The Sixth Sense

There is something about energy work that is incredible for most bodyworkers, skeptical for some and spooky for others. It's the sixth sense of energy work. I personally have the most exposure to this sixth sense in my Cranial Sacral classes. There is something about Cranial, the rhythm and the outcome of the bodywork that is so special, sacred and intense that it is hard to describe in words; but I will give it a try anyway. When I teach my students how to palpate the cranial rhythm I talk about how subtle this rhythm is and how if one tries to look to hard it can be difficult to feel. I use the analogy of a ghost to help describe it. I personally have never had a paranormal experience, but my husband watches every paranormal activity program that is available to watch on HULU. So, I feel through secondary exposure a bit of a expert now on the topic. All of the time on these shows a person will see a shadow or feel a breathing on their neck or hear a noise. They go seeking after the source of these happenings only to find, usually that it was unexplainable at the time. I feel that the cranial rhythm is much the same. "Did you just see that?" This is something you hear all the time on these paranormal shows. "Did I just feel that?" This is what I hear all the time from my cranial sacral students. Eventually most of my students get to a point where this paranormal activity with the cranial rhythm become normal activity and they can feel it on just about anyone. Another component of this sixth sense is the concept of unwinding. I can only speak my opinion at this time, but I firmly believe that when there is a person present in my classroom who is familiar with unwinding, has had it done or is prone to unwinding it spreads like a contagious disease and causes others to have the tendency to unwind. I see it happen regularly in my classroom. My cranial classes are very basic and unwinding is not taught at this level, but later if they choose to continue their education. Lately I have felt the need to at least describe what unwinding is so my class is aware and can recognize it when it is happening. It seems that now I have invited it into the classroom and it is forever present with us. Just like on those ghost shows...they hunt for ghosts, try to communicate with them, try to prod them to react in some paranormal way hoping they will catch a glimpse of a apparition or an snag an EVP. I have been playing with the Ouija board of Cranial: I have poked and prodded and invited it in and now it's making appearances all the time around my classroom. This is not a negative thing except that my students tend to become fearful and unsure of what to do with it. They become most fearful when it happens to them when they have never had any kind of exposure to it before. As a matter of fact, some would describe that unwinding looks like an exorcism. Coincidence? I think not! It's a good thing I know how to extinguish it. It's like calling in the ghost whisperer. the moral of this story is...if you don't want your students to go into unwinding, then don't have someone prone to it in your classroom. Also, don't have two people prone to unwinding partner together. Or perhaps, don't even mention the word "unwinding" at all. It is very possible this is the password to let all paranormal cranial activity occur. Regardless of what does happen, just be prepared for it and know that it's the body's way of saying to the client, "I want out", whatever it is that is being stored and held in the body. So eventually this unwinding needs to occur and finish its course. In my next class I will have my tape recorder ready in case I can pick up an EVP's of this cranial paranormal activity.

Becoming a Believer

Okay, Okay...so I know that I haven't posted on this blog in over two years...but I have recently become inspired to do so again. Here is the latest:

Teaching at the massage therapy school definitely comes with its challenges. One of the challenges is having students understand how energy work actually works and getting them to become a believer. Recently, I was faced with this challenge. Reflexology can be a tough concept to understand, especially if you have always been more skeptical. Reflexology is the study of the main reflexes on the feet. These reflexes correspond with organs, muscles, nerves, etc of the body. Reflexology can help assist the flow of energy through the body to help keep these organs, muscles, nerves etc, functioning properly. One student in particular thought I was just loaded with you know what. So by session three she raised her hand to explain to me how skeptical she was and wasn't sure if she was a believer. (What am I? A preacher?) I suppose there is a conversion process with certain bodywork modalities as well as religion. I did my best to explain that it is hard to become a believer, sometimes you just have to have the experience of it working and that is when you will let go of your skeptic thoughts. I had a feeling in the back of my mind that she would have an experience soon after this conversation. That's usually how it happens. So what do you know? The next day she practiced on a friend who has severe scoliosis. As she was working the reflexes points on the feet for the back and spine, her friend could feel the tension releasing in her actual back and spine. The therapist then began to work the sciatic nerve reflex on the foot and her friend could feel tingling and numbness in the back of her leg. Needless to say, my student was baffled and couldn't believe that all this stuff I had taught her was now becoming reality. She was converted! She believes! Mission accomplished! Oh the joys of teaching and healing the planet one body at a time.

