MASSAGE AND MEDITATION

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I recently watched a great clip by John Hagelin on Meditation and World Peace. It shows some remarkable evidence that correlates the amount of meditation related to the amount of violence going on…It shows that when a group of people get together and become still, violence decreases. Go see it – truly inspiring.

It led me to thinking about prayer and stillness and how much stillness there often is in the Massage room. It also led me to thinking about the effects of a group coming together – and the amazing power of that.

I think if the mind is 'still' whether we call it prayer or yoga or meditation, then something beautiful always happens both internally and externally. The stillness is something that descends. I know we have to work at it – sometimes more than others!

In the Christian tradition we talk about the holy spirit descending “like a Dove” – the very symbol of peace. Other traditions talk about stilling, or emptying the mind.

Often on courses I find myself comparing the mental discipline of NO HANDS with meditation training. Focusing our minds on the breath, on the contact and on the manner of our movement is tantamount to emptying the mind of everything else. It is in that emptiness that I find the true joy of all creation.

I suppose it is a paradox…

When I empty my mind of all the things I put in there (desperately trying to find joy?), what I discover is that the whole of creation is joy. It’s like I am frantically mending a broken down car in the middle of, say, the beautiful Serengeti national Park. I am so busy trying to get out’ that I don’t stop long enough to ask the question “Why leave?” And when I do stop long enough to look around, I discover I am surrounded by sheer and utter beauty.

So the challenge then, is to be still. Oh boy, what a challenge! All the enticements of activity, interaction, drama and pleasure are calling me away from this stillness…

Yet when I do actually empty my mind, I find I have no need of these things that entice me away. Because the landscape of silence is beautiful.

What I am trying to say is simply this:

Not all meditation and not all prayer is actually still. I believe Massage is a very powerful moving meditation. At these times we act totally in service of another, delivering the one thing that can never lie – touch. This movement and this focus on ‘the other’ actually clears the mind of ‘self’.

One therapist summarised it for me the other day:

“Gerry, I have discovered why you are always smiling in your live treatments”

I asked her what she meant.

“Well, I can’t stop myself from smiling these days and I worked out what has changed – I have gotten so used to simply focusing my mind on my breath, my contact with the client and the manner of my movements, that the whole issue of ‘me’ has gone out the window. And all there is, is the sheer joy of touch…And I can’t stop smiling – just like you do!”

I have also witnessed so many groups (in churches, in cathedrals and yes, in Massage training rooms!) share this stillness communally that I am convinced it is a thousand times more powerful when humans come together to do this stuff – stuff  that is about so much more than just the ‘self’.

Prayer is about the other

Massage is about the other

Meditation is about the loss of self

Is it too much to suggest that whenever two or more are gathered together, something powerful can happen? The lovely thing about Massage is that it takes two to tango – just like a prayer. And the goodness, the healing that is created actually vibrates outwards from the two like music travelling out of a room through a window?

And is it too much to suggest that when a whole group of Massage therapists – all driven by the desire to help others better – are focusing on the breath and the touch, that something even more powerful travels out of that training room?

I have always thought that our courses send out a powerful vibration for healing and peace. Just the same as a church. Or a meditation room. Or a Yoga class.

People everywhere, like musicians, sending out vibrations of stillness, peace and healing into the world…

Have a truly vibrational day!

Namaste

Gerry

ABOUT GERRY:

Gerry has been a full time Massage therapist and teacher for over 25 years. He also qualified as a UKCP registered Psychotherapist (TA) in 1999.

He is the creator of The NO HANDS Massage Therapy System, which is now one of the most popular Massage approaches in the UK. He has also recently launched the PSYCHOLOGY OF CHANGE, a unique new approach to making lasting change within your life. To learn more about these courses go to www.nohandsmassage.com