I did a long massage on someone today to get one important release.
I had been contacted by this lady for a massage. She had a number of health issues that I believe stemmed from other things. In retrospect, the best thing for her might have been MFR, but that is not what she wanted.
I started with a few fascial moves to open up her back and chest. I then did regular massage, spending extra time on areas where she felt problems were which included her shoulder blades. After about an hour and 15 minutes, I finished. I let the time go on as I figured she needed it. (I will do this if I feel the person I am working on needs more time.) But she still had some problems which still involved a tightness in her chest. And this was causing her breathing problems which was making her emotional.
I tried a number of things, and kept getting to the point that I was ready to give up and decide that it could not be fixed on one session. (I know it seems strange, but not everything can be fixed in a single session. Go figure.) It was only her emotional state that kept pushing me on.
I did some pec (pectoral muscles above the breasts) work but that did not help. I did more work in the sternum area, and that only helped a little. She told me that the stretching I did at her shoulder blades had had some effect on the tightness in her chest, so I went there.
I pressed, and compressed, and stretched. Finally, at one point, something happened. Suddenly, she relaxed and started crying. That was it. She had a major emotional release. I figure the tightness may have been physical, or been seen as physical but with an emotional cause. At least it finally broke.
By the time I was done, I had been working on her an hour and 45 minutes. I charged her for an hour as I knew she could not have paid me for the full time. And I know that I let the time go on. (I know there are therapists out there that will intentionally go over time and then bill the extra time. They do it to make more money. I also know of some that will add in things like electronic devices and other things without asking and then bill for that. I don’t work like that. People come in expecting to pay for an hour. If I go over a few minutes because they need the time, then I do. That is my decision. They get billed for the hour. If they want to, they can always tip me for the extra time.)
Sometimes, it just takes going that extra mile (or two) to solve a problem.