Don't "Blink" or you might just miss the golden opportunity

Well Well Well...what do we have here? Yes, I know I haven't blogged in awhile. Sorry. Life's been busy since having a baby and all. I know that was 15 months ago...but they get tougher the older they get and take more time. So, here is the latest massage news.
Like some of you know, I often have gone to the McKay Events Center in Orem, UT to do massage for many of the concerts that come through there. This concert was going to be AWESOME though because Blink-182 was in town. I got a call Sunday night that they would need a massage therapist. So of course I went. Got there at 3pm Monday and set up my table and everything...but no Blink members needed one then. Production manager told me one of the Blink members, (name won't be mentioned here), wanted a massage after the show and she asked me if I could stay that long. I've done that before so, no prob. I told her I could. She said she'd probably want me to set up in his room so it was more secluded. I told her I had done that before and it shouldn't be a problem. She told me she'd let people know that I was here and get me some clients. Awesome! It was pretty slow since the room I was massaging in was far away from where everyone else was. But, I got a few clients, made a little money. One of the clients was the Blink tour manager. He needed some good neck and back work. Worked on him and he loved it! Thank goodness. He told me he would want to come back later for some more work. Sounds good. But, couldn't do it then, because of course, the show must go on. And so it did, the show began. I watched everyband play and even Blink. Third time seeing them - it was great. Travis Barker did a SWEET drum solo. Comes to the time where I wonder where I am supposed to go do to this big massage that I have scheduled. I walk downstairs to find out and get stopped by a pretty important looking security guy. He says, "Can I help you ma'am?". I said, "Yes, I am the massage therapist here today, and I'm supposed to be doing some massages after the show. Can you find our for me if they still need me?". He radios to the tour manager, and tour manager tells him to standby. So he tells me, "Standby ma'am, over there." And points to the wall. As I am "standing by" I see two of the Blink-182 guys. Wow...sometimes they look just as good in real life, and sometimes they don't. One of them didn't look as good, and one of them looked, well, WOW, better actually then I thought. Looks like he works out or something. I still crush on him after all these years. Finally tour manager finds me..."Hey Alisha, I think we're good, you can take off." My heart drops so hard it shatters when it hits the floor of my chest cavity. I say, "Oh, are you sure?". He says, "Yea, I'm sure, my neck feels really good, you did a great job, thanks. " Okay, he walks away...what do I do? This opportunity isn't about to be lost is it? Really? I see the production manager who first told me that this Blink member wanted the massage after the show. "Hey, so I guess he doesn't need the massage anymore. Tour manager just told me." She says, "Really?" With a confused look. "Well you got to at least see the show right?" My mind is racing...atleast I got to see the show?? Yes, I guess so. I got to see the f'in show. I've only seen them three times, but hey...once again, I got to see them. My heart is broken. It reminds me of my first love when he said the awful words, "I think we should break up." And I say, "NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" It's the equivelant to that, without all the tears. Heart broken, I walk back to my massage table and pack up. Practically lifeless, I carry it to the car, load the car, get in, close the door, then....SCREAM! HOW IN THE WORLD DID I MESS THIS UP? The opportuinity of a lifetime, shattered. My vision my dream to do massage for rock bands destroyed in a moment, in a few words exchaged, GONE! Every scenario of how this came to be went through my head. I have come to this conclusion: Tour manager said he wanted a massage later. So when I told Mr. security, "Do they still need me?" Tour manager maybe thought I was just talking about him. He was ultra busy so decided against having another massage, not thinking that Blink wanted a massage too. Perhaps he didn't know. I don't know. So, I blame it on myself. At least, this conclusion is how I live with myself. To know that he didn't want the massage for any other reason, would still leave me heart broken. So the moral of the story is this: When Mr. Security asks what I need, instead of saying, "Do they still need me?", I say, "Where do they need me to set up?" A Blink-182 poster now hangs near me daily with the words "NEVER AGAIN" pasted on the front. Some can say they've massaged Blink-182, but not many can say they almost did. I, however, fall into this small percentage. Next time I'll think before I Blink.

Beating Bursitis

There are times when a client may come to you complaining of pain in a joint or around a joint and you need to assess to know if it is muscle pain or joint pain like bursitis. An easy way to do this to to check passive and active range of motion. You can also do resisted range of motion to really activate the muscle, and if the pain gets worse, you may be dealing with a muscle or muscle tendon issue. So, I've been working with Tito who beats on Kimbo (names have been changed to protect the identity of individuals). Tito came to me complaining of pain right on top of his knee cap. It did not hurt on active range of motion and didn't really hurt on passive range of motion. It hurt when his patella was palpated right on the most anterior portion of his knee. After assessing a little more and researching some to dig deeper, it seemed it may have been a bursa that was inflamed. (We have MANY bursa for our knee joint). Tito is a fighter, he does a lot of sparring with Kimbo and does A LOT of knee flexion and extension with force. (like when kicking a bag or a person.) Sounds like overuse that irritated the bursa. So, ice massage was the rehab massage technique of choice. I took a plastic bag, filled it with ice, applied some lotion to the quadriceps and over the knee and began doing the ice massage. I also instructed Tito to ice it a few a times a day on this own with a bag of ice right over the knee cap. Within one day he was feeling much better and within a few days had no problems. In a lot of cases we tell our clients, "Stop doing whatever it is your doing that is aggravating your joint and causing the pain." I know there is NO WAY Tito will stop. So, more than likely he is going to be a longtime client. POST YOUR COMMENTS AND STORIES HERE!

