When I first started my massage practice, I sincerely wanted to help people feel better. It was my hope that massage therapy could relieve my clients’ pain. I made it a goal to learn everything I could about pain-relieving techniques and how to help people notice imbalances in their bodies and try to help correct them.
Within a year or two I realize that I could only do so much for people in pain on the massage table. I figured out that the best thing to do was to try and prevent pain in the first place. I did this by learning, then sharing information about ways that people can help themselves.
It started with me learning how to weight train. I realized I needed to have denser muscles to perform massage for a long time and keep my endurance up. As I got stronger and more physically capable, I added other modalities such as assisted stretching Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates.
Qi gong not only helped me understand about energy flow in the body and the importance of moving the fluids, it also helped me understand the flexibility it gave me by stretching and moving at the same time.
I enjoy giving people massages and I am happy when they get up from the table feeling less pain in their body. But I must honestly admit that the information I bring them on how to take care of their body is more valuable than an hour I spend manipulating their tissue.
The reason I highly recommend exercise to people is that in as little as 10 minutes a day of consistently performing these gentle fluid exercises one can see the benefit. When someone has had an injury or a stroke or something that has left them somewhat incapacitated the thought of exercising for an hour is torture to them.
I find recommending qi gong ,(that has a variety of movement and easy access you can find it for free on YouTube and there are classes in the communities on Tai Chi and qi gong that are not expensive), is an efficient way adding movement to their life that is painless and inexpensive.
I share links to Chi gong sites on my website on a regular basis in hopes that people will give it a try. There are several different instructors and classes to choose from. It is worth being patient. Watch several of them and see which one resonates with you. Some people prefer ones that have more verbal instruction, and some prefer The Quiet Ones where the instructor is just performing the move and you kind of figure out the rest.
The truth is as long as you do exercises like Pilates and Chi Gong consistently you will find the moves that suit your body the best. Then you will start feeling the benefit of them. Once that happens it is usually not hard to stick with because of something provides pain relief and emotional then why wouldn’t you do it? Take a look and give it a try.
Valentina Boonstra
