◆ ADVANCED CPD ◆

Unlock the deeper potential of your massage therapy practice with the power of meditation

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“Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.”

—Alan Watts

When I was a young massage therapist, I loved nothing more than browsing second-hand shops for old texts on bodywork. Many massage books that originated from the thinkers in the sixties and seventies artfully combine spirituality, meditation, and personal growth with massage - their pages were a source of endless delight and magic. Short on evidence-based research but big on philosophy and the human growth potential of the hippie era I soaked up their practices and approaches with passionate interest. One of my favourite tomes was entitled “Massage and Meditation” by George Downing – a slim volume (sadly now out of print) that I picked up in – of all magical places – a second-hand shop in Glastonbury.

When flicking through the book as I was writing this article, I was astounded by how many of these practices have become a natural part of my approach and teaching. Not only are massage and meditation complementary approaches but done properly, massage itself IS a meditation. When you are grounded, moving your body from the principles of tai chi and are mindfully connected to your client, you finish every treatment feeling a sense of bliss, ease and connection to humanity and the universe. (FIG 1 and 2) As with a regular meditation practice, you will feel calmer and able to apply the principles of mindfulness not just in the massage room but in your everyday life. Moreover, the ability to stay calm and grounded in treatments will improve your results by enhancing the ability to “listen” to the body and improve your sense of intuition and client connection.

This approach is nothing new but has perhaps been lost in our focus on evidence-based treatments and qualifications that fail to emphasise the spiritual aspects of massage. Throughout history and different cultures, massage has often been seen as inseparable from meditation and spirituality. A Japanese

Zen approach to meditation emphasises how the practice is not just about silently sitting on the cushion but is a state of mind that can be brought to many arts including archery, flower arranging, calligraphy and of course bodywork. Similarly, Thai massage was traditionally only taught in the temples and was intertwined with a spiritual approach.

The time has come for us to seriously reclaim the lessons of meditation and mindfulness in our work. Who doesn’t want that “win-win” – to feel calm, refreshed, and blissful during and after treatments whilst at the same time enhancing results with clients?