Once I could hear my body say no, I got curious about what else it had to say.
So, the conversations began.
I didn't start with the big stuff.
I started with eggs. How many eggs do I want for breakfast?
Do I even want eggs? Yes/No.
Pancakes? Yes/No.
Am I hungry yet? Yes/No.
It seems almost ridiculously simple, doesn't it?
I had spent a lot of my life listening to all the voices outside of me. The people who knew the best way to eat. The best time to exercise. The perfect morning routine. The habits successful people follow. The things I should be doing if I want to feel better, live better, be better.
You know the lists:
Get up early.
Meditate as soon as you wake up.
Get outside first thing in the morning.
Don't drink caffeine immediately.
Exercise this many times a week.
Eat this. Don't eat that.
And I'm not saying any of those things are bad advice. In fact, some of that has been wonderful advice for me.
It's great if it works for you.
But how do you know?
You can keep trying things until something sticks. That's certainly one way.
Is there another way to know? That question got interesting to me. So, I kept asking it.
What if, instead of trying to find the person with the perfect strategy for my life, I learned how to recognize what was right for me based on what they were showing?
I started asking my body little questions.
What kind of movement do I want today?
Do I want to walk? Yes, perpetually.
Lift something heavy? Yes, most definitely. Or sometimes, no.
Stretch? Yoga or just on my own?
Rest? Meditation? Or just lie there and stare at the ceiling? Yes, I do this.
Do I want music? Quiet?
People? Space?
And then I did the part that was much harder in the beginning…
I listened.
I followed.
Over time, the conversation became easier. I began to recognize the way my body communicates with me.
A tightening.
An opening.
Energy.
Heaviness.
Curiosity.
Resistance.
My body's own language.
These days, it's simply part of my everyday life. I wake up and say hello to my body.
Then I bring it with me into today.
Considering I've spent 26 years working with bodies, you'd think it wouldn't have taken me so long to wake up to my own.
It turns out, knowing a lot about the body and being in conversation with your own body are not the same thing. Who knew? grin
The more I listened to my own body, the more I thought about the way we listen to yours at That's the Rub.
And then I realized I've been asking a version of the same question for years.
What does this body need today?
Not what the last person with shoulder pain needed.
Not even necessarily what worked beautifully during your last massage.
What does your body need today?
Thus, what is your goal?
It's one of the reasons Advanced Therapeutic Massage came to be.
And, by the way, if you ever see a service called Advanced Therapeutic Massage somewhere else, please let me know.
I invented it.
So, they were trained by me. grin
After this many years as a massage therapist, I've learned so many modalities that I've probably forgotten the names of half of them.
I'm serious.
I didn't want to create a massage where I had to decide ahead of time that I was doing this modality or that technique.
I wanted the whole therapist to be allowed in the room.
Their education.
Their experience.
Their hands.
Their ability to listen and adapt.
So, I changed the traditional massage intake process just a little.
When you come into That's the Rub for any massage service, your therapist talks with you about what you want to achieve from your session.
They talk to you about how they work.
They describe their approach and the techniques that may be helpful.
And then, together, you customize the massage.
And I don't just mean spending a little longer on your shoulders.
We're really taking the time to consider what may be contributing to the issue and how we can address it in a way that supports the goal you came in with.
We may also offer suggestions about things happening in your everyday life that you haven't noticed.
The way you use your mouse.
How you sit at your desk.
The way you stand.
The things you do every single day without thinking about them because, well, you do them every single day.
Because your body is not a fixed thing.
A lot has happened to your body from the moment you were born until now. We take that into consideration while still meeting you exactly where you are today.
The whole you.
Working. Sleeping. Driving. Lifting. Sitting. Traveling. Exercising. Resting.
Adapting to stress and joy and illness and vacations and Tuesdays.
Your body may arrive with a completely different story than it had three weeks ago.
Our job is to listen to the story you're bringing in today.
We get curious.
We adapt.
We ask better questions.
We keep learning how your body navigates this world and support it as it adapts to what life is asking of it.
Maybe, with a little more ease in its own skin.
That's a pretty good way to spend a career if you ask me.
Maybe that's why I've become so fascinated with learning my own body's language.
I've spent 26 years teaching massage therapists to pay attention to the body in front of them.
Apparently, it was only a matter of time before I started having those conversations with my own body.
If you're looking for a partner in your healthcare—someone willing to listen, adapt, and work with you toward what you want to achieve—Team Rub is here with you every step of the way.
Bring the body you have today.
We'll start there.
That's the Rub,
Lisa
P.S. Save the date! I'm making my art debut in Bloomington.
Gallery Walk. Friday, September 4th, 5–8 p.m. at Gather.
Come see what I've been working on in the studio, grab an original art business card, and say hello.
Heck, you're even invited to buy my art if it resonates with you. grin
Every piece is an original. Only one person gets to call it their own.
You can see what else I've been up to at www.lisakeplingerwellbeing.com.
