The day before the ultramarathon last week, I got a foot massage.
…One of the theme camps at Burning Man was offering and I certainly wasn’t denying!
This is how I met Christina—the reflexologist.
She didn’t just massage my feet, she took me on a whole inner work adventure.
She asked me about my upbringing, inquired into my current life role, made observations about my character, dug into the perceptions I shared, and challenged me to answer interesting questions—all while radiating warmth and presence.
Now, although inner work is my jam—I didn’t ask for this or take the lead in any way. The massage for the sake of massage was all I was expecting.
She was the one who turned it into a whole experience and facilitated the creation of a bridge that allowed us to connect in a deep and completely unexpected way.
…When many people think of foot massage, I think they think of it as low end work—especially when you consider the fact that she was doing it in the desert where there’s an absence of showers and toiletries—but, the work she did in that desert was far from low end work. It was some of the best foot work I had ever had.
And what’s most impressive to me as I sit here and reflect… is that it was completely obvious to me within the first three minutes of meeting her that she didn’t just massage feet… that she was doing something far greater.
…Meeting Christina was a beautiful reminder that it’s not the work that defines the person; it’s the person that defines the work.