CAREERS STRESS REDUCTION

not take this concept of targeting proactive and optimal health into working with non-sporting clients? The techniques employed to gain sporting success can easily transfer to successful living. Manual and massage therapists are ideally placed to implement such programmes with their clients by helping their clients tune into their body. A stressed person holds tension in their body. Some

people are aware of this stress, but others remain blissfully unaware of the areas of their body where they hold physical tension. As massage and manual therapists, we can help our clients. Many people take their body for granted until something

goes wrong. Our cultural premise is that, if your body goes wrong, you “book it in” with a doctor, just as you would take your car to a mechanic to fix it. Until recently, we have viewed health very passively. The cards that we have been dealt are our cards for life, and we have taken a fatalistic approach. But things are changing: people are beginning to take more interest in their health. In my clinical experience, when we engage clients in the

treatment process, they become inspired to work proactively towards better health.

‘PEOPLE TRAVEL TO WONDER AT THE HEIGHT OF THE MOUNTAINS, AT THE HUGE WAVES OF THE SEA, AT THE LONG COURSE OF RIVERS, AT THE VAST COMPASS OF THE OCEAN, AT THE CIRCULAR MOTION OF THE STARS; AND THEY PASS BY THEMSELVES WITHOUT WONDERING’ – ST AUGUSTINE Through developing sensitive palpatory skills, simple physical sensory exercises, mental imagery and effective release techniques, we as therapists are able to tune the client back into their body, enabling them to develop greater awareness of areas of physical tension. The purpose of bringing awareness into how the client’s body feels will bear fruit in three ways: ■ The client will become aware of where they hold physical tension in their body ■ The client will become aware of what state of mind increases or releases this tension ■ The client will become aware of what areas of their life are and are not in harmony.

Anyone who has experienced a nightmare will recognise

how their body responds to the state of their mind. The sleeper awakens sweating, muscles tight, out of breath, heart pounding. In the nightmare, the body responds, even though the events are not real. Perceived threats and stresses can

be just as damaging as the real thing, as Mark Twain alludes to: ‘I have known many troubles in my life, and most of them never happened.’ As you tune your client back into their body, they will

become more aware of their physical tensions. This process will enable your client to feel how their negative thoughts and internal dialogue impact on their body and hence their wellbeing. Appreciating this provides a platform for change. Our mind and body do not exist in a vacuum. They are

married or single, working or not working, in jobs they like or dislike. They are embedded in our environment, which by and large has usually been created by us. That environment can either support our wellbeing or undermine it. By examining how we have created our own unique environment in which we live, it is possible to identify those areas in our life that really work for us and others that are holding us back. The concentric ring model in figure 1 demonstrates how

the body, mind and external environment are inextricably linked. At the centre of the stress-reduction programme is the

client’s body, which is influenced by their state of mind, which in turn is influenced by the client’s environment. It is easy for people to identify stress in others, but it is not always as easy to identify stress in ourselves. Through working with the core skills of soft tissue palpation and release, the massage and manual therapist can develop client awareness, adding a new dimension to their practice. Empowering clients to recognise and work with their stress levels is extremely rewarding – this is working “with” the client rather than “on” the client.

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Figure 1: The link between body, mind and external environment

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Body

THE AUTHOR

Stuart Robertson graduated as a physiotherapist and completed an MSc in physiotherapy in 1996. He teaches both nationally and internationally on the fascial system, and he has a clinical practice in Somerset. He has broad clinical

experience, having worked with both international sportspeople and patients with chronic pain. For further information see www.dmbem.com or email stuart.robertson@dmbem.com.

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