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Energetic Massage
Yesterday at work we had a Safety and Health Fair -- which included a fair number of alternative providers. One of them offered a 15 minute energetic massage given by three women working together.
I signed up, anticipating an experience that would leave me "energized." I expected tingles, a feeling of energy moving in my body, a feeling of being cleansed and grounded. That's not what happened.
One woman began giving me a foot massage that I'm sure included very specific stimulation of reflexology or energy points. That felt very good.
But the sensations were very different elsewhere in my body. A very short time into the massage I began to feel pressure and constriction around my heart and chest. I tried to relax and breathe deeply, but what I felt was a desire to resist and defend.
I told the practitioner what I was feeling. She said, "I know. Just keep breathing."
It never got all that much better.
When it was over, and I sat up slowly, I asked the woman who had been working over my chest what *that* had been about. She basically turned the question back on myself, suggesting that I consider my relationships -- or what it is within myself that keeps me from having them. She suggested that I look at issues of guilt and forgiveness.
Hmmmm. . .
The woman who was working over my head said, "You are very sensitive to energy" -- which made me smile because for so long I felt like I had no ability in this area.
I felt out-of-sorts for a couple of hours afterward, with some lingering soreness around my chest, and a feeling of vague being on edge. Finally I thought to do some deliberate grounding, which helped.
A most unusual experience.
I signed up, anticipating an experience that would leave me "energized." I expected tingles, a feeling of energy moving in my body, a feeling of being cleansed and grounded. That's not what happened.
One woman began giving me a foot massage that I'm sure included very specific stimulation of reflexology or energy points. That felt very good.
But the sensations were very different elsewhere in my body. A very short time into the massage I began to feel pressure and constriction around my heart and chest. I tried to relax and breathe deeply, but what I felt was a desire to resist and defend.
I told the practitioner what I was feeling. She said, "I know. Just keep breathing."
It never got all that much better.
When it was over, and I sat up slowly, I asked the woman who had been working over my chest what *that* had been about. She basically turned the question back on myself, suggesting that I consider my relationships -- or what it is within myself that keeps me from having them. She suggested that I look at issues of guilt and forgiveness.
Hmmmm. . .
The woman who was working over my head said, "You are very sensitive to energy" -- which made me smile because for so long I felt like I had no ability in this area.
I felt out-of-sorts for a couple of hours afterward, with some lingering soreness around my chest, and a feeling of vague being on edge. Finally I thought to do some deliberate grounding, which helped.
A most unusual experience.
Re: My vote on the matter
It's funny. That wasn't a concern to me at all. Nor did it really register that I was in a place where anyone I work with could see me -- until later that day when some of my co-workers started asking me about it.
For someone who isn't very comfortable in a lot of social situations, I felt no self-consciousness at all about this experience while it was happening.