Thursday, April 07, 2005

What's The Buzz?

I've done a lot of massage this week - more than in quite a while - and it's been very good. The more I do the more confidence I have in my touch, in trusting my intuition as I zero in on trouble spots on which to work.

Imagine my suprise and delight when, while working on a client yesterday, I started to feel a buzzing in my fingers as I sank down for some deep frictions along her spine. I've always envied those bodyworkers who are able to tune in physically, not just intuitively, to the body's vibrations, and who can identify areas of imbalance by registering a physical sensation of movement or heat. So my immediate thought was It's happening! My hands are opening!

A second later, the true source of the buzzing became evident and I chuckled at myself. My client had fallen asleep and was snoring gently... so quietly at first that I couldn't hear her, but could feel the vibration through her back as I pressed in, much as you might feel a cat purr before you hear it.

Although I will cop to slight disappointment that there's a non-woowoo explanation for my experience, I don't feel too badly... a sleeping client is to a massage therapist as compliments are to a chef.

3 comments:

Lora said...

See, I've always felt that falling asleep on a massage therapist was a little insulting, since you aren't awake to be appreciate thier art. Thanks for giving me the insider's perspective.

~ap said...

oh man, this is classique! i love it.

and, yes, those magick fingers -- you've got 'em.

lucky, lucky client.

Thumb Monkey said...

The hands Know. Trust the hands.