Resources for Educators
Teaching Tip
From the Teacher’s Aide Newsletter
2020 June
Address the Civil Unrest
I read a Facebook post today from a well-respected member of our massage education community who happens to live and work in the heart of the Minneapolis-area unrest. She made a wonderful point about holding space for all of it. I thought, “That’s an excellent idea, because who better to hold space for pain and healing than massage and bodyworkers?”
Though most of us are still limited in the ways we touch our clients or are physically with our students, this is a timely educational opportunity for what it means to hold space. Set them up with these parameters for listening, that I got from Parker J. Palmer: No Fixing, No Saving, No Advising, No Setting Each Other Straight… just Listen.
- We can talk about what it means to Hold Space.
- We can demonstrate Holding Space through our listening and empathy skills when we allow time for students to talk about the painful situation that ails our nation.
- We can help them learn to Hold Space for each other, as we recognize and witness the various experiences that are unique and common to each one. Feeling heard is the first step in the healing process.
- And we can brainstorm and strategize how we will play our professional parts, within our scope of practice, in the necessary healing that is to surely come.
Email me and let me know how this goes: deanna@sohnen-moe.com.