Emotional Release?

[Scotty J]

I did a search for emotional release, but didn't come to any thread that specifically addresses the reaction my client has to massage. His entire body tremors and shakes, almost violently.First off, his reactions to massage may sound sexual in nature and at first I wasn't sure myself. But at this point I feel it is and emotional release. We have discussed his tremors and he says that it's when he feels very relaxed and that the massage feels wonderful. He appologized for his reaction at the start of the last session and said that if I feel he's too weird to let him know. But, that he feels I give a great massage.His specific areas of tension are left suboccipital and left hip/sacrum. I think that he has some sciatica issues as well, since the pain tends to travel down his left leg and is aggrevated by prolonged driving time.I've discovered that his violent shaking and tremors happen when I focus attention to the left side. A trigger point in the Left rhomboid produced this effect as well as attention to the hamstring attachments, gluteals and sacrum area.My question is do I move away from these areas when the shaking starts or do I continue to focus attention there? With the TP in the Left rhomboid I continued to work the area and eventually his shaking eased. But I have to be honest, it's very disturbing. At times I want to avoid his entire left side because I know hes going to tremble and shake. But, at the same time my training says focus on the areas of pain and tension.I really want to provide the best care possible for this client. I'm curious to know if anyone else has had this experience?

 

[classigal888]

Emotional Release?

Graci,Actually I had a similar type of experience. I was working on my sister and she'd had a shoulder injury over a year previously she hadn't told me about...as she lives in GA and I live in WI and I was there visiting. I happened to be using a Young Living essential oil blend called "Release" in my massage oil at the time though... so that may have been an extenuating factor. I was working on her left rotator cuff muscles when suddenly she started to shake and tremble uncontrolably... I even asked her if she was cold, or if she felt light headed (thinking perhaps her blood sugar had suddenly dropped).Later when we discussed it, she told me that she'd hurt that shoulder while trying to carry in some groceries and a couple gallons of bottled water in that hand. So my thinking was that it was, indeed, an emotional release.Was your client in a car accident? Or do you know what "Trauma" has happened that could have involved the left side of his body? Sometimes an injury to something on the right side of the body can result in additional stresses being put on the opposite side... that could be a factor as well (strain/counter strain).There are so many factors to consider...But hope my experience reassures you somewhat.

 

[Wowshi]

Hi there.  I'm new to the forum, and still in school myself (graduate in 2 months!!).  We just had a class on Somatic Therapy (Emotional Release) last night.  I did a google search, and here are some urls you might find helpful.  As stated already, being trained in Polarity Therapy helps tremendously when dealing with this type of reaction.  We were taught that focusing on the breath and helping to ground the person helps them to process the information coming from their body.http://www.inner-healing.com/somatic.htmhttp://fascialrelease.com/emotional_release_the_grey_area_in_massage.htmhttp://www.massagetoday.com/archives/2005/02/14.html

 

[Elizabeth]

Emotional Release?

Yes Hansoflove! Th ;Dat's exactly what I did! ;DI slowed down in the area that caused the reaction, did some deep breaths and tried to time it with his breaths. This did work some, but his tremor reaction was happening a lot in the last session. I guess after we discussed it - and I reassured him that it's a perfectly natural reaction to an energy or emotional release - he must have felt more at ease.Thanks for all the great input :-*I felt quite confident that it was not a seizure or heart attack. The first time I was more concerned that it was a "male arrousal" issue than anything else. But, even then I resolved myself to the idea that it was emotional rather quickly. Our discusseion later on cemented that for me.Also in reference to Maestrea: Thank you, it does reassure me to know that this happens quite frequenlty. At our first intake he said that there was no injury to the area, just due to daily extended drive time to and from work. He also mentioned that he has a double A personality and that it takes him 88 minutes to relax. :-/Thanks to all and any more comments would be more than welcome. :-*

 

[Is it summer yet??]

Emotional Release?

