As a bodyworker, there comes a point where you just learn to live with it. Stigma. Misunderstanding. And, what’s worse, sometimes a great amount of perversion, mostly coming from other males who believe I work constantly with (partly) nude, young, and gorgeous females.

No, they don’t just think that – they actually joke about it too.

Wrong.

Over the last two years (meaning, about a decade too late) I’ve taught myself to respond by asking what they think I am doing. What my day looks like, who they think my clients really are, and what I am ‘doing’ with them when they come to see me. In most cases, answers miss their target completely.

Then, recently, when I became more active on Instagram and Threads I was met by series of messages and comments that, again, signalled quite clearly that people have trouble to define what it is that I do for a living. Rather than having to retype and duplicate explanations I though it to be simpler to write a journal here so that a longer and more comprehensive explanation can be given.

Here we go….

What is bodywork?

Let’s just start with defining what bodywork actually is, without going too deep into semantics.

One simple explanation is that the term bodywork is used as an umbrella term for various touch-based therapeutic modalities. Massage, for example, is a type of bodywork. So is shiatsu, acupressure, and lymphatic draining.

Therefore, anyone referred to as a bodyworker will likely combine techniques, methods, and approaches that could be considered typical to a particular modality. Such therapists may, for example, combine cupping, acupressure, and Swedish massage techniques all during one treatment, if it’s believed that this may help you best.

How can bodywork help you?

That the name bodywork suggests that it’s all about working with bodies is actually deceptive. It’s true that bodywork therapies depend on touch – but that touch is used to affect neurological and biochemical changes appears to be less known.

To quote one of my teachers: “Bodywork is in effect 80 percent about neurology, and only 20 percent about physicality”.

What does that mean?

Structure and function

Bodywork is largely – if not completely – founded on the idea trauma affects our physique, and that our body’s structure is intrinsically linked to its functions. Our anatomical-physical structure is not just dependent on whether we exercise it or not, it is very much the outcome of how we use it. In turn, and to make things a little more complex, how we use our body is influenced by how want to interact spatially with our immediate environment (what we want to do) combined with what we believe we can and cannot do physically.

Although we are given anatomical structures that are in large parts similar, we all use our body differently. This becomes very obvious when we start paying attention to how we do something as simple as walking. Think handwriting. Ask five people to stand on one leg, to pour a glass of water, or to move a chair from one wall to another. None will do it exactly the same. Yet, our body is structurally designed to have us perform these tasks in an optimal way. Pains – or physical dysfunction – typically results from doing things incorrectly over extended periods of time.

There are many factors that influence how we move ourselves, and whether we do so correctly or not. Physical trauma is one of them. Think about what you do after you stubbed your toe. You’ll automatically take the weight off that foot and hobble along for a while until the toe is healed again. Trouble is that we don’t always reassume our original posture after healing completes, which means that we continue to hobble slightly, just because we’ve come to believe that it’s better to move that way. Perhaps we just don’t want to stub our toe again. In our mind, we no longer hobble whereas, compared to how we moved before the stubbing incident, we actually do.

Why?

Because, in the simplest of terms, our neurology tells us to do so.

It’s all about Neurology

As you probably already know, everything we do is ultimately governed, regulated, managed, and coordinated by our neurology. Anything that affects how we operate neurologically is somehow but ultimately expressed in how we act physically. And if we believe that we use our body correctly but actually in ways for which our structure wasn’t designed, we end up with experiencing pains and discomforts.

We’ve understood for decades that physical trauma causes some degree of emotional trauma. We’ve understood for many years that any physical injury triggers an emotional response and, in severe cases, a lasting and enduring memory. What has been not so well understood is that the reverse holds true too – that emotional trauma can affect our structure. It’s a two-way street we’ve travelled in one way only in theory, but in both ways in reality.

Bodyworkers as Scientific Front-line Workers

As research continues to unravel how our mind and body are connected, more comes to light on how complex our mind-body connections really are. It’s easy to say that ‘memories are stored in our body’ but it’s harder to explain why it’s happening, and how it happens. Then there are countless questions about how we can possibly free ourselves from body-stored memories that hinder and limit us from reaching our potentials, the first one being if that’s even possible.

In that sense, professional bodyworkers are those individuals who work intelligently at the front line of all that research. We take the science, combine that with our practical experience, design new therapeutic approaches accordingly, practice them, to eventually report back on outcomes, in whatever way.

