Caring Palms currently has two treatment rooms for rent by some holistic arts practitioner.  This could be acupuncture, hypnosis, herbs, counseling, or others.  The rent for each room is $400 per month.  If you are a holistic arts practitioner, or you know anyone looking for space for their business at a reasonable rate, have them contact us.  We are looking for others to come and be part of our healing arts center.

I Apologize

by Brian Dean

There was a day when a lady booked our last appointment. She arrived and started filling out the paperwork for the massage therapist that rents a room here, although it clearly had her company name and not Caring Palms. When I came out of session, I introduced myself and told her that this was not our paperwork and I would get her the right forms in a moment. I poured a cup of water and took it into the client I had been working on since she was a little spacey after her Reiki session.

When I came back out, my next person had left. I got my forms and put them on a chair in case she had just stepped out. I checked out the previous client and changed over the room all before the next scheduled appointment time. My client never returned. I don’t know if she was embarrassed about filling out the wrong forms, or upset that she would have to do more, or dealing with a tight time frame which she had not told me about. But she was gone. 

I apologize. If you are coming to Caring Palms hoping to be rushed in and rushed out, or if you are looking for a short, rushed massage session, please go somewhere else. We are not the people you want to see.  

Please understand, we take our time with each client. We talk with you to find out what your needs are and what you are expecting. This procedure is the intake portion and can last as much as 15 minutes as we want to make sure we craft the right type of session to meet the needs. We can take this time because we schedule 30 minutes between appointments instead of the customary 10 minutes most places do.  

During the sessions, we spend the entire time we specified doing the treatment whether that be for 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes, and that time starts when we put our hands on you, not when you walk in the door, and not from your appointment time. We do this because we feel that is what you deserve. When we say an hour massage, that means a full 60 minutes of bodywork, not 50 (and we have been known to go a couple minutes long because it was needed).  

We also take time after the session to make sure you are satisfied and to make sure you are not spacey (which occurs a lot in Reiki sessions). We want you well-grounded before going out and getting in your car. Because of this, a person coming for an hour massage will generally be here up to 90 minutes. 

We do all these things because it is what we would expect, and while I feel our expectations are high, we feel this is the type of care we should give. We do our best in each session, and take the time you need.  

So, if this is the care you want, please come see us.

We live in a world of amazing technological advances. The information super highway lives in our pockets and on our wrists! We can learn about whatever we want by using a voice prompt, and then that information can literally be read to us. We don’t even need our fingertips anymore. Technology is beneficial to our world, but we are abusing it. It is making us sick: socially, spiritually, mentally, and physically. Maybe you have to sit in front of a computer all day at work and you can’t wait to get away from it. You get off work, get home, and don’t feel like doing anything, other than playing on your smart phone or watching your smart television or playing video games. We can’t get away from it and there are so many options, we don’t really want to.

And so, we have no energy. We are constantly bored, anxious, depressed, and in pain. Most of us don’t even know that this is not how we are supposed to feel. And there is a very simple solution, grounding.

Grounding is a reconnection to the earth, which helps us to release all the negative energy that builds up in us on a daily basis. It gives us a little bit of balance, and goes a long way to promote our general well-being. There are tons of ways suited to all fitness and motivation levels. And it’s easy. The more spiritually minded will jump to the obvious grounding methods: meditations, tai-chi, and yoga, to name a few.

If you are the athletic type, you probably are somewhat grounded already, unless you spend a lot of time in a gym (in which case you are still working with some type of machine or computer). Grounding activities include things like hiking, camping, kayaking or any type of rowing, swimming or surfing. Running, walking, and biking can also be grounding, as it is done in an area with low-levels of exhaust fumes and plenty of natural light and flora.

If you aren’t quite athletic but are trying to work something into your lifestyle to move you in that direction, you can kill two birds with one stone. Go for a walk in a park, at the beach, or shaded area. Jacksonville has a whole lot of nature trails, historical parks, recreational parks, and beaches. A lot can be said for breathing in the sea air and walking barefoot on the sand. Take your dog with you, if you have one. He’ll love the leisurely stroll.

Gardening is also an excellent way to ground yourself. If you don’t have a yard, that’s okay. Balcony planters can work, or vertical free-standing planters. If you don’t even have a balcony you can set up an aquatic garden in an aquarium. Add a few fish and it will pretty much create a miniature eco-system. If you actually want specific plants, still get the aquarium, but don’t put water in it. Make a terrarium instead. Place it near a window so it has enough light and you have a low-maintenance stress reliever. Taking care of and watching those plants grow will give you a sense of peace and accomplishment.

Don’t have a green thumb? You can’t kill Zen gardens. They are easy and inexpensive to make, and sometimes you can even find little Zen garden kits at the dollar store. Several rocks and crystals are beneficial to grounding as well. Most black, brown, or multi-colored stones are excellent grounding stones, as well as smokey quartz, kyanite, and selenite.

