Healing with the Hands: Making Peace with our Body

 

What is the purpose of pain?  How do we deal with it?  What are its gifts?  Can we prevent it?  And, if not, how do we remain gentle and calm in the midst of it, even as we seek relief? These questions, spoken or unspoken, are very much present during any health crisis or healing journey. 

 

The definition of 'healing' is to make sound or whole, to restore to health. The word 'health', an Old English word of Germanic origin,  means related to the whole.  Mandala, a Sanskrit word, also means circle, completion and wholeness.  In Jungian psychology, mandala means an effort to reunify the self. 

 

In 1946, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."  In 1986, WHO went on say that "health is not just a state, but also "a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living.  Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities." (wiki.answers.com)  

 

The search for health or wholeness appears to be a basic need of human beings.  The above definitions evoke the intention of growth and healing necessary to understand this process of life and the function of pain in our lives.  And relative to our bodies, they are very much at the forefront of people's lives, particularly as we age (read: move into our wisdom years....)  This striving for wholeness, and most importantly the ability to achieve wholeness, is a core belief of healing with the hands therapeutic bodywork, and of any treatment or modality intended to provide relief and/or health support. 

 

The body has an amazing capacity to tolerate insult.  It also has an amazing capacity to heal.   We all know the miracle of a scab over a wound - what a beautiful process to witness.  The body knows how to protect a wounded area, seal it off to prevent further injury, and then provide a safe environment so that it can heal from within.

 

This same process of protection and renewal is at work when we have an injury, strain or sprain.  The body "hugs the lesion"  to protect the injured area, often resulting in tight muscles and limited movement.  As it heals, relaxation occurs and natural range of motion can once again be achieved.  

 

When an injury does not heal on its own, it is possible to assist the healing process.  Healing with the hands seeks to support the injured tissues so that the energetic force of the injury, strain or sprain can be released.  The body then no longer needs to hold  itself close, so that the natural relaxation process can begin and freedom of movement restored.

 

If you are in pain, living with a chronic illness,  or just have your share of daily tension, hands-on work can often help when other options may not have worked.   The therapeutic benefit of human touch, skilled and experienced hands, and a compassionate presence do much to nuture and empower our human potential and our pursuit of health and wholeness.  It is synonymous with the philosophy of nursing and patient or client advocacy. 

In addition to the very real and meaningful physical outcomes people experience, the power of touch can also help us explore the different dimensions of our mind, body, and spirit.   When we provide an opportunity to connect with our body, we can begin our own conversation with its physical needs relative to the emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects of our self.  Often times, physical pain or discomfort is the way our body gets our attention in order to address these other dimensions of self. 

As we tend and nuture our self, the body usually responds by feeling more alert and more gently fully alive from a calm and centered state.   This is often alled the transformative aspect of hands on healing bodywork.  As we integrate the different aspects of our self, we feel better.  This is reason to celebrate.