Is MFR ‘caught’ or ‘learned’?

I’ve just taught Foundation Myofascial Release module 1 with my colleague Rachel Fairweather in Brighton, UK. We had 18 students – our limit, as when they are working on each other the teacher / student ratio is then 1 : 4.5, small enough for us to be able to give real assistance, feedback and individual attention.

The thing that struck us first of all, after the first morning even, was that every single student was outstanding. They are all professionals in their own right, mind you. Most of them were graduates of Jing Advanced Massage Institute, Rachel’s training school, so we expected them to have excellent palpatory skills, good knowledge of advanced massage, anatomy and physiology and proper body mechanics. The others were variously physiotherapists, a Pilates teacher and a Rolfer, so no lack of academic training and practical experience there.

But still, we were still surprised and delighted at how quickly they caught on to the practice of myofascial release. It just happened so quickly. We explained a little bit, did a little energy work, demonstrated a couple of techniques, and they were in! This is not another type of massage technique, MFR represents a whole paradigm shift in bodywork. We were asking ourselves, even before we discussed it, ‘is this the 100th monkey syndrome beginning to kick in?’

The teaching and the catching: I explained at the beginning of the first day that although we can (and do) teach MFR academically and practically, demonstrate and coach hands-on techniques, explain the underlying theories and principles and do whatever we as experienced teachers do to facilitate transfer of our knowledge and experience to our students, at the end of the day they will still have to ‘catch’ it. We cannot 'make' a student tune in to what is happening under their hands and be able to follow it and support further release. We can place them in an environment where they have every chance of being able to tune in, but we can't make it happen, the way you can 'make' remedial massage techniques happen.

‘Catch it? Is this a disease?’ Well, almost. Grin. It has other characteristics of something you catch, entirely positive characteristics. Look at it this way: once you have experienced MFR as a practitioner, felt the tissue melt and move underneath your hands, witnessed the client’s amazed ‘wow’ response to what you are doing with them, and the effect it has had on them which you see and they feel when they get up off the table, you will want to do it for ever more and incorporate it into whatever bodywork you have practised up to that point.

And as a recipient of MFR – well go and get some treatments and see for yourself. It’s amazing.

Back to my initial question, though: is MFR ‘caught’ or ‘learned’? It is both. We can provide you with theories and priciples, skills and techniques, visual assessment practice and treatment structures, coaching and feedback, mentoring and advice, master practice days, blah blah blah, all of which are helpful and indeed sometimes necessary, and part of every course we teach.

But you really start to do it when you get the ‘aha’; when it starts happening, when the mind-body on your table begins to respond to your touch, you start the adventure and you think ‘so this is what it is’. There’s nothing better and there's nothing like it. Very big grin.

And as trainers, we are still learning and 'catching' it. Both Rachel and I run busy practices. We see several clients a day when we are not teaching. The more we experience of this amazing phenomenon, the more we realise we have to learn or 'catch'. It's both exhilerating and daunting. Hence we are extremely grateful that there are people out there, masters of the field, who are continuing to train and teach us, to help us 'get' it.