Hello my dear ecencypals, bruxism, huh? Who hasn't suffered from it or witnessed someone else suffer from this problem? It affects more people than we realize, and sometimes we're not even aware we have it until someone we trust tells us that the night before, "you were grinding your teeth." Well, just a week ago, I attended a massage workshop that focused specifically on this topic. Wow, it was truly intense! Besides the valuable information and various recommendations, I've also gathered some insights into how transformative the learning process can be in therapeutic support, and how our own experience plays a role when it comes to supporting others.
The gentle part started well. The participants were middle-aged women, professionals in the fields of aesthetics and yoga, with extensive experience in new wave therapies. So, a little Qigong was done to prepare the body and approach the theoretical part of the topic with a fresh mind. Then came the experiential exploration of conscious self-touch to integrate the concepts mentioned earlier, followed by brief demonstrations of the treatment application. This treatment is novel at first glance because it directly challenges the preconception of the active therapist who solves your life problems in one session. We're spoiled by quick results; sometimes they're more than necessary, but "untying a knot takes as long as tying it," so to speak.
What is innovative can be seen as dangerous because it directly attacks what constitutes our identity; what we have learned, if not reviewed and updated, becomes entrenched in our beliefs in a reactive way.
The difficult part was conveying the somatic release practices that involve movement, body, mind, and emotions working together to enable the interrupted process in each case that triggers this symptomatic response. It put us in a difficult position as workshop facilitators; few people were willing to move beyond the passive approach of the proposal.
Which leaves me with a question. How willing are you, as a therapist, to walk through the hot coals of learning to assist others in their self-healing processes? No one can believe at this point that they save people's lives; we only do our part and trust that the person receiving treatment can assimilate the situation and recover. Even when talking about major surgeries, we only do what is within our reach, but we can't live for others. It's like when we were doing well in school and wanted to give our extra credit to someone who was doing worse. You just can't... but you can stay with them and be supportive. So, getting back to the topic it was exhausting, but a great experience learning to handle adverse situations in the role of teacher. We finished with an internal jaw examination, as if the previous work wasn't enough.
By the end, it was all laughter, but a small seed of self-inquiry was planted in the bodies of those present that afternoon, including mine, of course.
So, for this reason, I'm going to give some initial recommendations: First of all, cultivate patience—real patience, not the kind you're just putting up with. Second, use your hands as if they were ears; listen with your skin, subtly, and then with varying pressures. The difference in pressure on your fingertips allows you to differentiate the internal tissues. Choose the layer that makes the strongest impression on you and hold that pressure with slow movements or in complete stillness, and breathe deeply toward that area. This is a great way to begin your self-treatment. After that, you'll notice the emotions trapped in the tissues; associated memories may appear, and other areas of the body may draw your attention. Just observe the body manifesting its ailments. When the body speaks, asking for help, the best ally is a mind that listens.
Thank you for reading.