Happy Holidays!

My shopping is almost over, but wrapping will have to wait until my packages arrive. I did the majority of my holiday shopping online for the 2nd year in a row. It continues to be an excellent way to beat the crowds, get good deals, and keep holiday hassle to a minimum.

This month, I wanted to share some of the things I’ve learned from you (my clients) over the past year. I learn so much from you that I wanted to share these lessons with everyone. In addition, I’m covering Reiki and giving an encore of my Self-Massage for Holiday Maladies from last year.

Gift certificates will be available for pick up through December 22. You will be able to order online if you’d like to use your credit cards. Package rates are still available, so call or email now to let me know how many gift certificates you need to pick up.

And Happy New Year as well!

- heather wibbels (615.294-6672)

Clients tell me countless stories. They share stories of their childhood, sad stories, funny stories about their friends and families, and remembrances of experiences that shaped them. As a group, my clients are wise beyond their collective years. It’s inevitable that I learn from each of them as they share themselves with me. Some of these life lessons are ones I’m just starting to grapple with. Other lessons are ones that I’ve known for a long time, but I am only now beginning to understand their significance.

Although for confidentiality reasons I cannot share the stories behind these lessons I learned from my clients, I can share my interpretation of these tales and the sound advice behind each of them.

The Body Remembers. Countless times, as I’ve worked on clients, they will recall experiences they had that affected the part of the body I’m working on. I might work on the ankle, and the client remembers a triumphant slide into home. Or, I work on the hands and a client shares a story about baking bread with her mother. The body remembers its experiences, and the mind connects the body with those stories. Your body is an encyclopedia of all your experiences, sometimes all it takes to remember is a touch in the right place. The body remembers positive and negative experiences, and those experiences translate into the ways we move our bodies and relate to one another.

Massage is a good excuse to get new underwear. This was a new idea for me. Getting a massage, apparently, can be an excellent impetus to freshen up your underwear wardrobe. Many clients keep their underwear on during their sessions, and massage is evidently used as an excuse to get new undies. Who knew?

Live your life and plan for the future. Many clients have shared stories of challenging activities or life-hurdles they had to overcome. Some of these stories involved difficult physical challenges, others were stories of emotional losses or traumas. My clients have taught me that life needs to be lived today. I should not live in limbo waiting for one more thing to fall into place before I do something that truly needs to be done. In taking that first step, I need to plan for the future I’m headed toward, and not live so much in the moment that I forget tomorrow is on its way.

Taking care of yourself is a worthwhile endeavor. My senior clients have learned this in abundance. They share stories of their aches and pains, visits to doctors, and the therapies involved in treating their discomfort. I hear their stories and understand that the body is strong, but it’s in a fragile balance with its environment. The body needs attention and care to keep healthy and functioning, and taking care of the body and the mind through a healthy lifestyle works in tandem with Western medicine. My clients remind me that taking time out for myself keeps me healthy so that I can help others.

Surrender is a hard thing, but a good thing. The best massage comes when you let go of yourself, and surrender yourself with trust to your massage therapist. When clients relate stories of their best massage experiences, they were in a place where they felt safe and comfortable and were with a massage therapist they trusted. Surrender on the table lets go of issues, problems or stresses in clients’ lives, and enables them to be truly in the moment during their session. In the same way, clients have shared stories where surrender to unexpected events leads in the best possible way to an unforeseen outcome. Invariably the outcome, although unexpected, became a defining event in the client’s life or understanding of the world. Surrender leaves you open to new possibilities.

Open yourself up to new experiences and possibilities. Clients tell me about vacations in different countries, or new physical experiences they tried while out and about. Maybe it’s skiing, or learning a new language, or starting a unique business. Their stories inspire me to try new things and to walk head on into new challenges.

However. . .

Some things you only need to do once. Even as I hear stories about new experiences from clients, some stories end with the lesson that there are things that aren’t a good idea. Trying to jump over a car on a moped once is not a terrible thing. You’ve learned that it’s not for you. Trying it a second time is.

Family and friends are important. Keep them a priority. Clients share stories of close friends and family, and the gratitude, caring and support that they give one another. They also share experiences with estranged family members or tell stories of discordant relationships with friends and I hear regret in their voices. These stories show me the importance of friends and family in life. My clients remind me that strong relationships with others require work and attention to keep them strong, and they also remind me of the value of each of those relationships.

Thank you to all of my clients for sharing your wisdom with me. I take the stories you share with me to heart, and I hope you continue to share them with me. I promise to continue to listen and learn.

More on Massage: Reiki
Energy Work through the Universal Life Force

Reiki is a form of energy work that uses specific hand placement and light touch to facilitate healing in the body. Developed by Dr. Usui before World War II, Reiki means universal (rei) life force (ki). Ki is the energy found in all things – it is the connection between the physical and the spiritual. Healthy ki is balanced and free flowing in the body. Reiki bodywork has the practitioner evaluating and manipulating the energy flow of the client.

Although Reiki refers to a life force, it is not affiliated with a particular religion, but rather refers to universal healing abilities in any person. As in martial arts, the lineage of knowledge passed down from teacher to student is very important. Part of the training in Reiki includes attunement of the student by the teacher to Reiki energies. In effect, this aligns the student’s energy to the universal life-force.

Reiki has four levels: Reiki 1, Reiki 2, Reiki 3 and Reiki Master. In the first level, the student is attuned and taught hand positions for treating others. In the second level, the three Reiki symbols are taught for use in healing and in distance healing. In addition, the student receives another attunement. In Reiki 3 and Reiki Master levels of training, the final Reiki symbols are taught, as well as the methods for doing attunements on others and teaching Reiki to students.

During a treatment, clients lie on a table fully clothed, and the Reiki practitioner puts his/her hands in specific positions along the energy centers (chakras) in order to move healing energy into the client. Those who receive Reiki describe it as a warmth or glowing feeling, expanding out from the body into the world around them. It is relaxing and beneficial in that it increases the sense of connection with the world for the client.

For more information, go to:

• International Association of Reiki Practitioners
• The International Center for Reiki Training
• The Reiki Page
• SEED of Personal Power Reiki