Tonight we work on our palpation skills. The table in the back of the room is covered with pillows and folded blankets. There are small items of various shapes and textures hidden underneath. The students take turns feeling around, locating the peanuts, marbles, twisted pasta, grains of rice, pieces of rope, tennis balls, rocks and other seemingly random items, trying to guess not only what they are but also precisely where they are hidden in the folds and layers. They poke and tap the table until I ask them to pretend they are touching a person, looking for textural and anatomical landmarks in the muscle tissue. We practice different ways to locate "places of interest" while maintaining a meaningful, therapeutic connection.
After all the little "surprises" are located and identified, we have a demonstration of our last DT stroke - cross fiber friction. The order of strokes we teach is not random. Cross fiber friction is our most intense and precise technique, often performed with small and pointy tools like thumbs and elbows. We need palpation skills, patience and careful pressure control in order for it to be effective and pleasurable.
The students practice on each other, being fully aware of the power their hands posess at this point. We are just 3 weeks away from the final exams, and I, for one, can't wait.
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