The Importance of Self-Care for the Practitioner (Part 1)
I’m starting to really enjoy having this blog as part of my website. So much focus went into the site construction, and continues with the courses I am developing, and these things are very structured by necessity. However, I myself prefer to speak about massage in a more fluid form, as it has so many important parts that are all entwined with each other.
And that’s what I get to do here.
The topic for this post is self-care for the practitioner, which is so very important to caring for others. It is so important in fact, that I’m sure this won’t be the only time I write about it, here in my own little magazine we call a blog. Therefore, this is not a totally comprehensive guide to self-care; it is a discussion as to why you should keep it close in mind, as you proceed with your learning, and your daily life. And it is a discussion that will be ongoing.
This is why I have called this, part 1.
The gist: You can’t give what you don’t have
In a way, that little phrase says almost everything. If your energy is low, where will the focus and intention come from to give a healthy, positive massage experience to someone else? And drinking lots of coffee to fake it doesn’t work!
Self-care can be thought of in many ways. It can be broken down into a list of things to do, which we can do in a later post. But we know the basic things that go on that list; eat well, get good sleep, DRINK WATER, stretch, meditate and focus on your intention. That’s a good start.
But there is a deeper, more fundamental truth that underlies all of this, which is the truth of your own vulnerability. WHAT? That’s right. You are strongest when you are aware and respectful of your own vulnerability. Self-care cannot proceed well if you are closed to this fundamental of self-awareness.
There are people who teach moving and healing crafts whom, perhaps unfortunately, are confused about their role in the whole thing. They think it comes from them, but what we give to others that is truly healing comes from beyond us all, and simply passes through us. The more you understand your own vulnerability as a human, the better you function as a conduit for that energy. It can be that simple.
Massage, and the loving conscious energy behind it does not emanate from within you, nor from within me. It comes from the one source that all loving consciousness originates from. You can call it what you want, but it is a vibration, and an energy that flows through all things. It is an energy that we, as practitioners, can hope to facilitate and direct toward the healing experience of our client. And that is all.
But it will always be a higher universal intelligence doing the work. Your job is to know it so well that your own intuition (which speaks the same language) can guide the energy through you. And, if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to do that very well. And once again, it can really be that simple.
Okay. So, is this about self-care or universal energies?
Good question. Both, I suppose.
The relationship between you as a facilitator of higher energy and your own self-care, is the same relationship that exists between crystal clear spring water and the pipe that carries it down the mountain to the people. If the pipe is dirty, and not well-cared for, the life force it delivers will not be of high quality, and it will not serve the people.
Taking care of yourself, whether it is to make yourself a better facilitator of higher energy or not, is something you kind of owe to the divine. It is a sacred duty. Especially if you make a contract with the divine to deliver some its goodness to others, which is pretty much what we’re doing here.
That is the concept I want to impress upon you with this post, if I may. If you embrace self-care as a duty, you automatically place yourself properly in the order of things; not as a guru or a goddess or some other trans-human concept, but as a humble and diligent servant to something truly greater than you.
The irony is, if you do that… if you allow yourself to ‘shrink’ in terms of ego-size, you open the door to becoming so much better at delivering the universal energy, and so much more than your ego would allow. Because you know it isn’t you. Kind of ironic, isn’t it? This is why we sometimes say that the best thing you can do is just stay out of your own way!
You still get the accolades and the respect, and people come to you for their massage. But you yourself will feel calmer, perhaps happier, knowing that you can rely on the universal energy to do all the hard work. All you need to do is take good care of the facilitator, so that you are prepared for these moments. And, as funny as it sounds, you will get really good at looking after yourself, because you are thinking about it the right way.
Do what you need to do in order to be a healthy human, and the powers that be will take care of the rest. This is the only way.
I leave you with this to consider.