I've had this happen to clients during energy work where I'm not even at the touching them seforum.xxxe yet. I'm just running my hands over their auric field. The first time it happened, I was actually in a Reiki class and the Instructor informed me that this was emotional release. Since then, I've also noticed other signs of it.. both with hands on and off, one feels like popcorn hitting the bottom of my hand repeatedly.. but the client isn't moving at all and sometimes they feel it as well and sometimes they don't. The other feels like I'm pulling something out, and client's have felt like something is being sucked out, (not that I'm stealing their energy though, haha).The only difference is sometimes the body will show when it's had enough on a particular body part, by jerking.. but that's definitely different than the trembling and usually the client really wants you to move your hands from that area.. it makes them restless.As for your client, you mentioned he drives to work.. is he sitting on his wallet and what is his posture like when he's driving to work.. Maybe while he's at work, he's sitting again with something in his back pockets? Just brainstorming...

 

[brokendown321]

Emotional Release?

Thanks spirithopper...Tried the old wallet in the back pocket route - He said no :-/And when I get to those areas that make him tremble I know that he doesn't want me to move away. I usually hang out there a little bit. Sometimes he eases off on the tremble, but when he doesn't, I get too uncomfortable with it and I move away.I'm quite certain that it must be an emotional response, but I'm not so sure that I want to confront him on the cause. I was reading a link that hansoflove posted the other day (thanks by the way :-*) and now I'm really thinking that there are some areas of the phyche that I'm not qualified to tackle. I may ease into the conversation with him next week, but if it's more than I can handle I may look for someone to refer him to. This has also got me thinking about some education in pycho therapy. I took a few classes in school - back when I thought I was going to be a psyche major - but not enough to handle major issues. :-/

 

[Kkbetch]

Hi Graci....I specialise in trigger point work and have found the reaction you describe on a few occasions. I tend to continue to work the area as normal, and find it does stop after a while. I do feel that it is a release on both a physical and emotional level. On occasions the tremors are very subtle and localised to the muscle I am working, but powerful enough to transmit up my own arm, and I have had a client ask, ''is that me shaking or you?'' It was definitely them With regards to the sciatic type symptoms, have you checked the piriformis for TP's? Pain travelling down the leg can be attributed to piriformis syndrome. You can test for this by asking the client to raise the affected leg  with the knee slightly bent.(a position which does indeed resemble the position of the leg while driving ) If this is painful then piriformis is most usually the cause. The pirformis attatches to both the sacrum and the hip joint so again Tp's and spasm in this muscle could be contributing to problems in both areas as you describe. The best way to locate and treat this area I find is over the towel using the elbow and leaning in very gently with your bodyweight. However I have found on several occasions that a TP in the erector spinae just above the attatchment of the QL to the 12th rib seems to be responsible for pain deep in the hip joint.Just my two pennies worth....hope you find it usefulEsk ;D

 

[KATE KILLS]

Hi all i work with Triggerpoints, too.  Shaking and Tremory, but also other feelings is a very normal reaction for body releases. Bodywork equalize energie - all is energieThe Body is  speaking, and looking and seaching for new orientation, when old stiles of behavior gona change...Be happy when it's happen and stay present to your client!I'am allways very thankful, when my clients allow this kind of let go - where is more trust?See also: http://www.triggerpointrelease.com/four-bodies.html

 

[autobot032]

Emotional Release?

He also mentioned that he has a double A personality and that it takes him 88 minutes to relax. :-/

I am only interested and haven't had much experience with energy work with clients...

But I've heard about the Left side=female and Right side = male. So I'm wondering if it might have something to do with his non-dominate side trying to express itself.

Does that make sense?

 

[I amErica]

Emotional Release?

Did you learn much about rajasic touch in your polarity classes? You might try a little rocking or Trager work when he starts trembling. It's a way to match his energy. Definitely stay with it. I have worked with several people who tremble and from what I've been reading on this post, it sounds pretty common. My thought is that it's a form of unwinding he is doing. Stay with him and he'll move through it.

 

[Dllama]

All the talk about releases got me to recall one time in Myofascial Release class. Our instructor had told us that sometimes people can get 'stuck' in the releasing process. She said if she's had about 3 sessions with someone and they keep releasing or unwinding in the same area that she cominicates silently to the fascia that it's time for it to finish up and move on basically. Ask the client what he is experiencing when he begins to tremble. It's possible that on some level he could be enjoying the releasing process, but at the same time afraid to let go of whatever it is. If you can get him to reveal something it may be an indication that you may want to refer him to someone that deals more with that sort of thing.

