So yesterday I had an appointment with a neuromuscular therapist (no, I don't quite know what that means either) to help me out with anxiety and neck/shoulder tension. I went through the doors of an unassuming office building and ended up in a dimly-lit, narrow corridor leading to an elevator that has not yet been brought into the twenty-first century. I took a deep breath, took a look around me, made a mental note of what I would do if someone jumped out of a shadowy corner and tried to attack me (scream), and stepped into the rickety elevator, which made all sorts of sounds that said "Sorry Lauren, you are going to die today."
Once I stepped out onto my floor, I was put at ease. There was overhead light and other humans. I had no idea which hallway led to the office I was headed towards so I took a lucky guess and ended up right where I needed to be. Little did I know at the time that it was fairy dust that lured me to the proper spot.
So this NMT was a tiny pixie of a thing in Tina Fey glasses, and I knew right away that she was going to make my life better. Because pixies are magic like that.
Pixie's name is Dawn and she is all about connecting emotional health to physical health and healing energies and what have you. I hopped onto the massage table and it felt like she was literally draining pain out of my muscles. Other massages that I've gotten have always felt amazing and calming, but during this massage, I was calm and thinking "this woman is doing some bananas stuff to my body right now." As opposed to being just relaxing, it felt therapeutic.
Dawn also did some reiki which I've heard of but have never much been interested in. Reiki is when someone moves their hands over your body to help direct or redirect the flow of energy (or something like that), in the way that acupuncture is thought to do the same. It may have been endorphins from the delicious massage, but energy was moving, people.
And on my way out? I didn't even give the elevator a second thought.