Why is Meditation So Complementary to Bodywork?

By Cody Rickett 

In one of our recent live streaming videos on Facebook, Sam and I had a surprise visit from our good friend and colleague Jeremiah. All three of us are avid meditators, so our conversation naturally drifted into discussing how meditation influences our approach to bodywork and reflexology. Check out the full video on our YouTube channel here!
Jeremiah said something quite simple, yet profound (he's clever with that kind of Zen style): "In order for me to be a good therapist, I have to be OK with me."
Meditation is a process of becoming OK with our innermost self, first and foremost. When I am centered, grounded, and abiding in the flow of ecstatic bliss, that presence and poise will trickle out into every movement I make, especially in relation to how I touch a client.
The deep meditation technique of Advanced Yoga Practices (AYP) is a gradual process of immersing oneself in the subconscious layers of the mind, which in turn purifies and opens the channels of the nervous system, thereby resulting in an increasingly optimal level of functionality. Put more simply: Meditation makes life better.
Obviously, deep meditation will enhance the skills and performance of any bodyworker, but that's not the end of the story. Deep meditation, when practiced by a client on a regular basis, will exponentially increase the quality of their experience as well. Why? Because when both therapist and client are accustomed to surrendering to a parasympathetic state, the end goal of sublime relaxation, healing, and re-energization is more easily accomplished, due to minimal resistance and active participation on both ends. It takes two to tango, as they say.
The reason I'm flying overseas to France and investing a substantial amount of time and energy into acquiring an AYP certification is because I wholeheartedly believe that AYP is the best open-source platform for enlightenment on the market. In America, we still strongly associate yoga with the stretching poses, but yoga is much more than asanas. AYP brings meditation to the forefront of daily practices, and the vast website includes many other techniques and principles that cover the full scope of human spiritual transformation.
I look forward to returning from France so that I can apply my expertise to the work I do at The Foot Whisperer. And perhaps clients will be inspired to incorporate techniques like Deep meditation into their regular routine, so that their sessions will become all the more effective and lasting. It's a win-win situation, really.
So, just to take Jeremiah's Zen wisdom a little further, I would venture to say that by adding meditation into our daily routine, in conjunction with bodywork, we can not only be OK with our innermost self—we can be super-duper-this-is-awesome-OK with our internal condition, which will overflow into all interactions and relationships we have on the outside.
Thank you for reading. Be still, and flow.

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