5 minute read
Recovering your flow
REDISCOVERING YOUR FLOW
Between spiralling prices, an ongoing pandemic, wars and the state of the planet, it’s no wonder many holistic therapists have lost their mojo. Treatments get delivered on auto-pilot and we lose the caring connection to our clients. Elizabeth Ashley reflects on how to recover your joy and enthusiasm for what you do…
READER, I have hurt my back. Goodness knows what I’ve done. Probably an amalgamation of moving my mum into a new flat and a bit too much stress, I think. So, this past fortnight, I have had cause to go for massages, chiropractic treatment and for reiki. I am gradually but slowly mending, but after so much time away from having therapies myself, I was both relieved by people’s care, but also saddened by the new normal. The heart seems like it’s ebbing out of complementary medicine and feels like its gripping on by its finger tips, so used to trying to keep its head above water for survival.
I don’t want you to mistake me, the care I got wasn’t substandard. In fact, it was very good. But there was something in the pressure of the massage that felt like a chore rather than an act of love. There was no eye contact as the therapist reeled off the oils in her blend. It was as if it was a tick box had to be done. I felt disappointed, not for me, but for them. Everything has become rote, decided, and probably feels like some big compromise.
Certainly, a SWOT analysis could help freshen things up, or some different marketing, but it feels to me that an outbreath is required. A pause where we try to capture something of what got lost, and that’s the why…
In that first day you walked into that classroom, why did you want to be there? I’d be very surprised if many said money. The desire to care for and to help someone to reach their optimum health and wellbeing runs through some of the oldest traditions. Ancient archetypes place them both under Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. The endless flow of energy from the heart. The place of tears, but of course also the place of respiratory distress, grief, and fear. It’s no surprise that energy no longer flows easily from here.
In parts of Africa, the desire to make someone’s life better is called Ubunto. It flows through the very heart of tribes. The word derives from an Nguni proverb that translates as, “a person is a person through other persons”. It speaks of a love of community and responsibility for another’s wellness. It speaks of no-one existing in isolation and is perhaps the root of the saying, “It takes a village”.
The leader of the tribe, in ritual, is the medicine man or healer.
In our zeitgeist, we often see schadenfreude talked about, people delighting at someone else’s misfortune. However, in China they have Mudita, which is the opposite. The Buddhist experience is joy at someone else’s happiness; unselfish joy achieved through contemplation and meditation. Gifting your joy to someone is a privilege felt by the many.
In New Zealand, Kaitiakitanga is kindness to other spirits and to one’s self. The Maori peoples have an animist culture, where they see everything as being alive. People are placed to protect and care for the spirit of a certain river or set of trees. There, rivers have the same rights as people, meaning corrupting the water brings the same penalties as if one was to hurt a human. Where a river spirit deserves a guardian, so then does the human spirit. The body on your couch is so much more than a collection of aching muscles.
Venus, of course is intimately connected with Eros, the god of desire. In ritual however, aeros is connected to the idea of fragranced smoke. In the ancient Greek temples, the priestess would open the space for the supplicant to come into communion with the goddess, however it was aeros that decided whether the deity would come.
It is said there were rules surrounding how mortals and deities interacted, and that any communication must only be at the mortal’s behest. Odd, but then if you think about it, that also still forms the basis of prayer, the mortal beseeching the deity to intercede or not.
So, the deity is perceived to be patiently waiting for that spark of attraction to appear. Aeros means loving intention. It was said that scent carried aeros, and it was only through aeros that any deity would appear. In particular that applied to Asclepius, the god of medicine, and Hygeia, the goddess of cleanliness and healing.
Ceremony returns sacredness to ritual. Therapy rooms become sacred space. What then passes through the therapists hands then becomes holy, and any practice devout.
Perhaps, no other generation has ever felt the privilege of being able to touch someone as heavily as we do. Communally we have shields around us to protect us from this germ. The bravery of therapists, unprotected, as we have been, and thrown financially to the lions, means our barriers may be cast iron. We think of the clients and what it means to be touched, but what about ourselves as therapists? Do we still manage to act with the same energetic trust?
Make a conscious effort, I implore you, to make every treatment like a prayer. Let’s try and bring aeros back into the room. Allow the spirit of the healer to rise up, to lock eyes with the client’s spirit.
When you ask how they are today, care about the response. Look at them, breathe and allow them to give you a real answer. When they say, ‘Oh, fine’, wait. I promise you there’s more to come, and they have come here to unload it. When they lie on the couch, let them hear your words and actions, as “Just lie back. I’m going to take care of you”. Concentrate on bringing yourself into spiritual union with your client, by emulating their breath. As theirs comes into line with yours, gradually slow it and concentrate in allowing the
flow of love.
When you chime the tingschen, or however you signify the end of the treatment, allow your heart centre to close to protect you for the future.
When love flows from therapist to client, something magical happens. They feel more than just relaxed. It builds a desire to return, a trust and an openness.
Remember too, that Venus had another realm. She was the goddess who ruled finances. When Venus energy fills a room, money, they say, should follow. n
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ELIZABETH ASHLEY is
a world renowned Clinical
Aromatherapist and essential oil researcher. The author of The Secret
Healer series of aromatherapy manuals, she has had 12 Amazon category number one best sellers, including her business book, Sales Strategies for Gentle Souls. Details of her work, including her books and Prosperous Therapist Video Course are available on her website
