When someone touches my shoulder, do I actually feel someone’s hand? Think about it. Are we ever able to feel something that isn’t part of us? I’d say no. I never feel anything else but my own body.
Why does it matter? I believe it matters, especially for manual therapists. We are trained being told that we need to improve the way our hands feel things. Loads of theories are built upon this idea, and tons of books are being sold across the world.
Now, if you think about this, and if you consider the fact that you are only feeling your body, then what happens if, during a session, you focus so much on your hands that they become the only thing you feel? Don’t you think that you are missing about 99% of whatever is happening?
Hence I’d say forget the hands. Forget them for good. Feel bigger, feel wider. Back up, get back to your world of perceptions.
If you listen to a song that you like, and I ask you to tell me how you feel when you listen to the song, where would you go to answer that question?
Should you be able to answer that question, maybe one could consider that a patient is a music, and I am asking you: How does this patient make you feel?
Once you’ve felt, you can place your hands.
You don’t feel because you place your hands.
You place your hands because you feel.
Now, the thing that could really melt your brain is this: If I never feel anything else that isn’t me, do I actually ever see anything that isn’t purely my perceptions?
Knock knock Neo.
Talk to you soon
Love,
Jules
Leave a Reply