by David Lauterstein
In 1991 I delivered a talk, "Massage as an Art Form," at a national massage convention." At that time I initiated an experiment which I have since done at each workshop or class I teach. The number of participants now numbers well over 2,000.
In this experiment I ask each participant to imagine herself or himself receiving a great session of massage/bodywork. This session may be from anyone in any place with any desired imagined sensory stimuli accompanying the experience (scents, sounds, etc.). After not more than five minutes, I ask each person to write down what he/she imagined. They then share with each other what they imagined.
In most cases I introduce the experiment with some conceptual groundwork. The essential insight has to do with massage and the limits of the concept of competency. Our basic trainings, state and national exams focus appropriately enough on competency. This is understandable, since new students at first may feel incompetent as they encounter the unfamiliar, new ideas. new strokes, new body movements. It is natural and responsible for us as students, teachers, and administrators to strive for competence.
However, competence is not and ought not be our goal. In the field of massage/bodywork, this is true in a special way. If I, after completing a session, anxiously hoping for good feedback, were told "That was really a competent massage." I would consider it, relatively, a failure. Why? Because, frankly, what I want them to say is ,"Wow!" This holds true for every single therapist I've talked with. The goal of massage therapy/bodywork is qualitatively different from the allopathic approach. I don't go to my MD. and expect to come out saying "Wow, what a wonderful experience!" From allopathic medicine I am looking for relief of symptoms, an explanation of causes perhaps, and the technical competence required to do that. That may be a reflection of a sad state of expectations of the medical system but even more so it is an accurate and appropriate reflection of the difference between allopathic and integrative healthcare.
The goal of massage therapy is not competent massage, it is great massage. It is the clients' being blown away by an extraordinarily, sometimes transformationally, positive experience.
This doesn't mean pain relief isn't part of our work. It too is a precondition. Clients are not able to move into higher levels of wellness if their pain preoccupies them. But if a client comes in with supraspinatus tendinitis how long are we going to spend cross-fibering that tendon? In most cases, fifteen minutes of the session is explicitly symptom relief, the rest of the time is spent helping to facilitate a whole higher level of structural and energetic health.
So, as a preface to this experiment, I point this out. Our expectations are for great massage. Now I ask you in turn , as a experienced receiver of massage, what for you would constitute a great massage? From any kind of being, anywhere, allowing your imagination freedom...your ideal massage at this moment. Imagine for just a minute or two.
The range of responses to this experiment constitute the collective goal of our profession. And the results of this experiment are astonishing and consistent. Here is a list of the most common elements people report:
flowing releasing
therapist knows where pain is
floating
letting go
opening
warmth
healing
confident
peaceful
balanced
safe
weightlessness
light
sensual, but not sexual
deep, but just right pressure
caring
kind wonderful sounds and smells
gentle
timelessness
water
spiritual and physical
hurts good
therapist totally present
loving
*
Most striking and so important to honor here is that, left to articulate their deepest imaginings, people will consistently ask for inspiring, spiritually nourishing experiences. There is significantly no mention of technique, ironically so, since most of our field's educational focus especially in continuing education is on the acquisition of advanced technique.
People when left to their own devices will consistently choose ecstasy as their goal. Robert Johnson, in his brilliant book, Ecstasy, reminds us that, however disguised, the hunger for ecstasy, for experiences of connection with the world around us is one of the deepest needs of human nature. People long for a sense of acting in unity and in community in the world beyond our narrow everyday range of experiences, for self-transcendent pleasure and joy, for the Dionysian. However, our society mostly offers debased contexts for ecstasy, mostly consumer-oriented - alcohol and other addictive substances, television, pre-digested concepts, sexual titillation, food, and credit. One might call them secular versions of ecstasy since they derive power from their promise of self-transcendence, but they don't truly nourish the spirit - that's why they're addictive. They don't build a more fulfilled energetic base. Therefore there is a nearly continuous need for the next drink, more TV, more food, more spending, more things. Addiction arises then from the inherently unfulfilling nature of our society's approved versions of ecstasy.
To respectfully fulfill our deepest needs, we need to find and socially promote experiences which build a more truly fulfilled body politic. If the repetition compulsion associated with our various addictions is due to a deep and unfulfilled demand for ecstatic experience then we must as a society recognize it - not just react and puritanically disallow it as the religious right does.
To return then to the "Wow" of massage/bodywork. Our field has become a repository for a socially acceptable way to facilitate direct spiritual nourishment. It lives in the realm of sacred pleasure. Along with deep friendship, great art, and great religion, massage/bodywork helps sustain and build a world responsive to the deeper necessities. And it is unique, in that, unlike most art and religion, it is not bound by the cultural and linguistic habits of centuries, our touch is not filtered through the concept-laden mind. It is direct, non-verbal, non-symbolic in-the-flesh experience with ecstasy. It is a culturally non-meditated form available to everyone. I believe this is one of the reasons the study of bodywork attracts so many people.
Massage/bodywork is the carrier of a vital message and it does this in a way which is incredibly pure. We are individuals, but we are also one with the nature around us, the grand currents of natural and historical time that flow through us, plants, animals, humans, are one in the world we share. There is necessarily room in our field for the development of ever greater levels of technical and scientific understanding, but, taken alone, that's just another addiction. It is easier to test for origins and insertions, but equally important and far more neglected is the energetic quality of touch which is considerably harder to teach and test for.
How can we equally cultivate our ability to fulfill the collective goal for the sacred feeling of connection, for ecstasy which, as shown in my experiment with thousands, is in particularly desperate need of fulfillment? How to do this? How can we better systematically facilitate Wow in such a way that it builds a spiritually stronger and more fulfilled people? This is the biggest educational and therapeutic question facing our profession. How exciting! Shall we answer it in this article? Shall we answer it in one generation? Absolutely not! To paraphrase Sam Keen, any question you can answer in one lifetime is probably not a very important question.
To this fascinating question, to this precious legacy, to the highest development of this incredible in-the-flesh art form, this article is dedicated.