Massage and bodywork practitioners are getting older, just as the nation as a whole is getting older. That means: Like it or not, we—along with our clients, friends, and families—are learning about the joys and challenges of aging, as well as how to help, care for, and accompany each other into the process of getting older together.
On the occasion of my own 60th birthday, I initiated a series of conversations with colleagues, mentors, and friends about the challenges, richness, losses, and learning that comes with their own aging. Massage and bodywork pioneer Art Riggs started us off. His bio says that “a lifetime of hard physical activity and high-level athletic pursuits, including ultra-marathons, led him to bodywork—first as a grateful recipient, and later as a student.”
A teacher since 1988, Riggs’s popular Deep Tissue Massage textbook and DVD series were adopted by massage therapy programs worldwide. As a result, his teaching has influenced tens of thousands of massage and manual therapists in the decades since.
This excerpt of a longer conversation (Episode 32 of The Thinking Practitioner podcast) has been edited for clarity. Listen to our entire conversation (or read the transcript) at a-t.tv/ttp-podcast-32-art-riggs.
Til Luchau: Last week, you came to my virtual birthday party, where I celebrated turning 60. I decided I wanted conversations like this for my birthday—with people I admire and respect, and who have had an influence on the way I think and what I do. And you’re high on that list. And there’s a question that I’m still trying to formulate—something about getting older . . .
Art Riggs: Oh. I’ve had a lot of practice at getting older [laughter].
TL: OK, good. Because I’m going to get more practice too, like it or not. So, maybe my questions are: What do you know about taking care of ourselves as we get older?
How well do you do? What is challenging for you? What helps?
AR: Boy . . . I have a lot of physical issues. A lot of injuries.
As far as people getting injured while they’re working, I think it’s because they are trying to make things happen, rather than letting them happen. But I think there’s a fine line between accepting your limitations as you age, and Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.”
Tossing in the towel and saying, “Oh, I’m too old. I’m doing this. I just need to lighten up.” I think we all have to have something to look forward to with growth.
And I continue to get better at bodywork. I’m always looking for something new; you and I discuss things, and lightbulbs go on. I still remember some of the things you’ve done with me in the sessions we’ve traded. And it was an eye-opener.
TL: Likewise for me.
AR: I learn so much from receiving. But . . . I’d say don’t be afraid to do that; it’s not stealing or plagiarism to expand your skills by getting bodywork.
Beyond “Getting By”
AR: I think the main thing—just in life, in general—is to not try to just “get by,” and yet, not push yourself too hard. I’m not supposed to run, since I’ve had two knee replacements, but I do a little of that because I think I have pretty good shock absorption. And so a year and a half ago, I ran a half marathon without training at all.
TL: You ran a half marathon, in your mid-70s, with knee replacements, and without training. I remember now that you told me this.
AR: But I used to go on 50- and 60-mile runs, training for 100-mile runs—you just do this. And I said, “I just want to see if I can get through this half marathon.” And I ended up running half the distance of a marathon in three minutes less than it used to take me to run a full marathon years before. And I think I felt better about that half marathon than I did any full marathons I ran.
TL: So why did I think I could ask you for wisdom about taking care of yourself?
AR: It’s “Do as I say, not do as I do.”
Listening to the Body
AR: I find that so many people are really uncomfortable being happy, and I think it is important to see what people are afraid of . . . when they come in with a problem. You’re looking at that shoulder, that back, that knee, but behind it all is clients wondering: “I’m getting old. Is this what old age is going to be about?” or “What is this going to do to my athletic pursuits, and the things I do?” If you can clarify those questions with people by asking, “What does this mean to you?” Just listen. You don’t have to give them an answer.
Since I coached running and athletics (because I had exercise physiology background), Kei, my friend, brought in a client who’d had foot surgery, and he wanted her teacher to look at this. I spent most of my time talking about why he was so sure that on March 15, when the surgeon said six weeks had passed, he wanted to get back to running. And I didn’t play psychologist at any deep level, I said, “Your body doesn’t give a whit what your doctor or your therapist . . .”
TL: . . . or the clock . . .
AR: . . . or whomever says.
I said, “Look, you’ve got to listen to your body.” And a lightbulb just went on in him. It was like, “Ah” because he was scared to death about going out on March 15, and his foot problem coming up again. I said, “You don’t know. And if you do have a little bit of a setback, it isn’t that you’re back at base one, it’s a lesson to you.” And those are the gratifying kinds of things that we do.
TL: Yes, yes. Well, thank you. I know why I asked you about taking care of ourselves.
AR: Well, I don’t look at myself as any paragon of wisdom, I go fumbling along through life, and I can sit and talk about all those problems, or I can look at them and say, “Well, here’s a learning experience. Let’s see how I’m going to deal with that.”
TL: That’s great, thanks Art.
Learn More
• Learn more about Art Riggs, his work, and his courses at http://deeptissuemassagemanual.com/artbio/ and http://a-t.tv/art-riggs.
• Listen to Til Luchau’s entire conversation with Art in Episode 32 of The Thinking Practitioner Podcast, sponsored by ABMP, at http://a-t.tv/ttp.
• Watch Til’s video comments on this article and read his past
articles in the Massage & Bodywork digital edition, available at
massageandbodyworkdigital.com, abmp.com, and on the Advanced-Trainings.com YouTube channel. Watch Til’s ABMP video playlist on YouTube, where all his videos have been compiled.
Til Luchau is the author of the Advanced Myofascial Techniques books and training series, a Certified Advanced Rolfer, and a member of the Advanced-Trainings.com faculty, which offers online learning and in-person seminars throughout the United States and abroad. He and Whitney Lowe are the co-hosts of the popular The Thinking Practitioner podcast, and he invites questions or comments via info@advanced-trainings.com and Advanced-Trainings.com’s Facebook page.