Presence Matters

I’m having a Starbucks moment with a colleague of mine. Over steaming-hot morning drinks we’re discussing how grateful we feel for our work – mine in CranioSacral therapy and his in Rolfing. Different modalities on the surface, but similar client responses.

He’s been in practice for almost three decades and serves many high-powered Washington, D.C. types. This morning he’s telling me about a particularly powerful male client he had on his table last week.

“This guy totally surprised me, Suzanne. He asks me if I know why he comes to me for regular sessions even though he lives in such an analytical and competitive world. I’m curious about the value he receives, so I ask him to tell me.”

He says, “Our sessions are one of the few places in my life where I’m supported to slow down and listen to my insides. I feel like you listen with me. You help me translate when I’m confused. You help me make sense of the signals I’m receiving in my world, even when I’m moving too fast to recognize them at the time.

He goes on. “You teach me how to connect with myself, to my entire system, three dimensionally. When you work on my foot and my neck stops hurting and my headaches go away, I learn something. This enables me to think and act in a more integrated manner. I’m able to resolve other problems in my life in a more three-dimensional way, looking at them from all angles and seeing distant relationships as important. And when I leave, I have a little more skill for doing it on my own.”

My colleague smiles. “That’s why I’m still in practice and extremely grateful for what I do.”

His point is important for all of us. When we show up and engage with our clients, connecting to them with our presence and our skills, everyone benefits. Our role in the culture today is vital. We’re helping people live from a more embodied place.

Over this holiday season I’d like to declare that I’m extremely grateful for what I do. Are you?

December 2, 2007

I recently heard from a friend, an emergency care physician who attended my Healing From the Core: Grounding and Healthy Boundaries workshop several years ago.

“Suzanne, had an interesting experience with a patient tonight in the ER – call me!”

Naturally I was intrigued and minutes later we were talking. Here’s what he told me.

A 19-year old girl was brought in by her parents, unable to stop belching. It was constant – seconds between each burp. It had impaired her speech for days. She was quite upset, and things were getting worse, not better.

After running all the proper tests to rule out more serious issues, my friend sat her down and asked her if she was willing to try something with him.

At that point, she said she’d try anything. So the doctor took a moment to consciously remember his own grounding and therapeutic presence. Then he proceeded to guide her to breathe through her nose rather than her mouth.

Between his calm presence and her breathing, things in her body started to relax within minutes.

He then slowly and calmly offered a series of suggestions that led her deeper into her body. Ultimately she got her awareness down to the ground under her, connecting her to the rich energy field of the earth and its relaxing and energizing qualities.

He followed through with some additional suggestions that offered her ways to connect to the healthy, relaxing resources that were available to her right there, even in that busy emergency room.

All of 15 minutes had passed as he held his calm presence – and offered her access to her own.

“Suzanne, it was startling to see how easily and quickly her whole system relaxed and let go as I talked, right there in the ER!”

By the time he was finished she was smiling. And she was no longer belching.

Then he let her know that she could do this for herself anytime she needed it. He referred her to my website to get the CD version of what they’d just done, and off she went – healthier and happier.

A calm, strong therapeutic presence is valuable in a variety of situations, even some that we might not ordinarily think of. But here’s the big key: It needs to be enough of a habit for you that it’s easily accessible, even in the toughest situations.

It’s the “being” state that helps any technique you “do” work more effectively, no matter where you are doing it!

Over the next few blogs I’ll be talking about some other unlikely situations that were transformed by a healing presence. And by all means, if you have your own story of how you’ve used your healing presence in an unlikely setting, I’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy!