Exploring Empathy
A great massage therapist must slice away their bias, open their soul and witness the world through someone else’s eyes.
We all possess the ability to inflict terrible suffering and bestow incredible joy. We are a complex and magical matrix of roots constantly being fed with hurt and health. We make mistakes, spread misery, and inspire others to feel marvelous. Our potential is vast and incredible, sometimes unbelievable. We hurt and help people, commit to actions with uncertain fates and make decisions unaware of their effects. Simply put, we move through life without purpose, we are unprepared and unpredictable. This is normal, it is the nature of existence. Like the fae creatures of story books we are enigmatic, spontaneous, and mysterious.
To understand empathy we must close our eyes and imagine why others do what they do, we have to feel what they feel and integrate forgiveness into our heart. With forgiveness we can witness the wonder of the world and use it as our candle to see in the darkest night. Unfortunately it is challenging for us to infuse our existence with the bright light of forgiveness. It is uncomfortable at first, but as the droplets soak our clothes we learn to dance in the rain.
When we filter the actions of others through forgiveness, we humanize the people around us. We remember life is hard, that no one was given a guidebook on how to live. This filter evens the scales of judgement by reminding us that we too make mistakes, hurt feelings, and do things without reason. Once we realize this, we begin applying these factors to others, and evaluating each scenario by reminding ourselves of our own flaws and inadequacies. In our increasingly polarizing, and instant gratification seeking society, we aren’t allotted enough time to slow everything down, to think and indulge effective decision making.
A massage therapist must have the ability to empathize. We must possess the skill to slow down, think and explore. Empathy is one of the greatest expressions of our humanity, it builds bridges, opens doors, and forges friendships. When used in massage it serves as a guide, it provides us the tools to imagine how our clients feel and helps us communicate with them.
