SELF-EVOLUTION AND MASSAGE THERAPY by David Lauterstein
Uniquely among animals, humans can consciously initiate enormous changes in our lives. Basically, we are the only species that can self-evolve, sometimes many times, within one lifetime. This incredible capacity is what our society should be organized around – each human’s ability to create a better life for her/himself and our community.
We have the opportunity to evolve to be kinder to ourselves and others, to reap vast rewards from the treasures of our cultures, and to, in the best of ways, surprise ourselves.
To paraphrase Freud, ‘When people are themselves surprised by what they say and do, that’s when they are really making some progress.’
Massage, mindfully practiced, can help with this progress and existential surprise because it helps people tap into their deepest inner resources. “Our deepest gifts rise up from pools we cannot fathom (Lewis Hyde)” These pools seem to live in our unconscious, in the places in the body, in dreams, in obscure emotions that don’t easily manifest in words.
Each human is a walking miracle of anatomy, physiology, and psychology. The greatest tragedy is to squander the capacity and opportunity for self-evolution. Thus, the therapist who can help the person awaken to the miraculous power they have, to tap into these resources, and, with new ideas, feelings and plans coming out this magic eight ball of the unconscious and the pools we cannot fathom deep within us – this kind of therapist can be a midwife to the next step in our possible collective evolution.
