Today's challenge
MrDon
Registrant
Some of you might have heard a week or two ago about a little boy (14 years old - I'm dating myself now) who murdered a fellow classmate in a school in Miami FL. It was a very sad thing and a very tough event for this school.
Today, I was one of several other massage therapists invited to do chair massage on the faculty. In addition to the chair massage, they had some yoga, a chiropractor and some aroma therapy going on. They also had a speaker who talked about dealing with stress and the prinicpal of the school addressed the faculty as well.
It was a tough afternoon for me in many ways and on many different levels. You could sense what took place by walking through the halls. It was in the air, it was in the walls... it was in the whispers.. And I found it rather difficult at times to keep myself focusing on hope rather than on the tragedy of what happened.
But in a deeper level, it also brought back feelings of losing my mom and moved me to tears a few times today. I'm emotionally exhausted right now and just need some refresh time for myself which I will be getting. The range of emotions, thoughts and feelings that I experienced in a time of death seems like a very close and evil twin to me even after a couple of years past my personal event. And yet, my healing is still taking place and today was probably part of it, although somewhat painful.
This was also the first chair massage event that I did with my "peers" - people who had been doing massage for quite some time and were influential in some of my training. So I was a little scared and intimidated but they treated me as one of them, not as someone less which really helped. I saw myself more as a massage therapist and I got to see first hand the differance my hands could make. It brings me to tears just thinking about the power that we all have within ourselves.
On a deeper level, some of what was being talked about was how the body stores trauma and how if it isn't dealt with, the effects it can have on the body. I was so happy to see these things being talked about and references made to abuse children experience. A plea was made that if a teacher saw these things, to not let it go but to take action and help the child by getting them the proper attention/help they needed. It could not have been a happier moment for me today. Personally, I know what the abuse does to the cellular level because it has tormented me for years since my paralysis. I am bound and determined to help others heal the cellular level of their bodies from the traumas that were endured in their bodies. I fully believe and I am seeing this more and more, that body work (of many kinds) helps to bring a much deeper sense of healing and recovery from trauma. It is for sure this way in my life, and I am seeing evidence of it in the lives of others as well.
I would not have wanted to miss this day for the world. I am so happy I got this opportunity to be there. Yes the pain was tough to deal with, the issues weren't fun to face and maintaining a hopeful outlook was sometimes more than a challenge, but these people needed this so badly.
One final note, is that I got to play my cd of music (if you haven't heard it, click on the link in my auto signature and you can hear a few of my songs). It was an honor to play this music, because much of this music was born during the time I was dealing with the main issues surrounding my mom's passing. How fitting for the event today. And even though these people do not know that, the notes tell a story but it tells a story that goes much deeper than the conscious mind allows.
I just had to get this out, because there has been so much stuff hit me today and I didn't want to get this jumbled up inside of me.
Thanks for listening.... thanks for your encouragement from each of you that visit here,, thanks for honoring life by trying to find the way through the doors of abuse... and just thanks for being here! Your strength, fears and persererance are a strength to me that I take throughout my days.
Don
Today, I was one of several other massage therapists invited to do chair massage on the faculty. In addition to the chair massage, they had some yoga, a chiropractor and some aroma therapy going on. They also had a speaker who talked about dealing with stress and the prinicpal of the school addressed the faculty as well.
It was a tough afternoon for me in many ways and on many different levels. You could sense what took place by walking through the halls. It was in the air, it was in the walls... it was in the whispers.. And I found it rather difficult at times to keep myself focusing on hope rather than on the tragedy of what happened.
But in a deeper level, it also brought back feelings of losing my mom and moved me to tears a few times today. I'm emotionally exhausted right now and just need some refresh time for myself which I will be getting. The range of emotions, thoughts and feelings that I experienced in a time of death seems like a very close and evil twin to me even after a couple of years past my personal event. And yet, my healing is still taking place and today was probably part of it, although somewhat painful.
This was also the first chair massage event that I did with my "peers" - people who had been doing massage for quite some time and were influential in some of my training. So I was a little scared and intimidated but they treated me as one of them, not as someone less which really helped. I saw myself more as a massage therapist and I got to see first hand the differance my hands could make. It brings me to tears just thinking about the power that we all have within ourselves.
On a deeper level, some of what was being talked about was how the body stores trauma and how if it isn't dealt with, the effects it can have on the body. I was so happy to see these things being talked about and references made to abuse children experience. A plea was made that if a teacher saw these things, to not let it go but to take action and help the child by getting them the proper attention/help they needed. It could not have been a happier moment for me today. Personally, I know what the abuse does to the cellular level because it has tormented me for years since my paralysis. I am bound and determined to help others heal the cellular level of their bodies from the traumas that were endured in their bodies. I fully believe and I am seeing this more and more, that body work (of many kinds) helps to bring a much deeper sense of healing and recovery from trauma. It is for sure this way in my life, and I am seeing evidence of it in the lives of others as well.
I would not have wanted to miss this day for the world. I am so happy I got this opportunity to be there. Yes the pain was tough to deal with, the issues weren't fun to face and maintaining a hopeful outlook was sometimes more than a challenge, but these people needed this so badly.
One final note, is that I got to play my cd of music (if you haven't heard it, click on the link in my auto signature and you can hear a few of my songs). It was an honor to play this music, because much of this music was born during the time I was dealing with the main issues surrounding my mom's passing. How fitting for the event today. And even though these people do not know that, the notes tell a story but it tells a story that goes much deeper than the conscious mind allows.
I just had to get this out, because there has been so much stuff hit me today and I didn't want to get this jumbled up inside of me.
Thanks for listening.... thanks for your encouragement from each of you that visit here,, thanks for honoring life by trying to find the way through the doors of abuse... and just thanks for being here! Your strength, fears and persererance are a strength to me that I take throughout my days.
Don