On Letting Go
The theme of letting go has popped up a lot around me lately, though it has often come up in the past as well. Working in the massage industry you hear it all the time. "My first client just couldn't let go", a colleague of mine lamented the other day. It struck me immediately, because I too had a difficult time coaxing my client to 'let go'. Simply saying "just let go" is only so useful. Isn't this just another phrase that means something and nothing at the same time? Let what go?
The specific answer usually refers to the specific body part receiving work; let go of the shoulder, let go of the leg. In this context, letting go is really shorthand for relenquishing operational control of your own body, if only for a moment. These limbs, shoulders, whatever, belong to you, but 'letting them go' presents a real challenge for some people. This has profound implications for the success or failure of relaxation, but also for our psyche as modern humans.
My heart went out to her. "I just can't relax" she said, clearly exhausted from trying to do so. This isn't a new phenomenon, as so many people come to us to relax. Also I can relate. Sometimes clients can't relax because their bodies feel pain, but many times they just can't turn off their brains. Brains are categorically outside my scope of practice, but people aren't, and I have to deal with their brains.
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