about 'erissage'


Quite often the first question I am asked after a session sounds something like, "What was that?!"  Upon investigation it usually turns out this is in reference to the particular combination of approaches and the quality of contact my client has just experienced.  Often my response has been, "Um...I'm not exactly sure what you would call it, but I'm glad you enjoyed it."

In an effort to understand exactly what it is I am doing – and how I do it – when I lay my hands on another person with intention, I have done two things.  First, I've given my particular personal and professional practice of bodywork a name: erissage.  'erissage' is ostensibly a trade name derived from my name – ayres – and not only helps people with it's common pronunciation but also makes me the only practitioner of my kind in the world!

'erissage' began as a joke shared with my sister, so I often say it with tongue planted firmly in cheek.  Yet, I also feel it points to the subjective quality of this work – for both 'giver' and 'receiver' – that identifies it as a healing art form.  More than simply a trade name, 'erissage' is meant to highlight what is inherently the ultimate in uniqueness: that of the individual's experience.  It reminds me that while your experience is all about you, which is a realisation I hope to facilitate in our time together, my experience can only be all about me.  erissage ensures that I continue to acknowledge this body of work as not only a professional practice but a personal one. This approach to bodywork is by its nature 'integrative' in that it takes my past, present, and potential  practice and wraps it all up very neatly in a living and dynamic body of work.

So now when a client says,  " What was that?!"

I say, "That was 'erissage' Integrative Bodywork.  I'm glad you enjoyed it.  Would you like to book another session?"



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