What are the benefits of grounding? Most of the time, it will get you outside. Vitamin D isn’t released into our bodies without exposure to sunlight, and a Vitamin D deficiency can lead to depression. The fresh air prompts us to take deeper breaths, and sometimes that is all some people need to let go of anxiety. Grounding also forces us to connect with nature, either by appreciating what is around us, realizing we are a part of it, or motivating us to make it even better. When we are grounded and performing outdoor activities we have greater opportunities and the confidence to meet like-minded individuals in real life.  I find if I spend just a few minutes in my garden I feel more energized, motivated and open to inspiration.

Even if you can’t get outside, you can unplug from the distractions whether it be from social media or worrying about work.  Play relaxing music, and breathe deeply, meditate, be creative.

These are just a few ways that anyone can ground themselves. You might have specific talents or interests that help to ground you without you even realizing it.

When was the last time you went fishing? Painted a picture? What did you used to enjoy that you don’t do anymore?

Stay Grounded.

Lies

by Brian Dean

Lies. What is it about people that they think they need to lie? Why do so many companies feel that the best sales pitch involves lying? 

A salesman comes to the door. The first words out of his mouth is “Hi. I’m not here to sell you anything. In fact, I’m here to give you a free alarm system.” In these cases, the conversation usually follows like this… 

Me: Really? Ok. Give it to me.

Salesman: Oh, well, I don’t have it with me, and you have to buy monitoring.

Me: But I thought you weren’t here to sell me anything. 

It’s one of these things where “we tell you you’re getting something free to force you into the sale” routines. A more honest approach would be to tell the potential customer to that if they signed up for monitoring, they would get a free alarm system. 

I’ve also been getting a lot of phone calls at the studio that are obviously sales. I don’t answer them, but the message they leave on the answering machine is priceless. “Hi. I’m calling to talk with you about the loan you have with us, because we can give you a better rate.” Seeing as the business has no loans, I have on occasion picked up the phone to ask which loan they are referring to. What I find each time is that this message is prerecorded and no one is actually there.  

As a person who reveres honesty above most other things, I get upset at the constant sales pitches that start with a lie. In fact, I will never do business with anyone that starts by lying to me. Why do companies feel they need to take this approach to make a sale?  

One of the things I do constantly is to review the content that we put out. I am constantly making changes to make things look and read better (part of my computer programmer roots that keeps working a program as it can always run a couple milliseconds faster). I want to make sure that what we have is not misleading. I especially want to make sure that it is all truthful. 

On top of that, I pay attention to how I talk with people when discussing possible treatments, or what we can do to help someone. I make it a point to never say things like, “Oh, I can fix that.” Usually, I’ll say “I think I might be able to help.” One of the things I learned from John Barnes (who created Myofascial Release) is to never promise anything as you don’t know what the true outcome will be. (We can make educated guesses based on previous outcomes, but every case is different. This is where we learn to listen to the body and its needs.) Just suggest that you might be able to help, do your best work, and see what happens. 

I will admit that I may sound crazy when I talk about some things, especially when I talk about energy work, “Yes, I just wave my hands and the pain goes away”, but I am honest about it. I do find that honesty is the best policy especially when I am so forgetful that I can’t remember what I told to whom (or what I did yesterday for that matter).  

I feel it is a better way to run a business. It is a better way to run your life. Honestly, I do.

Listening

by Brian Dean

One thing a massage therapist does (or should do) is listen.  We should listen to the client, paying attention to what they are saying their problems are.  But more importantly, we should listen to the body that we are working on.   

Initially, I will take the information given me by my client and formulate in my mind, movements that could help their particular problem(s).  Most therapists add this to things they notice, like how this person is walking, the way they are holding themselves, any signs of pain.  In my case, I close my eyes and look at their energies.  This is all combined to come up with a mental plan to help this particular person. 

But once a session is started, there is still information being passed back and forth between client and therapist through energy.  If I, as a therapist, listen correctly to these energies, they will lead me to the proper movements that this particular person needs.  And in that moment, it is a beautiful thing.  It is the forgetting of all other information and relying totally on this nonverbal communication.   

A few years ago, I referred to this as a dance, where the client sends out information, and the therapist changes what they are doing based on that information.  This in turn creates new information, and in turn, new movements.  It is truly a symbiotic relationship between client and therapist operating on a nonverbal, energetic level.  If we listen, if we follow the clues, then we create a perfect moment where great healing is possible.   

It doesn’t always work this way.  Sometimes we get distracted by what the outward problems are, or what they appear to be.  I can remember treating someone who had back problems.  I followed the movements I had come up with based on what I had been told, and what I had scanned.  I managed to take him out of most of the pain, but I had not completely solved his problem.  And my client was not expecting a fix in one visit (a good thing, I guess).  I did not listen to what I was being told.  I followed what I saw, and we all know seeing can be deceiving. 

The next time, I ignored the obvious, and went with what I felt.  I listened.  I followed.  I did what I felt was needed even if it did not look like it connected to the problem.  At the end of that session, his problem was gone, and did not come back. 

Nonverbal communication.  It is the subtext of every healing session.  If we read it, if we pay attention, if we listen, then amazing things can happen. Listening allows two strangers to come together as partners, as one.  It brings them together in a dance, a dance of healing.  And then lets them go their separate ways, both changed for the experience.   

Listening.  Talking.  Verbal and nonverbal.  Healing.  This is what it is all about.  Who’s ready to come to the dance?