Sometimes they cry when it's cryotherapy

For the record...my personal trainers are great and have helped me lose a lot of weight. But, what do you do when your trainer is injured and can't help you as much as you need him to? You offer to help him rehab from his injury. It's not great marketing if someone walks into the gym and the trainer there is limping around and incapable of actually training. This has been the story of my life for the last week. Both trainers at the gym I attend do Krav Maga, a highly intense form of martial arts. They spar A LOT and literally beat on each other. Needless to say, they both experience injuries from time to time. I have been doing all I can to get them back to a working condition. One of the trainers, we will call him Kimbo, went to kick the other trainer and had a bad contusion on the dorsal side of his foot. He actually found out he bruised down to the bone. There was no superficial bruising but some good inflammation and pain. Ice of course was the first step for rehabing this injury. (Although he complained about having to do it, and didn't do it some of the time that I told him to...Typical.) He did ok though, for following my instructions. The ice was about a three day time frame. Massage can be extremely beneficial almost immediately, that and range of motion. So, to get the ice and massage in, we did a little cryotherapy. I took a plastic bag and put some ice in it, applied lotion to the site of injury and massaged the injury with the bag of ice. This works extremely well because you can ice it and prevent the scar tissue from restricting range of motion all in one shot. Make sure that you have the client do range of motion AFTER icing the injury. Like we have talked about in class, have them do the ankle ABC's. Start off with them moving their ankle to try and spell the letters of the alphabet, starting with lower case, then upper case, then cursive. It may take some time for them to advance to the upper case and cursive letters. If they can do all three without pain, that is typically a sign that it has good range of motion back. Well...Kimbo is doing well, his foot no longer looks inflamed, and we are now to the heat stage. Of course don't apply heat after a workout or extreme use. Hopefully, I can get these guys to stay healthy so that I can be healthy. Post your comments or questions here!!

Doctor Cranial

An amazing thing happened this past week. I received a call from my Doctor asking me if I could come into his office and give one of his patients a CranialSacral session. OF COURSE I WILL! I replied. How often is it that a Doctor (MD) calls you asking for Cranial? This patient had been experiencing headaches off and on for several months now. He had been tested for several things, given drugs, all the fun doctor stuff - and nothing. No answers, no relief from this horrible pain. So my good ole' Doctor (he's a doctor of Osteopathy), tells his patient. "Let's try some CranialSacral." The doctor explained that he had learned some Cranial in his schooling, but just couldn't ever come to feel that Cranial Rhythm. (Dont' get discouraged, if you haven't felt it yet, you will in good time.) So, I worked with this client. Probably about 2 minutes into admisitering CV4, he fell asleep, then the fun began. I saw MANY signs of releasing such as twitching, borborgymus, REM, and heat. Almost all of his bones softened very well, I just had to be more patient with some than others. Needless to say the client felt great afterwards, and has been feeling great ever since. Some headaches still come, but not to the full extent that they were. I LOVE CRANIAL! COMMENT ABOUT YOUR CRANIAL SUCCESSES HERE!

TMJ and Migraines

I have been working with Steve for about a month and a half now. He has suffered from Migraines since about 12 years old, he is now 17. It has been a long uphill battle for too long. He has tried many things, including massage in the past and still suffers severely, day to day. I want to help Steve as much as I can so that he can have a "normal" life as a teenager. In the last session with Steve, we found some severe tension in his masseter muscle. I explained to him that often times tension from this muscle can lead to headaches, and even worse, migraines. After doing some injury massage through the masseter, and a lot of cranial work, he got off the table feeling pretty relaxed and feeling better. I gave him a masseter stretch that he can do on his own. Hopefully through just a few more sessions, I can find out the root of the problem, and see if we can't get this problem to fix itself. He is very excited about the potential of not having migraines. I hope that I can help him get to this point. WHAT EXPERIENCES HAVE YOU HAD WITH MIGRAINES? COMMENT HERE.