This class of bodyworkers focus methodically on generating evidence-based therapeutic outcomes, in contrast to those who prefer to work intuitively.

Bodywork: what to understand…

Any touch-based form of therapy can be called bodywork. After all, the word means quite literally nothing more than ‘working with body’. Therefore, anyone who offers touch-based services can call themselves quite rightfully a bodyworker. This creates a spectrum of bodyworkers where – to keep things simple and rathe unnuanced – professional bodyworkers can be found at one extreme, and intuitive bodyworker on the other.

As you might already expect – suspect? – there are some hazards to navigate here.

Here, in New Zealand, and probably like in so many other countries, the use of the word bodyworker is not regulated. Nothing stops you from calling yourself a bodyworker if that’s what you want to be known as. There’s no Code of Conduct you need to adhere to, which means that those who refer to themselves as bodyworkers can just do whatever they want, even if they are completely untrained for it.

The absence of any form of regulation offers a highway of possibilities for anyone who doesn’t want to invest in therapeutic training. Some ‘bodyworkers’ I know never studied anatomy, don’t have a clue about contraindications, and cannot offer one iota of meaningful clinical experience. In reality, there’s nothing stopping them from borrowing all sorts of techniques from modalities that are regulated, for as long as they don’t refer to themselves as the type of therapist for which qualifications are required.

I could, if I wished, just copy and paste what physiotherapists, chiropractors, and acupuncturists teach on video platforms like YouTube. I can learn from the same textbooks as they do. Maybe attend a few day courses to top things off. Then, if I call myself simply a bodyworker, I can just pretend to know what I am doing with the stuff I am just copying and pasting without ever having to worry about being caught for not being a physiotherapist, chiropractor, or acupuncturist. I can even dream up and use my own specialist title and invent a plausible-sounding narrative around it.

I’ll be the last one to claim that intuitive bodyworkers aren’t real bodyworkers. I know some of them personally, and most of them serve customers who are happy and satisfied with their work. At the same time, I have listened to cringeworthy stories from new clients about their previous therapeutic experiences, including relays about what I consider ‘gross ethical misconduct’, with some venturing well into the realm of sexual abuse. This doesn’t do much for my own practice, especially when clients don’t understand how the field of bodywork is actually scaped and have become too discouraged by malpractice to try again with another, more trustworthy therapist.

Recommendations for engaging a bodyworker

For all reasons mentioned above, if you feel that a touch-based therapy can help you accelerate your recovery or development I suggest you do some serious homework first to keep yourself protected from malpractice and to avoid wasting money.

The first thing you may want to ask yourself is why you want to engage a bodyworker. If it’s just to help you relax, most licensed and reputable massage therapists will be able to help you. However, if you want to use bodywork as a means to manage trauma or emotional issues for example, your therapist selection must be approached a little more carefully.

Here are some of the things you may want to consider when choosing a new bodywork therapist, listed randomly and unprioritized –

What to expect from a great bodyworker?

For any individual to be a trustworthy bodyworker, they must have a solid foundation in at least one credible and reputable healing modality. Equally important, they are able to create and maintain a space for you in which you can feel safe, respected, and understood. They are able to develop and personalise a treatment plan for you that is relevant to your concerns, and help you achieve physical, mental, and emotional change that is meaningful to your recovery and development.

One fundamental characteristic of great bodyworkers is their ability to listen. To engage in dialogues that are focused on your concerns, and in which you can safely express yourself, and in your own words. You must absolutely feel and know that whatever you say will be kept confidential.

Great bodyworkers are those therapists who put you central to the entire treatment plan, and who can adjust, modify, and change their approaches to help you achieve outcomes that matter most to you.

Great bodyworkers are honest, value integrity, and remain transparent in their intentions and actions. They are able to explain treatments in normal English, and to answer your questions intelligently and truthfully.

Finally, of course, the benefits you receive from treatments should outweigh the investments you make in them. Bodywork can be expensive, especially when you choose to work with a professional. Therefore, be clear on your expectations, and work as closely as you can with your therapist to gain most benefit out of your treatment plan. Ask for homework and commit yourself to do it as advised or instructed. Keep a journal to track your progress and share your findings with your therapist at each step of the way.

Finding such a person in your city, area, or region may be challenging. However, with some homework, a little research, and a prepared mind you will be able to find them.

I hope this journal helps you.