Having expectations and anticipating what will happen next is an important way in which we navigate the world. It is especially relevant to what we choose to do in the manner of self care. Doesn’t it make sense that when we choose to do something that involves paying attention to and supporting our body-mind, we wish it to reflect the expectations we have about how it will be?Even if you choose an activity that is new to you, that choice is made because you feel that participating in it will make you feel better than you did before – that it will hold you, nurture or challenge you in a way that enhances how you feel about yourself. Or perhaps you simply desire to be lifted out of the circumstances of your current life for a while so that you can step back in refreshed, with a bit of a different perspective than you had before.These are vital moments – the ones where you take time out to see and experience yourself in a different way than you do in the fast forward, goal directed momentum of your daily living. So, how would it be to take a step into the unknown, to try out a bodywork modality that is less familiar? How can you be certain that it will be worth the risk?
What would you want out of this new experience? What expectations would you have? Would you insist that the provider of this form of bodywork listen to your thoughts and questions? Would you want to have choices about what to focus on or what you might not be so inclined to look at? Perhaps an offer to explore new pathways, peaking your curiosity about what you might find? Or maybe you prefer, in the moment of what is happening now, to rest in a more familiar place and feel restored?
Suppose you could be assured that you would be listened to without someone else’s judgments or advisements intruding on your thoughts and emotions. Imagine being in a place where you get to have expectations and follow them through, without coming into conflict with the expectations of others. How truly supportive this might be!
And then, when the movement and dialogue are over, this provider assists you in reframing the experience you have just had and supports you in stepping back to see what happened for you. You have the option to look closer at what you noticed about this bodywork session and distill some significance from it that you can carry forward. No promises about what you might discover but, oh, the possibilities!
