You don’t need to apologise for your body
This is something that I’ve noticed a lot. When I was in student clinic, I had the honour of being able to work with a massively dynamic, and varying group of people every week. I’d see people from all walks of life come through for treatment, from different ages, genders, backgrounds, beliefs… No two people and no two bodies are ever the same. That’s part of what makes this work so incredibly interesting. But without fail, regardless of whether it was their first treatment or their 20th treatment with us, some people felt the need to apologise to me for their body. Their own body. Whether it was because they had hair on their body, varying types of tissue, types of skin, or even medical considerations, there was often an underlying feeling of insecurity.
Marketing for most (if not, all that I’ve seen) remedial massage isn’t very helpful in this space, I’ll admit. Most of the photos that are out there to promote the services of a remedial massage therapist include the disrobed perfectly chiseled bodies of a 20-something year old with their perfect skin and no hair below their eyebrows. What message does this send to people? That the space for treatment is only for the physically elite amongst us? That before you seek out treatment, you need to make sure that you’re the “best” version of yourself? That if you have insecurities, you need to suck it up? The vicious cycle of that mindset lies in the fact that if you’re seeking remedial treatment, it’s probably because you have dysfunction that’s stopping you from doing things that you love or need to do.
More than that, your body is already perfect. It’s doing exactly what it needs to do to create its own state of homeostasis. Of course, sometimes that self-made state can cause problems (which is where remedial treatment comes in), but the fact that your body is working so hard to create its own balance is truly amazing. So, first of all, give yourself a pat on the back for that one.
Secondly, any good body worker looks at all of the different moving parts of your body and how they affect the whole. That’s it. They don’t walk into your treatment with judgement. It can be easy to understand that in your mind, but a whole different ballgame to truly believe that. That takes time and practice, and a good remedial therapist will walk alongside you on that journey. It takes a certain level of being vulnerable to get treatment. You’ve got to talk about what’s happening, move around, and be OK with being touched by a person who you may have just met that day.
What I really, really want to get across to you is that your treatment is about you and how we can best help you as you present on that day. If you’re not feeling amazing about yourself on that day, that’s absolutely fine. We’ll work together within your comfort zone. You are empowered to make decisions about what your treatment looks like. If you don’t want to be touched in certain areas, we can work with that. It may change the outcomes of your treatment, but a good body worker will have that conversation with you without judgement. If you want to keep your clothes on for the treatment, we can (and 100% will) work with that too!
Your treatment should reflect what you feel comfortable with and empower you to make decisions on your own care. Don’t accept anything less.
