Luminous Heart Reiki & Massage

This is a question often asked by a first-time client at the end of our session. This week it was a man wondering how I knew that his right foot had been troubling him when he hadn’t mentioned it during the intake.

He came for help with chronic back pain after having already been through all the tests and scans and been told by numerous doctors that he was “fine”.

But he didn’t feel fine. He was in constant pain. Clearly there was something out of whack, even if it couldn’t be seen on an MRI.

I know from experience that foot, knee, and hip alignment impacts the lower back. Put a rock in your shoe for a day and then notice how the pain ricochets up the legs and into the spine. It’s simple body mechanics that when we favor a sore spot, muscles compensate and protect and can easily throw the entire musculoskeletal system off balance.

I could tell this by looking at the position of his feet while he was lying on the table. I could clearly see that the right and left feet were very different from one another. I could especially tell when I touched his feet.

What he noticed is that I used a different technique on his right foot. I explained that because his feet were different from one another that they called for different strategies. My intuition and sense of touch informed me in the moment of how to proceed. Not some procedural manual or protocol.

A skilled and attuned bodyworker approaches each session with curiosity and compassion rather than an agenda. We’re not afraid to use gentle touch to explore painful areas to try and provide some relief.

I remember a time in college when my back was hurting. My friends and I were at a terrible sports bar. It was loud and crowded and I’d been standing too long. My roommate knew I was uncomfortable and laid her hand on my low back and made a few circular movements. I froze in place. Not because it was weird to be getting massage in that atmosphere, but because no one had even done that before and I’d been suffering from chronic pain for six years. I sensed then that the power of touch was some potent medicine even if I didn’t consciously understand what was happening.

It was many years after that aha moment that I found myself in training to become a massage therapist and Reiki practitioner and ever so eager to help others with chronic pain. An astrologer once told me that I was fated to work in the healing arts based on my natal chart. That may be true; it does seem like my entire life set me up to understand that there is more to healing than X-rays and prescriptions.

I soon developed a knack for finding the knots, the anomalies, the inconsistencies and exploring how to address them. It didn’t take me long to realize that pushing hard on a painful area did not produce lasting results. After doing thousands of sessions, it became easy to pinpoint the areas that needed attention. I can’t always explain it, but I soon become aware of an X that marks the spot during many sessions.

That’s how I know. That body doesn’t keep secrets, and I know how to listen.

I expect I’ll be seeing that man again soon. What’s really cool is that each session will be different because I’ll connect with him, his foot, and all his parts exactly as they are, discerning where the tension and constrictions lie.

My answer will be the same if he again asks, “How did you know?” I knew because I was tuned in to what the body was telling me and responded accordingly.