Teaching Presence, Passion and Inspiration

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Charlie Peebles CMT/LMT on September 21, 2010 at 5:26pm

Melissa,
I'm not sure that you can really teach passion. YOU can teach with passion but I believe students kindle their own passion from within. However, here are a few things I found out there on the web from Chuck Gallozzi.

What if we recognize the importance of passion but somehow lack it? What can we do to nurture it? Well, recognizing its importance is the first step. Other steps you can take follow.

1. Take responsibility. The only bad hand you have been dealt in life was dealt by you. From today, "Don't do things half-assed," says Hugh Young, "If a thing is worth doing at all, it's worth doing as well as you can possibly do it. Pick out something you think is worthwhile and do it or work at it with passion. Do it with all your might."

2. You find what you look for. Instead of looking for the bad in your job or situation, look for the good. Look for the opportunities. Search for the solutions. Look for the way.

3. Make a plan. Once you've found some opportunities and solutions, make a plan of action. What should you avoid doing and what should you start doing now?

4. Make a decision. Now that you have a plan, decide to act on it. Set deadlines and start following your new road map to success. Enjoy the ride.

5. Stoke the fire of passion. To keep passion's fire burning brightly, review the day's events in the evening. Monitor your progress. Relish your achievements and learn from your mistakes.

6. Don't douse the flames. You want to ignite your life with passion, but be careful of burnout. Work hard, but schedule breaks, leisure, entertainment, and family time. Don't forget to reward yourself occasionally.

7. Recharge your batteries. Make time for the gym, sports, long walks, or meditation to relieve stress, refresh you spirit, and renew your energy.

8. "Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself." (Henry Miller)

9. Take brief "awareness breaks" throughout the day to remind yourself of the joy of being alive.

10. Avoid negative people and associate with enthusiastic people.

11. Share your zest for life with others. Brighten up their day. Their warm response will reinforce your passion.

12. Take "vitamins for the mind." That is read or listen to motivational material to keep the flames burning.

© Chuck Gallozzi
For more articles and contact information,
Visit http://www.personal-development.com/chuck

Permalink Reply by Susan G. Salvo on September 21, 2010 at 8:49pm

Nice Charlie

Charlie Peebles said:

Melissa,
I'm not sure that you can really teach passion. YOU can teach with passion but I believe students kindle their own passion from within. However, here are a few things I found out there on the web from Chuck Gallozzi.

What if we recognize the importance of passion but somehow lack it? What can we do to nurture it? Well, recognizing its importance is the first step. Other steps you can take follow.

1. Take responsibility. The only bad hand you have been dealt in life was dealt by you. From today, "Don't do things half-assed," says Hugh Young, "If a thing is worth doing at all, it's worth doing as well as you can possibly do it. Pick out something you think is worthwhile and do it or work at it with passion. Do it with all your might."

2. You find what you look for. Instead of looking for the bad in your job or situation, look for the good. Look for the opportunities. Search for the solutions. Look for the way.

3. Make a plan. Once you've found some opportunities and solutions, make a plan of action. What should you avoid doing and what should you start doing now?

4. Make a decision. Now that you have a plan, decide to act on it. Set deadlines and start following your new road map to success. Enjoy the ride.

5. Stoke the fire of passion. To keep passion's fire burning brightly, review the day's events in the evening. Monitor your progress. Relish your achievements and learn from your mistakes.

6. Don't douse the flames. You want to ignite your life with passion, but be careful of burnout. Work hard, but schedule breaks, leisure, entertainment, and family time. Don't forget to reward yourself occasionally.

7. Recharge your batteries. Make time for the gym, sports, long walks, or meditation to relieve stress, refresh you spirit, and renew your energy.

8. "Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself." (Henry Miller)

9. Take brief "awareness breaks" throughout the day to remind yourself of the joy of being alive.

10. Avoid negative people and associate with enthusiastic people.

11. Share your zest for life with others. Brighten up their day. Their warm response will reinforce your passion.

12. Take "vitamins for the mind." That is read or listen to motivational material to keep the flames burning.

© Chuck Gallozzi
For more articles and contact information,
Visit http://www.personal-development.com/chuck

Permalink Reply by Nancy Toner Weinberger on September 22, 2010 at 7:54am

Hi Melissa,

I don’t think we can teach anyone to be passionate about massage. When it comes to attitudes we are working in the affective learning domain, and while we can demand certain behavior, we can’t “demand” attitude changes. We can only model attitudes we believe in ourselves and set the resonance that may, over time, influence the attitudes of our students. If you are familiar with the television show, House, here is a quote I love from Dr. House (played by Huge Laurie): “Those convinced against their will, are of the same opinion still.”

Regarding presence during bodywork, Milton Trager always insisted that you weren’t doing Trager unless you were in “hookup” (his word for presence). He also said, and I can hear his voice as I write this, “Hookup is like the measles. You catch it from someone who has it.” So the stronger your “hookup” when you demo, the more they will get it. I think sometimes when we demo we are so focused on teaching the moves, and the body mechanics that we forget to show what the work really is; we can also demo the intensity of it, the focus, the presence, the flow, the timing, the attention to the care of the person on the table.

Here are some teaching/learning tools for developing presence that I use:

Instructions to students before beginning a supervised practice period. “Begin by paying attention to your breath; don’t try to change it, just notice it. Pay attention to the gentle rhythm and sink into your breath. Now when you have found that rhythm in yourself, you may begin the massage.” Attention to the breath will always take you into the present moment.

Have them do some body awareness work before beginning. Being in your own body is a requirement before you can be “there” with another person’s body.

Have them take pauses and check in with their level of presence from time to time during the massage they are doing, like every 10 minutes or so, call a check-in and they check to see where their presence is, what their level of comfort in their own body is, etc. You can formulate questions of this nature, or just keep it as simple as a gentle chime that reminds them to check in with themselves. Another thing I have used is placards that I walk around and hold up in random fashion, with reminders on them such as, “Pause” “Am I as comfortable as I could be, right now?” “Can I sink down even more to an even deeper level of presence?” “Gentle breaths.” etc.

Milton also used to say, “You can only give what you honestly have.” He was referring to our level of development. If you just stick with it they will develop it- it takes time and experience.