control, based on what you can and cannot realistically expect of your body,

  • Learning to trust a felt sense when something is “true,” right for you, that can guide you in decision making,

  • Cultivating a felt sense of “spacious or expansive embodiment,” which can transform your life experience.

I’ve worked with clients having a variety of chronic physical pain and/or emotional discomfort, which includes frozen shoulder, neck, back and hip pain, eating disorders, anxiety/panic attacks, and depression. I work with all the major emotions that come from difficulty in relationships and changes brought on by aging, illness, and grief. The basic formula is the same—being held in a container of care and respect, finding the openings to turn towards whatever is causing muscle constriction and separation. I have also done volunteer work with seniors during my training, and enjoy working with elders. For the past year or so I’ve done volunteer work with women who have cancer. Finally, I’m familiar with 12-step work.