I’m often intrigued by the way clients describe what itfeels like to receive a massage. The sensation felt when working slowly up from the Achilles tendon alongthe deep fibres of the soleus muscle towards the knee, was likened by one ladyto squeezing toothpaste out of tube. Another said her back felt “all warm and squidgy, like porridge orcustard” after her treatment – rather than the “brittle, grey plasticguttering” that was lodged in her shoulder blades beforehand. Yet, it was thesimilarity to “ironing creases out of a tea-towel” which recently got methinking more about the role of functional, flowing movement and trust duringtherapy in helping clients stay relieved of unnecessary tension, and aidrecovery and proprioceptive reprogramming.

When we treat clients with standard techniques such aseffleurage, petrissage or friction in a linear, uniform way – perhaps lyingstill and prone on a couch - the ‘tea-towel’ comparison ideally describes thelocal smoothing effect of massage on a specific part of their body. Yet a wholeperson is much more interesting than a flat, piece of cloth that spends halfit’s life in a kitchen drawer!  Assoon as they jump off the couch our client’s bodies twist and stretch usingcomplex patterns of movement that require a phenomenal amount of whole-bodycoordination, muscle memory and spatial awareness in three dimensions.  One of the hardest jobs for a therapistis to make sure that the one-hour’s worth of ‘ironing’ done on the couch isintegrated by the client into the twenty-three hours of living off the couch inthe real world, and that they avoid resorting to damaging patterns of musclerecruitment and build-up of tension in other soft tissues.

So, to upgrade the tea-towel analogy we might like to thinkabout the fabric of our clients’ bodies more like a fashion designer or tailorwould when designing a ball gown: appreciating the role that the properties ofcloth   – such as drape andabsorbency – play in the overall performance of the garment, or in our case theperformance of the client’s body.

I was made acutely aware of how much our ability to movegracefully and pain-free depends on our body’s connective fabric (our fascia’s)ability to ‘flow’ freely, when I experienced a deeply relaxing and powerfulwater-based massage treatment called WATSU, which involves elements of danceand stretching in three dimensions. During the one-hour session I was lead around a spa pool by the supportiveand light touch of Lanzarote-based therapist, Stef Cerf, who after training inmany types of bodywork now chooses WATSU as his main therapy for clientsbecause it marries his life-long passion for water with massage.  Not knowing exactly what to expect fromthe treatment I was soon astonished by how thoroughly absorbing it was – andwithin minutes I was left feeling like an autumn leaf dancing in the wind. 

Afterwards I was curious to find out more from Stef aboutthe elegant movements used during the session. “I work with archetypal shapessuch as the figure of eight, vortex, circle and sinusoidal wave when steeringclients through the water,” explained Stef. “There is a force behind shapes andthese resonate with us somehow.” This left me wondering if his treatment could help align a body with theuniversal forms, shapes and patterns which are so commonly observed in nature.

I certainly felt the resonance that Stef referred to whilstI was steered around the pool along these classically-shaped paths. I noticeddifferent forms reverberate with different fascial trains: as my limbs flowedfreely in sweeping arches with the water, I felt a rushing sensation that ranfrom head-to-toe, helping me sense the subtle interconnectedness of distantbody parts. I became extra-sensitive to mild stretches in patches of skin andtissue where blockages or restrictions existed.  Later in the session, as Stef rhythmically rotated myshoulders, to my surprise, my legs automatically peddled in the opposingdirection making me suddenly more conscious of the gyroscopic way our bodiesbalance movement in all directions. As Stef returned to using faster, dance-like movements – incorporatingmanipulation and stretch, I could feel tension melt away and awareness returnto a ‘blind spot’ around my left shoulder blade that wasn’t moving freely andhad been responding poorly to couch massage and stretches for several monthspreviously.

WATSU, a name that is derived from WATer shiatSU- wasdeveloped 30 years ago by Harold Dull a renaissance poet who also headed-up amassage and shiatsu school.  Dullbegan to apply stretches and massage on his clients and students whilstfloating in warm water.  WATSU isnow practiced by over a thousand therapists around the world and has evolvedalongside similar aquatic treatments such as Water Dance and Healing Dance, allof which incorporate dynamic stretches and dance-like elements.  Stef explained to me how powerful watercan be as a medium for practicing positional release: “Working with clients inthe spa pool eliminates gravity and helps them to move with the least amount ofeffort.  To get the most benefit itis crucial for the client to feel safe and to trust the therapist – if they dothen water is the best place for letting go of chronic tension”.

Indeed, as any massage therapist will know, the more that aclient trusts the person they’re working with, the easier it is for them to letgo of tension during a treatment. To me, this relationship was even more intense when submerged in water.“It takes a while for some people to melt into a comfortable natural shape inwater,” explained Stef, “but once people let themselves become at one with thewater, the whole body can be made harmonious and graceful again.”  To me, once the trust barrier has beenovercome, it seems WATSU has the potential to go further than just releasetension: through whole-body movement in all directions it can reallyreprogramme long-held, non-beneficial muscle recruitment patterns and rebalancefascia tension.  Having said that,after being treated to this underwater massage-ballet I’ll be keen toincorporate more dance-like movements in the in the therapy room and testStef’s theory that “You can do everything in water that you can do on land andvice versa.”

Further information

Watsu Lanzarote - http://watsu.yolasite.com

Venue in Lanzarote offering gentle and affordable retreatsincluding Watsu- www.b-the-change.com/retreatlanzarote.html

GOOD PULL-OUT QUOTE

Water is the best place for letting go of chronic tension.