Body Wisdom

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Body Wisdom

by nowmercy

(For BonSis)

The other day BonO asked how I found massage as a profession after being a Parole Officer and then a Project/Asset Portfolio Manager.

Well, in my childhood I would visit my Great Gramma..a “jack” Mormon who had left the church because the local bishop would not let her leave her second and abusive husband. She moved back to her farm in a little town east of Salt Lake (Henefer). Lillian was the local herbalist and midwife. The Mormon women kept coming to her every Sunday and she would dole out advice, herbs and concoctions. Funny, but each lady always needed a small glass of “medicinal tincture” aka dandelion wine. Anyway, she would set me on her kitchen counter and put a stool in front of me. The next woman waiting to see her would sit there and I would be instructed to rub her shoulders. Graygramma (my name for her) would tell me “ Listen to your fingers, they know where to go” or “Follow the lights in your fingers dear”. So, from age 4 to 7 she guided me and I listened to her.

Many years and careers later I began receiving massage from a masterful therapist. She was truly a healer and helped me re-enter my body with mercy and knowledge. I will never forget our sessions and her example of extreme regard for the body.

During that time I met a gal who had sold her share of big massage school because of carpal tunnel. She taught me a lot, and I began apprenticing with her. Later I trained as a restorative breath worker. I just loved putting my hands on people. I loved being where I belonged. Where I longed to be. I did subsequent apprenticing with a master Rolfer and others and trained formally and took great anatomy classes. I also trained in mind/body psychotherapy in a non violent client centered approach. It blew my mind to get this approach of gentle listening to body, mind and the unconscious.

All of this (19 years) has led me to believe that the body has wisdom and no pain is an expression of anything but that wisdom. Pain is a signal of something immediately wrong or of something that has been compensated for, for too long. I have learned that respecting the wisdom of the bodies I see, and appreciating the people in those bodies can bring about the space for healing to occur. I love this “work”.