My own thoughts on releasing is that all releases are technically 'emotional' in nature, as our cells remember everything that has ever happened to us. I don't think you can have a physical release without an emotional component, even if it's not something the client or therapist is aware of.

 

[iAm]

I'm wondering how "conscious" your client is during these times? If he is already a bit tranced out shall we say, then these could also be called kriyas. Very normal, and a good sign, it's a sign that he feels safe enough with you to get himself to the point that his own self-healing can kick in.
This topic is a few months old, and I also wonder how long it went on, or if it was worked out? I wonder if during intake times if he's ever mentioned current or past trauma. If you have a network of other therapists, counselors etc. you might want to discuss the option of augmenting treatment with someone trained in talk (or some other kind) therapy.
Jill

 

[Fiona]

Nobody's mentioned Peter Levine yet... trauma, freeze, and then... shake to release. Whether that's right after the trauma happens, or years later on the massage table.

 

[Elsabe]

Tremors are good. Holding tremors back is bad

Check out this book:

The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times (Paeforum.xxxack) by David Berceli, PhD

Tremors, shaking, and vibration are all normal functions. WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT! It means you're doing a fantastic job of helping your client release stored up energy from trauma.

Animals do this all the time. We are animals too and we've shut-down this normal function through social conditioning.

You're not going to heal the client. The client will heal themself. And that person felt safe enough with you to tremor. Good job!

 

[Misfit.]

I had this happen with a client during a Reiki session. She began tremmoring and shaking uncontrollably during a group treatment (multiple practitioners working on her at the same time). I thought to check the balance of her chakras during the episode and found her crown fluctuating wildly while the rest of her chakras were open and even in their flow. She had full awareness during the episode.

I used a technique I learned outside of Reiki that helps to open and stabalize chakras. When I started the technique my client blurted out "I FEEL THAT!" (I had no physical contact with the client during the technique) Within about 20 seconds her tremmors subsided and she regained full autonomy of her body.

The crown chakra fluctuating wildly suggests to me that a client's energetic body experiences some kind of flux or shift that manifests as shaking on a physical level. Even though it is termed as an emotinoal release, I personally feel it is more of a(n) energetic/spiritual release. Perhaps the physical body is trying to catch up to a new vibrational rate the energetic body is experiencing? Are there any other energy workers on this list that might have a clue as to what happened? I'm hoping this information might be able to shine some light on what is going on during these release episodes.

 

[namy]

Could you explain a bit more about the technique you used?

 

[Amber nicole.]

The technique I used involves holding the hands in prayer position directly over the erratic chakra. I allow my hands to open slowly along with the opening of the chakra itself.

It feels like my hands are cradling the edges of the chakra and the energy flowing between my hands helps to energize and stabalize at the same time. The chakra usually opens up nicely in the time span of 1-2 minutes.

The intent I use during the technique is to help guide the chakra open, I never try to foce it. I use this technique only on rare situations when I have already applied Reiki and a chakra is being particularly stubborn or erratic.

Please let me know if this makes sense to you barefoot. It can be challenging to clearly describe a technique without visual aids.

In Peace and Light

 

[fyou6382]

Gerry, very clear and very cool. Thanks for that, I'll put it in my tool box!

 

[sazz]

I don't know if the OP is still around, since this is an older thread, but with the initial events in the first post I was thinking this article I came across might be helpful in some way given the conditions.

http://www.massageandbodywork.com/Articles/DecJan2004/Psoas.html

This article is by Liz Koch who has focused her work on the Psoas muscle. She also talks about and includes perspective from Peter Levine and has worked together with David Berceli.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Strictly looking at this from an intuitive level - I would have to say that there are times when I've had clients go through
this type of response when you work on areas where there is an energetic hole or break in the auric field - just as much as when you're dealing with a "stubborn chakra", or when dealing with the "emotional release" .

There may have been trauma to the area - either through
injury, or other means, & the trauma is still stuck in the
memory of the body, or in the soul level of the individual. Other times it may be that the spot where the problem appears to be is where there is an energetic link or cord from another person to the client.

The techniques for dealing with these types of issues is best done by those trained to do energetic shamanic healing work, as there are sometimes a lot of negativity & stuck energy which can be tough to clear out. It's also crucial to know protection techniques, for both youself & the client, when doing this work - as you don't want to make mistakes which cause more problems in the process.