Dec 21 2007
Tis the Season of Gratitude
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?
Aloha Suzanne,
I just finished teaching a class of Hawaiian Lomilomi massage. I had an experience that reminded me that as therapists, teachers or whatever we may be, that we are put in places at certain times to help others in ways that we do not even have a clue of the need that we may be helping to fulfill. I had a student tell me that she had experienced events recently in her life that had her puzzled as to what they meant. After teaching the class the importance of keeping a healing presence around them and how to accomplish this presence, this student told me a few of the experiences that had happened on the island of Kauai. She had been feeling disrupted and lost as to what she was to do with her future in bodywork or anything else in her life. Then while on the island, she had many spiritual experiences that really touched her. They were enlightening, but confusing. In talking with her further, she said that when I had talked about a “healing presence” and how this presence allows us to heal as well, it helped to disperse some of the confusion and was able to understand more of the experiences. Another student had been having some bad experiences with a fellow student in the massage school that was actually becoming a major legal situation, and was very scared to even continue her schooling. She had felt very impressed to take my class and did. I had no idea as to what had gone on previously until at the end of the class. Then she told me the situation and that this class had been a healing and empowering experience for her. I was overwhelmed when I had heard these experiences and how they thanked me for helping them in their own individual situations. I was only being myself and doing my best to teach the importance of being present, grounded to all the energy of life around you and how it can empower and guide us in whatever situation we may find ourselves in. I am learning that we are all a piece of a greater puzzle. The people that we are honored to come in contact with are in need of the piece of the puzzle that we have the opportunity to share. I am grateful for the opportunity to share my piece of the greater puzzle to all who I come in contact with.
Hugs,
Marilyn
[reply to this comment]
Suzanne Scurlock-Durana reply on December 30, 2007:
Hi Marilyn,
Thank you for your comments. As I travel and teach I hear things like this from other teachers and therapists all over the country. I appreciate your putting it into words. May your journey continue to be fruitful and meaningful.
A warm hug,
Suzanne