The Spiritual Side of Massage

As a business coach for CranioSacral therapists for more than a decade, I've been in a whole lot of treatment rooms. Each one of them had its own special vibe. Whether it was an Upledger room with a disarticulating skull on the desk. Or a Biodynamic room with images of the ocean at sunset. Or of a Visionary room where the meditation cushions had equal billing with the treatment table.

Over the years I came to believe this is what creating sacred space means: setting up your environment so it brings out your best—and helps your clients feel as sacred as they are.

Then I began studying Shamanic healing practices, and I discovered there's a fascinating difference between creating sacred space ... and opening sacred space. The first calls on everything you're bringing to the therapeutic environment. While the second calls in the assistance of the unseen world from a higher realm of consciousness—including the ancient lineage of healers who have walked this path before you.

Opening Sacred Space in 4 Elegant Steps

My favorite tool for opening sacred space is an invocation from Alberto Villoldo, PhD, author of "Shaman, Healer, Sage." He says, "Being able to shift to a higher realm of perception can help us find solutions to problems, resolve conflicts, heal disease, and experience oneness with all of creation." Who doesn't want that, right? Here's how it goes:

Step 1: Open Your Wiracocha

Stand relaxed in your treatment room, and imagine you have a golden sun radiating above your head. This is your 8th chakra: the Wiracocha. To the medicine men and medicine women of the high Andes, this is the chakra of your soul. It retains the memories of who you've been, and the potential for who you can become.

Now as you gaze softly into the space in front of you, move your hands into a prayer pose at your heart. After a moment, slowly move your hands up your centerline past your forehead until they're stretched palm-to-palm above your head. Pause briefly in the warmth of your Wiracocha. Then sweep your arms out and down by your sides, like a peacock opening its feathers. Your glorious Wiracocha is now open.

Step 2: Call In the Six Directions

One-by-one, face each cardinal direction—South, West, North, East. Then add in two more: Mother Earth beneath your feet, and Father Sky above you. As you do this, say each of the next verses out loud. And if you want to shake a rattle or beat a drum as you go, all the better.

To the Winds of the South

To the Winds of the West

To the Winds of the North

To the Winds of the East

Mother Earth

Father Sun

Your sacred space is now open.

Step 3: Close Your Wiracocha

Once your work in your treatment room is complete, it's time to close your Wiracocha Stand again and bring your hands together in prayer at your heart. Then place them down by your sides.

Now fan your hands out and up—like you're gathering up those peacock feathers—until your palms are touching over your head. Then bring them down your centerline back to where you began: With your hands in prayer position at your heart.

Step 4: Close the Sacred Space

Once again acknowledge the cardinal directions along with Mother Earth and Father Sky. And release their archetypal energies with gratitude. Your sacred space is now closed. A'ho!