I'm often thinking about the interface between science and art and whether they can meet without one drowning out the other. Aquatic bodywork, with its inherent beauty of form and experience, might be one such meeting place.
Recently, I came across an article in the Institute of Sport and Remedial Massage (UK), Newsletter, March 2011(16). Its title was 'Underwater Massage Ballet' and its subtitle 'Exploring the muscle reprogramming potential of Watsu'.
Aside from the scientific tone of the subtitle, much of the article was an inspiring and experiential account of a session the author received from aquatic bodywork practitioner Stef Cerf.
The following paragraph leapt out at me. Ian Tennant wrote:
I was curious to find out more from Stef about the elegant movements used during the session. ‘I work with archetypal shapes such as the figure of eight, vortex, circle, and sinusoidal wave when steering clients through the water,’ explained Stef. ‘There is a force behind shapes and these somehow resonate with us.’ This left me wondering whether his treatment could help align a body with the universal forms, shapes, and patterns which are so commonly observed in nature.
As far as I know, the person who first brought these wonderful insights about shape to aquatic bodywork was Alexander Georgeakopoulos, a dancer who developed the aquatic modality called Healing Dance.
Alexander has the visual and sensory poetry you'd expect of a dancer. He wrote:
Healing Dance recognizes the power of the body mudra and expands it to include archetypal patterns not decreed by religion, but with an even deeper resonance rooted in the psyche. These postures include arching, the fetal position, self-embracing, reaching with one arm, opening both arms to sky or to the sides, and holding the hands in prayer position or over the heart. The aquatic receiver, even though not intentionally assuming these positions as in mudra practice, may discover a personal meaning once placed in them. Just as we offer movement, we offer body mudras with an understanding of their potential to see if they have relevance for the receiver. We hold a space for meanings to emerge. [Source]
Movement practitioner, Emilie Conrad writes of the ways in which: 'ALL fluids of the body - whether circulating blood, the tides of cerebrospinal fluid, the pump of the lymph system, the net of membranes or the swirl of viscera and brain - function as fundamentally ONE undulating stream of intelligence. [Source]
In the last year especially, her Continuum newsletters have referenced innovative studies of water and how these inform our understanding of our own watery bodies. The new field of Holistic Science offers more in exploring these ideas than conventional science alone:
Holistic Science ... combines a rigorous investigation of conventional scientific thought with cutting-edge experiential, intuitive and group learning processes to bring about a more participatory understanding of the natural world and our role within it. [Source]
Participatory is the key word here. Conventional science attempts to remove subjectivity from experimentation - to be objective, describing the world from a perspective free from human perception, cultural interventions, past experience and expectation.
Yet, subjectively is how we experience the world. Every concept we have about the world is based on human perspective. We are participating, experiencing, interacting beings. An aquatic bodywork session is all about this. Here we find the (he)art and meaning in what we do.
In the face of 'hard science' and the doctor, many are rendered unable to trust in their own knowing, their own experience, their own participation. Yet, permitting the body its expression and intelligence regarding troubling symptoms, can make space for solutions to arise of their own accord.
This approach acknowledges an innate tendency towards self-healing. It assumes an alignment or resonance with nature that is our birthright. It allows for a meeting of psyche and soma, expressed in the archetypal shapes of movement mentioned earlier. Aquatic bodywork seems to encourage this.
Whereas the conventional scientific therapist is concerned with understanding, explaining and solving health issues, an unconventional healer (not holding a Western science perspective) may take a more mysterious and imaginative view, allowing for unpredictability and the inexplicable.
Calls for a scientific evidence base have now extended their focus from medical practice to the alternative therapeutic practices of wellness centers and spas. Well-intentioned as these efforts are, they rarely address the limitations of our current scientific tools and models.
Meanwhile, practitioners of the 'unproven' methods tend to try to fit themselves into a scientific/ medical model that might not yet be able or willing to recognize the rather different models upon which their own practices are based.
They make the hopeful assumption that traditional science will provide the proof they need to make their work creditable. They make the even more hopeful assumption that their own healing models and language of heart will survive intact.
Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that science is not a valuable tool; and I'm not saying that we don't need to take care that our attempts to help someone who is suffering do not make it worse for them.
What I am suggesting is that we take care not to deny the experiential, intuitive, participatory creativity that is so much a part of how we seek and find healing and meaning in our lives. And that we insist that our science be willing to explore that with equal respect too.
Next time you give or receive an aquatic bodywork session, ask yourself what you love most about it ... and add a comment below.
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If you're interested to learn more about Healing Dance, here is a link to the advanced training Healing Dance Space And Shape .
Special series on Aquapoetics
Evidence and empathy
Healing or therapy?
