Ambient Awareness

Ambient Awareness is a massage modality, philosophy, and guide to create, enforce, and maintain effective personal boundaries. The terms used are symbolic gestures to encourage the practitioner to explore how they interpret reality, to achieve harmony, and live a rewarding life. In massage we can only give what we have. If all we possess is bitterness it is all we can offer. We must invest in hope, happiness, and peace if we seek to instill the same in others.

Ambient Energy Work

Ambient Energy Work is the application of our personal boundaries and introspective discovers. It guides us through our interactions with others and determines our quality of touch. It is a passive application of energy, or intent, that harnesses our personal power, encourages us to focus inwardly, and guides us to live with love.

Recycling Energy

In massage we can only give what we have. If we live a life of bitterness will constantly encourage others to feel bad. Clearly, we cannot flip a switch and turn off our sadness like a lamp, but we can transform how we witness and interpret reality. As massage therapists we feel the energy of our clients and they feel ours through transference and countertransference. It is our responsibility to manage the energy we give and transform what we receive. If you have ever performed a massage on someone who is angry, or hateful you know how difficult it can be to remain focused on giving loving intent. Managing this energy is challenging and it never gets easier. Life never gets easier; we simply develop the tools to navigate our challenges more effectively.

Recycling the energy of our massages is another tool we can use to overcome our obstacles. In massage school we talk a lot about transference and countertransference, but very time is used on managing it. There is good reason for this, it is a complex concept that is easy to describe in generalities, but nearly impossible to flesh out in the abstract.

What is Recycling Energy? To sum up this philosophy it is the act of listening, being present, internalizing, processing, and filtering the actions, statements, and vibes of others through the filter of love. It is a lifestyle alteration that must be practiced throughout every moment of the day. If we do not recycle the energy of our daily social interactions, we will not have the ability to implement it in our massages. It is a skill that requires active participation. We have to live it, if we are a tourist, we will never truly understand the experience of living in this state of mind. Recycling Energy is the application of HOW we apply our boundaries with others.

Throughout this book we will talk a lot about personal boundaries. They are essential in any massage practice, and our lives. Incomplete mantras and self-help books talk a big game about creating personal boundaries, but they fail to guide you through their process. They say, “Just do this, and it will work.”

Recycling Energy is a personal exploration, we have to get to know ourselves if we want to recycle the energy of others. Take yourself out on a date, grab a coffee, read a book, sit under a tree, and take some time to get to know yourself. Even though we live in a self-obsessive society few people have a relationship with themselves. You must first learn how to recycle the energy within yourself before you can accept others with love and honesty.

Application

“Every massage must be written within our mind’s eye and explored in the second”

An amazing massage is captivating, it is a fairy tale, and a beautiful ballad. It is a magical adventure set within a dreamland paradise. Every second should be supercharged with good intent, love, and kindness. It must be vibrant, fun, and energizing. We must be present, aware, and invested in every moment of the massage.

All of these words are great in the abstract, but how do we apply them? The simplest answer is summed up through the application of creativity, humility, and empathy. Every massage must be written within our mind’s eye and explored in the second. It is a masterfully crafted painting, a captivating story, and the greatest sculpture ever made. If we are to achieve the greatest degree of touch quality we must feed into our imagination, explore our creativity, and cultivate our artistic ability