'Absorbing' energies, being grounded, etc.

[Lulu Panda]

Hi guys, I am wondering if any of you have any advice or comments or information on the phenomena of 'energy transference', etc.I am new to bodywork, and I am finding that I need to learn how to not absorb clients' energies (negative or otherwise), and to not let my own energy get sucked out of me (sorry, can't think of a better way to word that this early in the morning).I want to be able to give the best massage possible, without becoming drained or ill feeling afterwards.Thank you so much for any replies.p.s.  When a client falls asleep during massage, do you folks here think that is a good thing?  I'm not sure how to view this - I wonder if they are just extremely relaxed with me, or if they are just extremely sleepy, or that I might have drained their energy!

 

[desperatehw]

gy 'Absorbing' energies, being grounded, etc.

Hello, goldface:Although I've been doing massage for 7 years now I still feel like a rookie because there will always be so much new to learn.  I will just share my experience with absorbing energy from clients during sessions.  When I let myself get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired and I work then I begin to notice that if the client has a headache, low backache, neck/shoulder tension, etc. then I have the symptoms at the end of a session and they walk away feeling much better.  Massage is a second career for me and I enjoy it so much that I try to avoid setting myself up for burnout by paying closer attention to my own physical and mental health.  Learning hot stone massage has helped because the stones seem to absorb the negative energy.  I'm petite and getting certified in Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy (http://www.deepfeet.com) allows me to do deep tissue massage on large clients without abusing my thumbs, wrists, and shoulders.  This modality has also decreased my absorption of negative energy/pain from clients during sessions.  Aside from the obvious, ie. drinking lots of water, consuming whole foods, exercise, and breathing exercises I have used Barbara Ann Brennan's guide to grounding before healing as described in chapter 21 of her book "Hands of Light."  Also, I apply Young Living's essential oil blen White Angelica to each shoulder before starting a session.  When you wash hands after a session imagine that you are washings your hands of negative energy as well.  God Bless You, and best wishes.

 

[Dawg Man]

I had the same problem when I first started down the road of massage. You have to realise, that whatever the client has (issues, pain, mental trauma, etc....), that it's THEIRS, not yours. Dont burden yourself with carrying their pain, too. Try to ground yourself b4 the massage, and brush yourself down after. I used to be so drained after working on some people! Now it's only occasionally. Some people have such a strong aura, you cant help but "absorb" something. Mentally surround yourself in white light before the massage. it helps :} As for people going to sleep, could be any number of things. Not enough rest at night; they feel very secure with you; dont take it personal, or get upset. Good luck! Feel free to email me if youd like   Bodymovers@aol.com

 

[Blaziken]

Hello, I have a great teacher who has tought me how to ground in and out. I always focus on my energy and how I want to use it and when I'm ready to work on the client I stay focused on my energy and the clients energy and When I'm done I take my time to ground out and do a lot of brushing off. I still have 3 more months in Massage school, but that was one thing My teacher made sure he tought us first thing. I worked on my teacther DR. Ted and he was a sleep very quickly and at first I thought I was doing something wrong but He told me that Having your client fall a sleep is good, I was doing my job and relaxing them.  

 

[durgapremee]

Dreamweaver, I don't think it's going to "hinder" you.  Here's my take on it.I'm a very concrete person, I need to be able to see or touch things.  However, I also think you can pick up "vibes" from people.  For instance, I have a few clients who are emotionally draining to me.  They always come in and the entire time is spent venting to me about how bad things are:  they're under a lot of stress, they don't feel well, things aren't going well for them, etc.....  Which is fine and dandy, that's what they come see me for.  But for some reason they send these negative vibes, ones that really drain my energy.  It's like dealing with a high needs child or toddler (I know, I have 2 of them!) who saps every bit of energy from your body.These people I only schedule when I know another emotionally draining client will not be in, I can't handle two in one day.  I also try to schedule them last so I can go home and restore my energy.  It's not that I don't like these clients, it's just that they take a bit more out of me than most clients.  Luckily I only have 2 of them right now.Like I said, I'm a pretty concrete person.  I never quite "got" polarity in school and reiki just baffles me.  But I do believe people give off energy, or vibes.mamajen

