Emotional Release

Early in my massage career a client broke down and sobbed while she was on the massage table.  Thanks to my training, I knew that she was having an emotional release, but knowing what was happening and knowing how to handle the situation were two entirely different things for me.  I was taught to be the compassionate therapist who was "present" for my client, but I wondered how present I could actually be when I was more than a little uncomfortable and not wholly sure what action or inaction would best serve my client.

The famous biochemist Ida Rolf, who came upon the idea of Rolfing or "structural integration" believed  that we literally store our thoughts and their emotional reactions throughout the cells of the body.  In other words, memories are not only stored in the brain but throughout the entire body/mind.  Just like the mind can recall things, sometimes touch can trigger memories in the muscle that the mind has long forgotten or buried. 

Since our society frowns upon negative emotions, we tend to bury emotions such as sadness, grief, anger and fear.  So when we hide these emotions, where do they go?  They manifest as tension in our bodies.  Tight neck muscles, headaches, ulcers, et al are just some of the physical conditions that can sometimes be traced back to a negative emotion or a specific trauma or event.  When we have an emotional release it is the body's way of telling us that it wants to let go of that memory or it wants us to recognize the original cause of that nagging, persistent pain.

I like to think of muscle memory as a different kind of compensation.  You know how we get compensation pain with a sprained ankle injury because we alter our gait and walk with more weight on the other foot?  I think our muscles compensate to ease emotional trauma by burying the painful memory in the muscle instead of the mind.  For instance, if a child is physically abused and they do not have the emotional maturity to handle their anger, pain and fear, then the body might hold those emotions until the mind is better able to handle these complex feelings.  As was the case with my client.  Many years after the traumatic event occurred, as I was massaging her neck, the muscles remembered that trauma and my touch brought all those buried memories to the forefront.

When a massage therapist is faced with a client having an emotional release, the best thing to do is make the client feel safe and supported.  Let them know that it is okay to let go of the emotion.  Keep a grounding touch on your client and let them know you are listening to them--both in their body and their mind.