 I watched an owner doing the Bladder Meridian on her horse this afternoon. He had pulled a muscle in his back and he was very sore in the left lumbar area. Georgie was very patient and persisted gently in bringing her horse's awareness to the uncomfortable areas. He attempted to ignore what she was doing by being very busy - walking around, sticking his head over the stable door, sniffing the floor, looking for specks of hay - anything and everything to avoid processing what he was feeling. She stayed with him calmly until things changed. He quietened, became focused and intent. His eyes softened, his head dropped, his breathing deepened. Then his lips began to wobble, and within a short while he began to lick and chew.
The real key to success with the Bladder Meridian technique is time. As Georgie moved her hand along the meridian, she watched for responses from her horse and stopped whenever she found one. She waited and waited and for a long while nothing much seemed to happen. But gradually, as Aragorn's attention was drawn to areas of tension by Georgie's hand, his responses became more and more visible - blinking, breathing deeply, snorting, fidgeting, scratching his sides, hindquarters and poll, shifting weight from one hind leg to the other and eventually, culminating in a series of yawns. By the time Georgie had done both sides from poll to ting point, we could see how the muscles along his spine were softening and relaxing. I was struck, yet again, by how much is achieved with what seems to be so little. We humans tend to want action. We like to 'do stuff'. But the Bladder Meridian is about 'being' - being present, connected, together - and waiting. The challenge for us lies in throwing away the agenda and letting things happen at the horse's pace. More about the MM Bladder Meridian technique here: Masterson Method Bladder Meridian
0 Comments
Yesterday I spent a time with a very tall lead mare who carries a great burden of responsibility for all the horses in her Barn. She found it extremely difficult to relax into the bodywork. She would begin to relax, there would be a sound, even just a rustle, and her head would go up and she would hurry over to the stable door to check what was happening. I identified with her; as a busy mum I often found it difficult to allow myself time off. I was wondering how best to help her and I had the thought that I should feel along her sternum. Almost immediately she began to breathe deeply and within a short time she was relaxing, head low and eyes half closed. From then on the session was easy.
I remembered what my fellow Masterson practitioner Leigh Jackson had said about the sternum being close to the heart, and about how caring and responsibility are so connected. As I stood there with the mare, both of us began to find a moment in time of 'just being', without any burden of care. It was very precious. It's moments like these that make the Masterson Method so much more than a 'massage'..... |
