You Don't Have to Take a Class to Be of Service!

According to the philosopher Seneca, “The best ideas are common property”.

This really speaks me, especially when it comes to the idea of massage therapy being a useful, kind and valuable offering in times of grief.

The idea that grievers can benefit from your hands, your presence, and your intention to hold safe sacred space is common property.

You don’t need to take a class (from me or anyone else) to put this idea into action.

Who Isn’t Grieving?

In todays’ still-grappling-with-the pandemic world, there are multiple layers of loss woven into everyday life (right alongside the losses that were already occurring pre-pandemic).

Who hasn’t experienced some sort of grief recently?

Nearly every person you encounter, in just about every context and situation, has been touched by a loss of some sort in the past two years. And, if you are actively working as a massage therapist, it’s highly likely that you are laying your hands on grieving folks on a very regular basis.

Without taking a class, without knowing a single thing about grief, you can be a healing presence in the lives of grievers – simply by creating a safe, non-judgmental space for humans to experience relaxation.

Loss = Stress

It’s as simple as recognizing that loss is stressful.

And that moments of assistance with relaxation – such as a gentle massage from a caring professional – can make life more bearable for grievers.

If you listen for loss, you will hear some clients mention their divorces, their illnesses, their unemployment. Some folks may come in with the type of loss our culture readily identifies with grief: death of loved ones or friends. Some may be disenfranchised grievers, mourning infertility or other societally “invisible” losses.

No One Needs “Fixing”

When you hear loss, it isn’t an invitation to “fix” anything.

When you hear loss, it can be an invitation to bear witness, hold space and simply be a kind human.

The source of connection a griever can experience through human touch combined with warm acceptance (a lack of pressure to “feel better” or “get over” the loss) can be profound.

And while there are definitely details about grief and massage that are helpful to learn – especially if you want to specialize in working with grievers – the idea that massage can help grievers is common property.

It’s an idea that is spreading and will hopefully soon become mainstream.

If you’d like to learn a few simple tips on working with grievers in a massage setting, check out the short course “Your Grief Massage Cheat Sheet”. When you sign up for our newsletter, you will get a coupon code to take the Cheat Sheet course for free.

Sign up here or at https://griefmassage.org/contact.

Image credit: Photo by Katarzyna Pypla on Unsplash