 

[elenelie]

Picking up another's energy is possible, and happens more frequently than we realize.If you can answer yes to these, then you've probably picked up on negativity.Have you ever had someone you just hate to deal with? Someone that you feel like you need to take a walk after talking to? Feeling like your space has been violated after dealing with them?Someone that you avoid but not sure why?Feeling unreasonably foul after interaction with a person.Many times we are not aware to pick up on the fact we are picking up on negativity. We end up feeling drained, tired and grumpy. Mostly we only pick up on the extreme cases, because we are not aware of what we are looking for. I carry rocks and crystals to protect my energies from those around me. I also carry ones that support me in my work. Whether you believe in it or not, just make sure to "recharge" your batteries when you feel low. Unless we are on overload or have someone who completely overwhelms us with negativity, we tend to treat ourselves as needed. As for someone falling asleep... great compliment! Means they are relaxed and feel comfortable. Even though I am at school and are doing massages in a class enviornment, I've had clients fall asleep.  ;D It always makes me feel good.

 

[krystal048786]

Ok I'm beginning to see what you mean. I have met people that I get a bad vibe from.....like this girl in my class. She is very standoffish and I get this negative vibe from her.  I tried to change it by partnering up with her one night in class but I don't think it worked. I made light conversation about work and school but I felt uncomfortable the whole time. I think she felt it too.  I don't want to have any problems with anyone in class. Is there a way to change the energy?What do you do to ground yourself and brush off?

 

[Coach E!]

From the polarity perspective (polarity being one of many massage modalities)....The first thing you do before working with clients is grounding yourself...many do this by visualizing a golden cord coming out of the sacrum (like a tail) and going to the center of the earth. Then bring the energy from the core of the earth up through your spine. My preference is to imagine myself as a tree....roots coming out of my feet, going deep into the earth bringing up nourishment--arms reaching towards the sky to bring in the sun's energy. Then I do a quick body scan to see what my "stuff" is. Notice tight, sore, restricted places. Check in with my emotions and thoughts to see what is mine. THEN I step into the client's energy. Yeah, it takes a little while to begin with but I just tell the client I'm centering myself or something. So far, no one minds. I'm sure you could do that while a client is getting ready.  When I step into the client's energy I pay attention to what is happening in my body. If I feel knee pain that I didn't notice before, I figure it is the clients. If I start thinking about falling off a bike and I have no reason for it---it's probably the client's. I let the awareness flow through my body but not stay with it. In polarity you talk about those impressions you are picking up on. I would tell a client, "you know, I keep getting something about falling off a bike....does that mean anything to you?" Or "when I work down here, I notice some knee pain in my right leg....how is YOUR knee?" If, for some reason my knee still hurts after a session, I look into that as something that they triggered but recognize it as my own issue. It's like tuning forks. If you have two tuning forks of the same key, when you hit one, the other will start to vibrate. If a client triggers something in you and you start to resonate with it, there is a lesson there for you. Some part of you that may need some healing work. As far as absorbing energies, it really takes an awareness of what is going on in your body. If you ignore your body, you'll have a harder time figuring out what is yours. I've had the experience in a polarity session to actually pick up another energy (as in spirit being). I felt really strange after the session. I was chatting with another student telling her about it and said, "I feel like a little kid right now." And that I had felt a lot of resistance during the session. I knew it wasn't my own resistance and it didn't feel like the client's resistance. When I said that, I realized something else had happened. I told this other being to go away and could feel the room lighten. Two months ago, I wouldn't have had that awareness but it is something I'm working on. You HAVE to be in your body. You HAVE to pay attention to what is going on inside of you and around you. It's definitely a process of learning but know that you'll never be given more than you can handle. If you find that you are still picking things up, look into that. Do you feel like you need to take on other people's pain in order for them to heal? It also helps to recognize that you are not giving clients your energy but another, higher energy. Whatever that may mean for you.I hope that helps more than it confuses. I also agree with white angelica. Burning sage to clear your space can help. Saying a prayer. Inviting angels or guides. Sealing a room with reiki. Crystals. Cleansing rituals. Epsom salt baths. Meridian brushing (I think that was mentioned). And basically, taking care of your own body in the appropriate ways. Getting enough rest, water, nutrition, exercise. L

