Note on Being a Designated Patient
By Barbara Janelle M.A.
First Published In Touch, Vol. VI, no. 2, June 1994
At the 7th Annual Retreat, several participants declared themselves “Designated Patients.” This meant that they were only to receive TT . . .
It was very difficult for me not to work during the Retreat; however, by the second day I was reveling in the experience of feeling myself regaining physical energy and balance. It is difficult to describe the quality of energy and clarity that I left the retreat with, but it is almost like a memory of wellness reinstated. And it continues, despite my return to my normal schedule, where every second is accounted for twice over.
I came to the Retreat
So tired–deep exhaustion
Mary S. said, “Why not be a patient?
But you must not work!”
Could I do that? Not work? Not do?
Simply Be!!
So difficult–but a lesson of life for me
Grounded this weekend.
Saturday morning, I chose Penny Birrell
to lead the treatment on me.
Martha Hoey-Weston joined us, the first day
to observe, the second to participate:
Powerful, loving, competent team.
And I moved, from doing to being
From exhaustion to renewal
The energy-being me–with a greater sense
of wholeness, of peace and
of joy.
Note:
Receiving TT is inherent to learning the skill because it helps one to recognise the impact of the work; this develops a practitioner’s confidence in TT. In addition, there seems to be a transfer of skill as well as energy that occurs in receiving TT. I observe that practitioners who receive TT regularly are more effective in doing TT (see “Brian’s Team”).
The holistic approach maintains health rather than focusing on “fire fighting”–waiting until illness has set in before doing anything. I would love to see a study done where all the members of a community receive one-on-one work, once a week for a year. I would wager that medical bills and work days lost to illness would decline significantly.
As TT practitioners, we must walk our talk of holistic health by receiving some kind of one-on-one energy or body work each week. This can be almost any kind: TT, Reiki, Healing Touch, Shiatsu, Massage, Trager, Feldenkrais, Cranial-Sacral, etc. –BJ 2/99
Barbara Janelle. “Brian’s Team.” First Published In Touch, Vol. VIII, no. 1, March 1996