Nicole Tomlinson: Most people are familiar with the concept of massage. Swedish, Thai, and deep tissue are some of the ones you have probably heard of. In this episode, we are going to learn about a more spiritual, gentle form of massage called energetic integration. It combines a thorough massaging of the head and neck in addition to all over the body.
This is Jim Hymes a massage therapist who specializes in energetic integration. Hey Jim!
Jim Hymes: Hello.
Nicole Tomlinson: I am really excited to be learning about this today, can you define energetic integration?
Jim Hymes: Yeah, energetic integration is actually my own modality; it is not something you will specifically find anywhere else. And what I do is I fuse traditional Swedish and deep tissue massage with Reiki and Cranio-Sacral therapy and I roll it into one.
It deals with on the energetic level, and it deals on with the physical level of the body. As a practitioner what I want to do is provide space for the client to get into a place of resource and really heal themselves. So it goes beyond massage in that is more about healing versus relaxation.
On the physical level, it deals with releasing the facial tissue, and in releasing that it creates space and bones will realign themselves on their own.
Nicole Tomlinson: What is reiki?
Jim Hymes: Reiki deals on the energetic level of the human system, a channeling of pure source energy. It is an ancient hands on healing art. How it works is there is a Reiki code in human DNA, it needs to be kind of flipped on. And when that is flipped on you become a more clear channel for source energy.
Nicole Tomlinson: Alright then let's flip me on.
Jim Hymes: Let's do it. As you're getting settled in just think about your body and how it feels. Think about an intention. I like to work with intention, it's really important to know what it is you want to do.
Nicole Tomlinson: I would like to let go of pressure.
Jim Hymes: So today we are going to work on letting go of pressure. So as you are laying here I am just starting by tapping into your energy, your energy, the energy system of your body. And I'm really drawn to your right hip. This is different from massage and that it is like a dialogue, and it is important that if things creep into your mind or your body. Like all of a sudden your wrist starts burning, it is good to just share that with me.
Nicole Tomlinson: Can I tell you that for the past four days I have made major pains in the area of my body that you are touching right now.
Jim Hymes: That is not surprising. What I was feeling here is that you are rotated inward in your hip here. So all this motion that is happening I am not initiating. That is just your body releasing. So this is one of the classic holds in Cranio-Sacral therapy. There are some sessions where this is the only place I will go. I can sit here for an hour and all kinds of shifts will happen. This is a really potent place to start. Feels like you're dropping into still point. And this is just where the systems of your body are just really quiet and still. And this is that place of resource that we look for in Cranio-Sacral therapy.
Nicole Tomlinson: It is like tingling, it feels like eucalyptus was on it or something.
Jim Hymes: It is almost like a cooling sensation, so that is a release. So a lot of times at the release you'll have a flash of heat and then cooling. So there has been a shift there. You know what that is, is there is a basic rhythm in the human system that is different from the respiratory rhythm and it's different from the heartbeat. And literally your spinal cord and your brain live inside of a sack. And in that is a pure crystalline fluid, there is a rhythm to it and it is on average about 17 beats per minute and it has sort of a wavelike action. What I'm trying to do is tap into that rhythm and feel that rhythm, because that is the most basic one. And there's lots of release happening, it is all tied to your sinuses.
Nicole Tomlinson: You are not touching me right now?
Jim Hymes: I am not touching you right now my fingers are maybe a quarter of an inch off the surface of your skin. So you just had a big release there that is what that big breath was, it actually pushed me away from your body. So as I am working in here to, I'm also going to shift a little bit of my attention and bring in some of the Reiki energy, which is happening on its own anyway.
When someone is receiving a Reiki treatment sometimes they feel nothing at all and sometimes they feel heat or tingling sensations. As you lay here start to bring your attention back into the room, back into your body if you have drifted away. Take a moment and open your eyes slowly. How are you doing there?
Nicole Tomlinson: I'm okay.
Jim Hymes: Yeah?
Nicole Tomlinson: Yeah. I could actually feel him moving the different segments of my skull. Or I don't know if you are moving them or they were just moving, but I could feel the space. I could feel the connective tissue between them. When he was working on my hip I could sense my entire bone structure which is something I guess it's something that you do not normally sense at all. Right now when he just said come back to your body if you have drifted away, I feel like I was actually sunken so far deep into my body. I do not know what it means, I know it is there and I know that it was a form of release.
But I still, still can't quite grasp why. And that is enough for me. Because I feel it a lot better. I felt like he was touching me. And then when he said that the movement was being generated by my own body not him. I did not know, I thought he was moving me. And the fact that he went immediately to a place that's been giving me so much trouble that like stirred emotions in me, everything was floored. And that is when I could not talk anymore. I was like there is no way, how is that possible? It is weird, it is hard to talk about because it makes me emotional actually. So it is not a massage. I would never call it a massage. It's something else. Thank you so much.
Jim Hymes: You are welcome, you are so welcome.
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