The Space Between Transformation & Routine

When I was a little girl going around town with my dad, if we would come upon someone we knew who had recently gone for a significant haircut, or shaved off a long-beloved beard, he would say something like “there’s an external manifestation of an internal transformation,” and I, at 7, would roll my eyes and say “I think they just wanted a haircut.”

I think about this little exchange frequently in my shiatsu work. I love the space between “I just want a massage” and “I am opening myself to a journey of transformation.” In all likelihood, most of us are somewhere between these two poles. This kind of bodywork, which has been designed for healthcare and healing, will come to meet you wherever it is most needed.

That said, I have come to notice over the years, that there is a great difference between the first session with a person and subsequent sessions. When you find the right moment to initiate something that you have contemplated, put on the back burner, said you’ll get to, told yourself you really could use, you open yourself to the possibility of all that lies on that path. In the first session, we often simply (but profoundly!) work to release built up “surface tension,” to become comfortable together, and to take a deep body scan through the enlightening power of compassionate touch. By the second session, it is incredible how much less surface tension there is, how much more able we are to go deeply into body and spirit, and support coming towards balance, into self-compassion, and freedom of expression.

There are many tools out there to move towards healthiness and balance. I find that this is something like a gateway tool - once your body can relax and feel at home, other healthy habits - good food, laughter, exercise, breathing deeply - feel easier to access, in part because all that is asked of you is to surrender your upright form to the mat, to lie down, close your eyes, and receive.