Tension, sensations, alignment and more

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Last week, we discussed why, in my opinion, but based on my experience, protecting yourself against feeling people’s pain is counterproductive. As I mentioned, and yes, I am going to quote myself:

“Your only option, the only one that isn’t based on fear, is to listen. Your pain is my pain, my pain is your pain, in an eternal loop until finally, pain becomes just pain, without the need for an individual to own it.”

Today, we are going to start this newsletter by clarifying this idea and wondering if pain belongs to somebody. But maybe we just don’t care about that.

Perception and ownership

People are obsessed with this idea. “I need to learn what is mine and what isn’t”. But, do you need to do that?

That’s a real question. I know that many of you believe they do. But says who? Your teachers? I have no respect for mentors and teachers, I only have respect for my experience. And when I smell a flower, I know that the perception of smell is mine. It is only from a language point of view that I pretend to smell a flower as if its smell is out there, and not inside my mind.

It is the same thing about feeling pain. When I work with a patient, and feel their pain, their despair, their agitation, the tension in their diaphragm, a headache, etc. I would not enter this intellectual game that is about deciding what is mine or not. I could, if I have to communicate my perception to another being, use words such as “my patient’s pain”. But it is mostly from a communication point of view. And it is not our focus here.

My only function is to feel. I am busy feeling. I am busy listening to whatever arises. Be it pain or tension. Knowing who owns those perceptions is not my function. I’ll leave that to people who want to write books or sell training to you.

See how easy it is for your brain to avoid perceptions. Is it my pain or the patient’s? Is it what I am supposed to feel? Is it energy? More strategies. Plans within Plans within Plans. But you do not have to follow this path. You can create your way. You can feel your way.

Knowing who’s pain it is could only be of interest in the case you want to protect yourself. But I hope it is clearly understood we are heading in the opposite direction.

Beyond pain

Once you are done with your mental blocks that prevent you from perceiving, you might start to experience more things than pain.

Oh and before I go there, I was treating a patient earlier today who kept on referring to their rib pain. I was feeling it more as sore, or an uncomfortable sensation. So I checked with my patient by asking if it was a sharp pain to which they answered that no, it’s more of a…sensation. Like they felt “something”. And that’s why I say that the more you listen, the more precise the perception becomes.

But of course, there’s more.

Tension

The first one I like to talk about is tension. I find this one interesting. It is felt exactly the same way as pain. For example, I might feel pain in my lower back on the right side, and tension in the lower ribs area, or at the back of my leg. It’s perceived as a mild cramping. And what is fascinating is that you won’t be able to feel it by looking for it with your hands. My back doesn’t get cramped. It’s a perception. This leads me to believe that this way of feeling things is totally different from what most osteopaths do which is to use their hands to diagnose. I am not saying not to use hands to palpate, but I think one should dive into the space of perceptions while touching. Anyway, let’s get back to perception.

Sensations

Pain and tension are always felt first. But the more you listen, the more you might feel lighter and subtle sensations. And here again, your brain will try to own those sensations. You will refer to them as energy, or tides if you are a biodynamic osteopath. But remember, our function is to perceive. Not to talk about it with preconceived words. Heat, light, sounds, colors…but be careful, not a color that you see. For example, not a red dot, but a perception that you would refer to as red. At least if you listen enough to tell me what red feels like.

“Position”

The next one could be interesting to osteopaths. “Position”. Yes, like in alignments. You might feel as if your hip is 30cm away from your physical hip. Now that is something. You’ll look at your hip and you know where your hip is. But you will perceive it as being totally out of alignment. Your perception doesn’t match your physical body. But you want to know what is weird? That’s when the patient will tell you “Oh man, it feels like my hip is floating out of my body”. On a side note here, I really wonder if that’s not part of what was perceived by the very first osteopath and what he wanted to adjust. But that’s an idea.

At a different scale, this idea of “position” or “alignment” can lead you to experience something else, which I refer to as “the way the patient experiences their body”. What I mean by that is that sometimes, by working on someone I might feel that they are “missing a leg”. Again, I do not see it, I do not imagine it, but I suddenly feel as if I am missing a leg. A woman who has lower back pain after a C-section will give me the sensation that I do not have any perception of my legs and pelvis. They are not numb at all, but something is totally different between the upper part and the lower part of my body.

Someone with dissociation will make me feel…well, dissociated. In the beginning, I wouldn’t understand and I would often wonder where is my patient. Weird thing to feel like you’ve left your body!

Those are the main things I perceive and work with. At least the most common ones. Other things are possible, but your brain is barely ready to feel pain without wondering who it belongs to, so going too far is not necessarily a great idea!

One thing though for later

I am saving for now what, in my opinion, is the core of life. At least in my practice of life. I call it space, or silence, or listening, or mind, or consciousness…anyway, we will save that for later but I just wanted to mention it here.

Embark on your journey

The goal here isn’t to tell you what you should feel. I am sure many people will experience different things. But what I am trying to share, the core message is that you don’t need to be afraid to feel. You don’t need to decide either what you feel is “yours” or not. And you can stick to listening, more than to what is perceived. By doing so, more and more things will show up during your sessions or your meditations.

And by the way, many things will appear just once. I should tell you that you won’t be able to reproduce the same thing for your next patient. And I know you will try. Oh yes, you will. And you will fail. Oh dear, it will be epic to see you realize you have no control over what you feel despite everything society tells you. And maybe you will even try to teach people about your new “superpower”. Most people will believe you until you meet someone who is really just into listening, and who will know that you are just holding onto a single experience you once had. And this is why I mostly don’t buy osteopathic books anymore.

They are missing what is essential by focusing on what is perceived instead of focusing on…well…perceiving.

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That’s all for today. The next issue will be about how all this works during a session. If you’d like to receive my newsletter in your mailbox, you can subscribe by clicking just here:

Lastly, if you want to get in touch, you can do so on Instagram for example. And if you know someone who could be interested in what I do (like an osteopathic student who hasn’t been fully brainwashed by their stupid teachers) please do not hesitate to share this newsletter with them. It might still be possible to save their soul.

That’s all for today. Should you like to receive my newest articles via email, you can subscribe here.

Love,
Jules