 

[Apple Juice]

Hi friends (I am the original starter of this message), I notice there are lots of different perspectives and excellent advice on the subject.  I just wanted to point out some interesting things I am noticing (I accept the possibility that this could all be in my imagination) as I have still not mastered being completely grounded/not taking on anything from client:-feeling like 'a different person' for a couple of days after doing massage on a client who is particularly unbalanced-looking at myself in the mirror and seeing myself very differently from the usual, almost like I look at myself and make a 'judgment' as if I am seeing a peer-after finishing a session on this client, actually SEEING MYSELF (my own energy) in the client - this is very strange indeed!-feeling differently toward my loved ones - almost as if I don't have as much love for them as usual***Don't worry, I eventually go back to normal.I am the kind of person who has overcome a lot of emotional stress in my short life, and I think I could deal with just about anything.  So I almost feel like - wow, maybe I could really help people who are having serious emotional problems by absorbing some of their stuff and dealing with it in a short period of time.  But what if I start getting grey hairs or physical symptoms!I would like to be able to have some control over it, like many of you seem to have.  It seems like it's all about balance.

 

[Maybel T]

I am a very "sensitive person" which has caused me a lot of problems in picking up other's negative energy. I have been in practice for 2 yrs. and the best grounding and protecing tools I have ever found are contained in a book called    "Your Aura & your Chakras" by Karla McLaren, and an audio cassett "Healing you Aura & Chakras" (same auhor). http://www.mlode.com/-laughingtree/  I recommend this to everyone who ask's how do you stay so grouded.  The information is amazing, and no-nonsence.  The book takes a while to get through, it has a lot of visualization exercises.  The Cassett is wonderful if you don't have much time, and is very effective if you respond well to audio.  The author takes you through an easy step by step process of protecting your Aura and how to check in with your grounding each day.   neomassage

 

[Akuwa]

Here's my 2 cents on negative energy, etc.  There are times when I'm in a session and I swear, I just want to push them off the table, climb on and take a nap.  I can feel my eyes getting heavy and I'm just so tired, but I just don't let it overcome me.  Someone suggested getting a hematite stone and carrying it in my pocket because it is supposed to take someone's energy and act as a block and reflect it back onto them.  I tried this for about a week several months ago and I think it worked (although it could have just been psychosomatic of sorts). Also, about clients falling asleep, I agree with the post above, I consider it to be the greatest compliment I could ask for, and I let them know.  However, if I fell asleep during a massage, I would almost feel cheated because I wasn't really present to enjoy the full experience.

 

[vighnesvaran]

Check out quantumtouch.com .  I just took the basic workshop and it is an incredible and incredibly simpleform of energy work in and of itself.  More pertinent to massage, however, is the concept of raising and maintaining your vibration higher than the clients and allowing the client to entrain to your vibration.  When I employ the breathing techniques during my massage, I always feel more energized than when I started.  My $.02.  By the way, quantum touch is very easy to learn.Cassandra

 

[Ally]

I used to sleep through massage, especially when I was very sick with chronic fatigue syndrome.  It was great.  You don't miss out, really!  You usually wake up when times up.If a client falls asleep, you are making them comfortable enough to do so.  As far as absorbing energies, brisk (cold) water for washing the hands afterward.  State of mind, too.  But cold water wisks a lot of it away!

 

[Angry:(]

hi-- not sure if you are familiar with the tai  chi practice of "vessel breathing"-- this was recommended to me by my acupuncturist who is also a massage therapist-- in tai chi when you sink your energy to ground and "grow roots", you place the tip of your tongue at the roof of your mouth at the edge of your soft palate-- this creates an unbroken circuit for your own energy/ chi-- your chi will circulate freely without absorbing another's energies-- it's late and i am not explaining this well, sorry-- but in my practice i find that it does work for maintaining a good grounded feeling without taking on any of the symptoms or energies of the client you are seeking to assist. if you can find a tai chi or qi gong practitioner to explain vessel breathing to you,  you may discover a whole new world!! tai chi and massage go very well together, both physically and energetically.   best of luck!  cheers!